A level history or English lit??
Hi,
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
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Reply 1
13
Original post
by LMX23Hi,
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
Hey what career/sector are you thinking of going into
Reply 2
LMX23
OP
7
Original post
by Lbland23Hey what career/sector are you thinking of going into
At the moment I really enjoy debating in religious studies and sociology so I’m steering more towards the law sector like maybe human rights law or something like that🤷🏼*♀️
Reply 3
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Original post
by LMX23At the moment I really enjoy debating in religious studies and sociology so I’m steering more towards the law sector like maybe human rights law or something like that🤷🏼*♀️
I had the same debate when picking my A levels. I think look at the courses in depth, ik history is alot more content based. Ultimately they both work for law. Good luck
Reply 4
LMX23
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by Lbland23I had the same debate when picking my A levels. I think look at the courses in depth, ik history is alot more content based. Ultimately they both work for law. Good luck
What did you end up picking?
Reply 5
13
Original post
by LMX23What did you end up picking?
History mainly because I find the period fascinating and my bff (whos in y12 now) said how amazing it is
Original post
by LMX23Hi,
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
What are you thinking of doing after your a-levels?
Reply 7
LMX23
OP
7
Original post
by Emma:-)What are you thinking of doing after your a-levels?
I want to go to uni but unsure what to study. I think I want to do humanities based like law or something like that because I enjoy debating and reading
Reply 8
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Original post
by Emma:-)What are you thinking of doing after your a-levels?
This is going to sound so bad but ive not got a plan 🥲. Basically even though ik i can get 9s i lack all motivation... I was thinking something financial but I keep changing my mind
Reply 9
13
Original post
by Lbland23This is going to sound so bad but ive not got a plan 🥲. Basically even though ik i can get 9s i lack all motivation... I was thinking something financial but I keep changing my mind
Oops sorry
Original post
by Lbland23This is going to sound so bad but ive not got a plan 🥲. Basically even though ik i can get 9s i lack all motivation... I was thinking something financial but I keep changing my mind
If you like them both the same and are getting the same grades in both then look at the a-level course for both subjects to see which you might like best.
If you are still torn, would you be willing to do both and get rid of one of your other subjects instead?
Reply 11
11
I would 1000% recommend English Literature. I did History, English Lit, Politics and French. History was the most work BY FAR. I really enjoyed it at GCSE and got a 9, but A-Level was a killer. I didn't even want to take English Lit, but my school made us do 4 A-Levels so I chose it as my last option. I fell in love with the English Lit at A-Level and now take courses in it at uni. I would say, if you're super super passionate about history and the courses you would be doing at A-Level then take it. I thought I would really enjoy it but it was my least favourite A-Level by far. Definitely think about it a lot before you decide, history is a seriousss undertaking in my opinion and English lit was much easier for me (it was harder at the beginning but once you get the hang of it, it's smooth sailing). Also not sure which exam board you would be taking but the History NEA is also a much much bigger undertaking than the English Lit NEA.
Reply 12
Original post
by LMX23Hi,
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I enjoyed gcse history but a level history is horrible, completely destroyed my interest in history because of how the exam works. Yes content is interesting but the exams are so bad. I dont know what exam board you are doing but ocr requires coursework and that was the worst thing I have ever done (basically epq round 2 and I hated writing the epq). I personally have applied to do law at uni and would highly recommend that you don’t do history, but if you genuinely think you can handle it then go ahead.
Politics is really fun, I think it’s infinitely easier to get a good grade in that than history. If you stay on top of the news in the UK and US then you should breeze through it. Not sure about English Lit but I know a friend who does it and she hates it because of how the grade boundaries are so narrow. It’s like 25/30 for a B and then 27/30 for A.
Reply 13
LMX23
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7
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by lemonteI enjoyed gcse history but a level history is horrible, completely destroyed my interest in history because of how the exam works. Yes content is interesting but the exams are so bad. I dont know what exam board you are doing but ocr requires coursework and that was the worst thing I have ever done (basically epq round 2 and I hated writing the epq). I personally have applied to do law at uni and would highly recommend that you don’t do history, but if you genuinely think you can handle it then go ahead.
