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Politcs, Psychology or Economics

Hi, I'm currently awaiting my GCSE results and am predicted 8s and 9s in most subjects. However, I'm struggling to find a 3rd A level alongside biology and chemistry. At first I thought psychology; however, after the taster days, idk anymore due to the lack of boys in the classes. However, I attended the politics taster lesson, and as an extrovert, it was really fun, and economics is similar to politics, so I'd be down to do that too. Im hoping to pick a 3rd subject where if you revise, you will do well. I'm hoping for an A star in the subject.

Reply 1

From my own experience, economics would give you a range of open skills that would be helpful for a wider variety of post A-level options.

Reply 2

due to the lack of boys in the classes.

Please tell me that is a joke.

Reply 3

Original post
by Majy7860
Hi, I'm currently awaiting my GCSE results and am predicted 8s and 9s in most subjects. However, I'm struggling to find a 3rd A level alongside biology and chemistry. At first I thought psychology; however, after the taster days, idk anymore due to the lack of boys in the classes. However, I attended the politics taster lesson, and as an extrovert, it was really fun, and economics is similar to politics, so I'd be down to do that too. Im hoping to pick a 3rd subject where if you revise, you will do well. I'm hoping for an A star in the subject.

Hiya,

Congrats on finishing your GCSEs! I study both Economics and Politics at A-level, so I'll weigh in my opinion on these subjects.

They're both great. Leveraging and understanding current affairs is what I find to be so wonderful about these disciplines. I've always said if you find yourself watching political documentaries on a whim, you could turn out to love politics. Contrary to what many people think, It's not really about international affairs, conflict, treaties etc. That's better reserved for IR and History. Politics is about the inner workings of government, such as legislative processes and structures, the role of SCOTUK, and the interaction between branches.

Economics is grounded in a lot more theory than politics. Politics has some basic theories, like 'models of representation', but you'll find it has a greater prominence in Econ. If you enjoy reading about interest rate changes, or financial crises etc, I think you'll really enjoy it.

From my experience, Econ is a little bit harder than politics simply because it requires a little more thinking to understand concepts than in politics. One particular pet peeve of mine is the natural rate of unemployment. Wikipedia defines it as "The natural rate of unemployment, when an economy is in a steady state of full employment, is the proportion of the workforce who are unemployed." Bit confusing at first glance right? Econ is stuffed with quite a lot of jargon, that if you don't understand one topic, you will definitely not understand the next. This is similar in politics. If you don't understand what representative democracy is, you may struggle to understand parliament.

However, again just from my experience so I wouldn't take it as gospel, Politics requires a lot more revision than Econ. As I said, Econ requires a little more thinking, but once you've understood it, it's quite difficult to forget. I find it sticks quite well. Quotes and evidence aren't usually something you're required to memorise, apart from some broad examples. So e.g. rates were cut by the BOE from 4.5% to 4.25% in May, or similar. Politics requires a considerable amount of time allocation to memorising statistics, quotes, and general evidence to use in essays. So for example, the 2011 AV referendum carried a 42% turnout, with 68% voting against the move. By contrast, the 2016 Brexit referendum carried a 72% turnout, with 52% voting to leave the EU. Quite a lot of stuff to remember right?

To address your point in the last sentence, if you revise in both disciplines and follow answer structures, it's hard to go wrong. I think it might be worth looking at the course content, some videos on YouTube, and some textbook snapshots to see what you think of the subjects. For Econ, you could check out EconplusDal. In my opinion, he's any Econ student's most helpful resource.

I will also note, if your Sixth Form/College permits, you could start with 4 A-levels. After experiencing each subject, you could then drop the one you like the least.

Hope this helps!
Original post
by Continuingstudy
From my own experience, economics would give you a range of open skills that would be helpful for a wider variety of post A-level options.


A-level Economics doesn't give any specific transferable skills that A-level Psychology or Politics wouldn't. They're completely equivalent in this regard.

