A level options

Hi,
I am thinking about A-level choices, because I am finishing year 11 in a few months and am currently doing:
History, Business, Music, Psychology, separate sciences, English and maths. I am predicted 7,8,9s in all subjects. Specifically 8 and 9s in business, psychology and history.

For A levels I have been thinking of taking:
History
Business
Politics
Sociology

I have never studied sociology before and want to know what it's like compared to psychology. And if taking 4 essay-based subjects is a good idea, or if I should take a creative like photography as a fourth?

I am thinking along the lines of history and politics or liberal arts at uni. Could I get some advice or opinions?
Thanks :smile:

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 1

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

Do you have to take 4? A levels (unless youre doing double maths) is generally not a good idea as unis only care about 3 grades so it’s extra work for no benefit really. You’d be better off doing an epq instead of a fourth if that is an option, or doing essay competitions or other super-curricular activities. I would strongly suggest you dont take a creative like art or photography as a fourth as those have a massive workload due to the coursework so would be an immense struggle to juggle alongside 3 essay subjects.
@Geo Lover 7 takes sociology a level so he might be able to give you an overview
@always-anxious does both sociology and psychology so he might be able to give you some comparatives to consider when choosing between them

Reply 2

Geo Lover 7

Original post by lily4015

Hi,
I am thinking about A-level choices, because I am finishing year 11 in a few months and am currently doing:
History, Business, Music, Psychology, separate sciences, English and maths. I am predicted 7,8,9s in all subjects. Specifically 8 and 9s in business, psychology and history.
For A levels I have been thinking of taking:
History
Business
Politics
Sociology
I have never studied sociology before and want to know what it's like compared to psychology. And if taking 4 essay-based subjects is a good idea, or if I should take a creative like photography as a fourth?
I am thinking along the lines of history and politics or liberal arts at uni. Could I get some advice or opinions?
Thanks :smile:

I do History and Sociology.

History and Sociology complement eachother very well. For example, we just did Nazi racial policy in History before doing Nazi social policy in Sociology.

Unless you HAVE to take 4 subjects or you need further maths, I wouldn't recommend 4 subjects (especially all essay subjects).

(edited 2 months ago)

Reply 3

Dylan262

Original post by lily4015

Hi,
I am thinking about A-level choices, because I am finishing year 11 in a few months and am currently doing:
History, Business, Music, Psychology, separate sciences, English and maths. I am predicted 7,8,9s in all subjects. Specifically 8 and 9s in business, psychology and history.
For A levels I have been thinking of taking:
History
Business
Politics
Sociology
I have never studied sociology before and want to know what it's like compared to psychology. And if taking 4 essay-based subjects is a good idea, or if I should take a creative like photography as a fourth?
I am thinking along the lines of history and politics or liberal arts at uni. Could I get some advice or opinions?
Thanks :smile:

I do Alevel AQA Sociology and it is about changes in society, culture, beliefs and education and stuff like that

Reply 4

Havermelkelite_

Original post by lily4015

Hi,
I am thinking about A-level choices, because I am finishing year 11 in a few months and am currently doing:
History, Business, Music, Psychology, separate sciences, English and maths. I am predicted 7,8,9s in all subjects. Specifically 8 and 9s in business, psychology and history.
For A levels I have been thinking of taking:
History
Business
Politics
Sociology
I have never studied sociology before and want to know what it's like compared to psychology. And if taking 4 essay-based subjects is a good idea, or if I should take a creative like photography as a fourth?
I am thinking along the lines of history and politics or liberal arts at uni. Could I get some advice or opinions?
Thanks :smile:

I wouldn't take 4 A-Levels unless you are choosing further maths. Unis only ask for 3 subjects and the workload is too big with 4.

For the choices themselves, it is worth looking into which subjects are 'facilitating' or 'useful' for uni applications. History is "facilitating", Politics and Sociology are "useful" and Business is "more limited suitability". You can take a look at these categorisations here: http://repec.ioe.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1512.pdf. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03054985.2018.1409976#d1e114.

Also bear in mind some Social Sciences subjects (such as Politics) have statistics components at degree level so maths can be an asset. The level of maths isn't that high (abotu GCSE level) but sometimes they want to be confident you still remember those skills. Sometimes maths is pretty much obligatory to have and sometimes you don't need it to apply. Check uni admissions pages. I study Political Science, happy to help if you want any further advice.

Reply 5

Dylan262

Original post by Havermelkelite_

I wouldn't take 4 A-Levels unless you are choosing further maths. Unis only ask for 3 subjects and the workload is too big with 4.
For the choices themselves, it is worth looking into which subjects are 'facilitating' or 'useful' for uni applications. History is "facilitating", Politics and Sociology are "useful" and Business is "more limited suitability". You can take a look at these categorisations here: http://repec.ioe.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1512.pdf. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03054985.2018.1409976#d1e114.
Also bear in mind some Social Sciences subjects (such as Politics) have statistics components at degree level so maths can be an asset. The level of maths isn't that high (abotu GCSE level) but sometimes they want to be confident you still remember those skills. Sometimes maths is pretty much obligatory to have and sometimes you don't need it to apply. Check uni admissions pages. I study Political Science, happy to help if you want any further advice.