Politics is really fun, I think it’s infinitely easier to get a good grade in that than history. If you stay on top of the news in the UK and US then you should breeze through it. Not sure about English Lit but I know a friend who does it and she hates it because of how the grade boundaries are so narrow. It’s like 25/30 for a B and then 27/30 for A.
Politics is really fun, I think it’s infinitely easier to get a good grade in that than history. If you stay on top of the news in the UK and US then you should breeze through it. Not sure about English Lit but I know a friend who does it and she hates it because of how the grade boundaries are so narrow. It’s like 25/30 for a B and then 27/30 for A.
Omg thanks so much!! This has really helped. The exam board for English at the sixthform I want to go to does AQA and the history is OCR so I’ll probably take English haha
Reply 14
LMX23
OP
7
Original post
by abbyjj7I would 1000% recommend English Literature. I did History, English Lit, Politics and French. History was the most work BY FAR. I really enjoyed it at GCSE and got a 9, but A-Level was a killer. I didn't even want to take English Lit, but my school made us do 4 A-Levels so I chose it as my last option. I fell in love with the English Lit at A-Level and now take courses in it at uni. I would say, if you're super super passionate about history and the courses you would be doing at A-Level then take it. I thought I would really enjoy it but it was my least favourite A-Level by far. Definitely think about it a lot before you decide, history is a seriousss undertaking in my opinion and English lit was much easier for me (it was harder at the beginning but once you get the hang of it, it's smooth sailing). Also not sure which exam board you would be taking but the History NEA is also a much much bigger undertaking than the English Lit NEA.
Thank you so much!! This has really helped
Reply 15
Original post
by LMX23Hi,
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I studied history, english lit and religious studies during my A-level days and now studying Law at uni level so I might be of help.
!!This is all from personal experiences!!
English Lit:
•
content wise, it was ok for me. I enjoyed the texts I studied
•
hard to achieve top grades as most people study English Lit A-level excel at it (I got a 9 at GCSE then dropped to a D in my mock!) I had really bad imposter syndrome as all my peers were scoring close to full marks and I was stuck at a C.
•
quite a jump from GCSE (for me, they never really gave me a structure, they sort of expected me to know how to write a good A-level essay)
History:
•
wished I never did it to be fairly honest.
•
incredibly content heavy (made me dislike history)
•
struggled with writing essays
•
different from GCSE
Religious Studies:
•
Honestly, this was the worst for me
•
4o minutes per every 40 marker essay (for my exam board)
•
INCREDIBLY content heavy (more than history) **emphasis on how content heavy it is
This sounds incredibly negative but I guess A-levels were really not for me, haha. If you want to pursue Law, my best advice is to do 1-2 subjects like English Lit or History then your last subject being a bit 'easier'. All A-levels are quite hard but some are easier to revise and get good grades in than others.
At the end of the day, you want to enjoy what you're doing and achieve good grades. My biggest regret was doing 3 incredibly hard subjects as a result of my ego and that I didn't truly enjoy.
Reply 16
LMX23
OP
7
Original post
by organizing-handbI studied history, english lit and religious studies during my A-level days and now studying Law at uni level so I might be of help.
!!This is all from personal experiences!!
English Lit:
History:
Religious Studies:
This sounds incredibly negative but I guess A-levels were really not for me, haha. If you want to pursue Law, my best advice is to do 1-2 subjects like English Lit or History then your last subject being a bit 'easier'. All A-levels are quite hard but some are easier to revise and get good grades in than others.
At the end of the day, you want to enjoy what you're doing and achieve good grades. My biggest regret was doing 3 incredibly hard subjects as a result of my ego and that I didn't truly enjoy.
!!This is all from personal experiences!!
English Lit:
•
content wise, it was ok for me. I enjoyed the texts I studied
•
hard to achieve top grades as most people study English Lit A-level excel at it (I got a 9 at GCSE then dropped to a D in my mock!) I had really bad imposter syndrome as all my peers were scoring close to full marks and I was stuck at a C.