I agree one of my friends did four A-levels in year 12 but dropped one before year 13 so its not real worth wasting time doing 4 when it’s better to do well at 3

Reply 6

YSJstudents

Official Rep

Original post by lily4015

Hi,
I am thinking about A-level choices, because I am finishing year 11 in a few months and am currently doing:
History, Business, Music, Psychology, separate sciences, English and maths. I am predicted 7,8,9s in all subjects. Specifically 8 and 9s in business, psychology and history.
For A levels I have been thinking of taking:
History
Business
Politics
Sociology
I have never studied sociology before and want to know what it's like compared to psychology. And if taking 4 essay-based subjects is a good idea, or if I should take a creative like photography as a fourth?
I am thinking along the lines of history and politics or liberal arts at uni. Could I get some advice or opinions?
Thanks :smile:

Hello @lily4015,

So in terms of your A levels, good to hear you're interested in the social side of things.

4 A levels is ok, it gives you a good insight into the subjects but obviously you do have to be very dedicated and it can take time away from other subjects. Obviously, depending on your school, you need to bare in mind that you will have around 10 hours of lessons per subject and I would probably say an extra 5-7 hours each of self-research/homework which for 4 A levels can be around 60-70 hours of work a week (which can be a lot).

However, what I would say is if you start with 4 A levels and think, actually one of these isn't for me, it gives you wiggle room of dropping one without having to catch up on other subjects. As everyone has already mentioned, a lot of unis are not too bothered about 4 A levels, but they definitely want 3.

But if you're looking to do the social aspect at uni, I must be honest all of them are good subjects to have going into it. A lot of political modules will cover aspects of all of them, however in terms of A-level business, bare in mind that this will generally involve more business practice than like economics for example (depending on your exam board) which doesn't relate to politics as much. But definitely focus on your GCSEs for now, and then when it comes round you can get straight onto the ball on picking your A-level subjects.

If you are interested in knowing more about a uni politics course though, let me know, more than happy to give you a bit of an insight.
Koen.

Reply 7

McGinger

Original post by Havermelkelite_

I wouldn't take 4 A-Levels unless you are choosing further maths. Unis only ask for 3 subjects and the workload is too big with 4.
For the choices themselves, it is worth looking into which subjects are 'facilitating' or 'useful' for uni applications. History is "facilitating", Politics and Sociology are "useful" and Business is "more limited suitability". You can take a look at these categorisations here: http://repec.ioe.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1512.pdf. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03054985.2018.1409976#d1e114.
Also bear in mind some Social Sciences subjects (such as Politics) have statistics components at degree level so maths can be an asset. The level of maths isn't that high (abotu GCSE level) but sometimes they want to be confident you still remember those skills. Sometimes maths is pretty much obligatory to have and sometimes you don't need it to apply. Check uni admissions pages. I study Political Science, happy to help if you want any further advice.

The concept of 'facilitating subjects' was dumped by Universities 10 years ago.

Look at the specific 'entry requirements' for each course on each University website - because of marketing legislation, Universities have to be totally upfront about which A level subjects are essential or preferred. There is no 'secret information' that only special people know.

Reply 8

lwsiff_

Original post by lily4015

Hi,
I am thinking about A-level choices, because I am finishing year 11 in a few months and am currently doing:
History, Business, Music, Psychology, separate sciences, English and maths. I am predicted 7,8,9s in all subjects. Specifically 8 and 9s in business, psychology and history.
For A levels I have been thinking of taking:
History
Business
Politics
Sociology
I have never studied sociology before and want to know what it's like compared to psychology. And if taking 4 essay-based subjects is a good idea, or if I should take a creative like photography as a fourth?
I am thinking along the lines of history and politics or liberal arts at uni. Could I get some advice or opinions?
Thanks :smile:

Hiya!!!!

I did 4 subjects in year 12 ( English , Welsh , history , Geography) and received AAAA and honestly I would recommend it! you can gain extra ucas points and at year 12 level and yes it’s a lot of work but with revision and work you can definitely manage it !!!! butttt by year 13 the work load is insane so I did end up dropping one to realise that most unis only ask for 3 anyways :smile:

)) So really what I’m trying to say either way you decide is completely fine ! you can drop the 4th by year 13 and you never know like me you might end up dropping the one at GCSE level you thought was your fave 🤣

+ all of mine were essay subjects and honesty I really enjoyed it , if you love writing then you’ll be completely fine <3

GOOD LUCK !!!