•
quite a jump from GCSE (for me, they never really gave me a structure, they sort of expected me to know how to write a good A-level essay)
History:
•
wished I never did it to be fairly honest.
•
incredibly content heavy (made me dislike history)
•
struggled with writing essays
•
different from GCSE
Religious Studies:
•
Honestly, this was the worst for me
•
4o minutes per every 40 marker essay (for my exam board)
•
INCREDIBLY content heavy (more than history) **emphasis on how content heavy it is
This sounds incredibly negative but I guess A-levels were really not for me, haha. If you want to pursue Law, my best advice is to do 1-2 subjects like English Lit or History then your last subject being a bit 'easier'. All A-levels are quite hard but some are easier to revise and get good grades in than others.
At the end of the day, you want to enjoy what you're doing and achieve good grades. My biggest regret was doing 3 incredibly hard subjects as a result of my ego and that I didn't truly enjoy.
Oh gosh, thank you for the honesty. What exam boards did you do for each? X
Reply 17
I did Biology, Chemistry and History at A Level and am now doing History at university (just finished 1st year).
I loved A Level History. I am passionate about history and read about it in my own time. I knew fron Year 10 that I wanted to do A Level History, so I picked my sixth form specifically because it had interesting modules.
I did OCR - Russia and it's Rulers, Britain 1930-1997 and French Rev and rule of Napoleon. Russia was good. Britain was really good (I like historical politics and British history, which was basically that entire module). French Rev I hated, the teacher was not good and there is so much content for it. If you look at the other options for OCR, it has one of the highest content levels. However, French Rev was 15% and about half a year of content, so I just made do. It was the later half of the revolution and first part of Napoleon's rule that was hard.
I liked the coursework. I dropped the EPQ because I had other commitments, so it gave me experience before university. It is very structured and specific though, not the same as university essays.
Overall, History A Level was good for me. I didn't find the exams too bad and I enjoyed most of the content. French Rev I made do. But I researched other history around the areas of the modules so I became very interested. I'm now loving my history degree at QMUL.
I loved A Level History. I am passionate about history and read about it in my own time. I knew fron Year 10 that I wanted to do A Level History, so I picked my sixth form specifically because it had interesting modules.
I did OCR - Russia and it's Rulers, Britain 1930-1997 and French Rev and rule of Napoleon. Russia was good. Britain was really good (I like historical politics and British history, which was basically that entire module). French Rev I hated, the teacher was not good and there is so much content for it. If you look at the other options for OCR, it has one of the highest content levels. However, French Rev was 15% and about half a year of content, so I just made do. It was the later half of the revolution and first part of Napoleon's rule that was hard.
I liked the coursework. I dropped the EPQ because I had other commitments, so it gave me experience before university. It is very structured and specific though, not the same as university essays.
Overall, History A Level was good for me. I didn't find the exams too bad and I enjoyed most of the content. French Rev I made do. But I researched other history around the areas of the modules so I became very interested. I'm now loving my history degree at QMUL.
Reply 18
Original post
by LMX23Oh gosh, thank you for the honesty. What exam boards did you do for each? X
AQA English Lit
AQA History
OCR Religious Studies
Apologies, I was quite negative in my posts. If you genuinely enjoy it and you are really good at essay writing, then I'd recommend going for it, but if you lack excellent essay writing skills, I recommend considering a different subject as because I was bad at writing essays, I started to hate what I was studying and struggled a lot.
Reply 19
Original post
by LMX23Hi,
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
I’m really debating whether to study a level English lit or a level history next year. I love both and I’m getting the same grade in each one. My other options are politics & religious studies. Could someone give me their opinion on which one is better/ which one they enjoy the most/ or which one will link better with the other options I’ve chosen. Thank you!!!
both would work. i take eng lit rn year 13 and i hate it. the whole class hates it. i know people still enjoy history by the end of y13 too
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