Original post
by Majy7860
Hi, I'm currently awaiting my GCSE results and am predicted 8s and 9s in most subjects. However, I'm struggling to find a 3rd A level alongside biology and chemistry. At first I thought psychology; however, after the taster days, idk anymore due to the lack of boys in the classes. However, I attended the politics taster lesson, and as an extrovert, it was really fun, and economics is similar to politics, so I'd be down to do that too. Im hoping to pick a 3rd subject where if you revise, you will do well. I'm hoping for an A star in the subject.

Pick the one you actually enjoy studying and are confident you can get good grades in. Note the number of boys in a class nor your extroversion will have any bearing on your actual grades nor is it related to the actual content of the subject. Also note politics is not about "debating politics", it's about the academic objective study and analysis of political systems and governments.

Reply 5

Original post
by Jaa_
Hiya,
Congrats on finishing your GCSEs! I study both Economics and Politics at A-level, so I'll weigh in my opinion on these subjects.
They're both great. Leveraging and understanding current affairs is what I find to be so wonderful about these disciplines. I've always said if you find yourself watching political documentaries on a whim, you could turn out to love politics. Contrary to what many people think, It's not really about international affairs, conflict, treaties etc. That's better reserved for IR and History. Politics is about the inner workings of government, such as legislative processes and structures, the role of SCOTUK, and the interaction between branches.
Economics is grounded in a lot more theory than politics. Politics has some basic theories, like 'models of representation', but you'll find it has a greater prominence in Econ. If you enjoy reading about interest rate changes, or financial crises etc, I think you'll really enjoy it.
From my experience, Econ is a little bit harder than politics simply because it requires a little more thinking to understand concepts than in politics. One particular pet peeve of mine is the natural rate of unemployment. Wikipedia defines it as "The natural rate of unemployment, when an economy is in a steady state of full employment, is the proportion of the workforce who are unemployed." Bit confusing at first glance right? Econ is stuffed with quite a lot of jargon, that if you don't understand one topic, you will definitely not understand the next. This is similar in politics. If you don't understand what representative democracy is, you may struggle to understand parliament.
However, again just from my experience so I wouldn't take it as gospel, Politics requires a lot more revision than Econ. As I said, Econ requires a little more thinking, but once you've understood it, it's quite difficult to forget. I find it sticks quite well. Quotes and evidence aren't usually something you're required to memorise, apart from some broad examples. So e.g. rates were cut by the BOE from 4.5% to 4.25% in May, or similar. Politics requires a considerable amount of time allocation to memorising statistics, quotes, and general evidence to use in essays. So for example, the 2011 AV referendum carried a 42% turnout, with 68% voting against the move. By contrast, the 2016 Brexit referendum carried a 72% turnout, with 52% voting to leave the EU. Quite a lot of stuff to remember right?
To address your point in the last sentence, if you revise in both disciplines and follow answer structures, it's hard to go wrong. I think it might be worth looking at the course content, some videos on YouTube, and some textbook snapshots to see what you think of the subjects. For Econ, you could check out EconplusDal. In my opinion, he's any Econ student's most helpful resource.
I will also note, if your Sixth Form/College permits, you could start with 4 A-levels. After experiencing each subject, you could then drop the one you like the least.
Hope this helps!

Thanks for the help, I think ill probably pick both Psychology and Politics, then drop one after a few weeks. With economics, some universities don't want you to do it at college, hence why if I were to go the economics route, economics won't benefit me too much. I'm quite good at memorising content so I think Politics will be the right choice for me, but what do you even memorise in Politics? Is it case studies about different political events through time

Reply 6

Original post
by Majy7860
Thanks for the help, I think ill probably pick both Psychology and Politics, then drop one after a few weeks. With economics, some universities don't want you to do it at college, hence why if I were to go the economics route, economics won't benefit me too much. I'm quite good at memorising content so I think Politics will be the right choice for me, but what do you even memorise in Politics? Is it case studies about different political events through time

Hiya,

Yeah It's largely just case studies to use in essays. This can also include statistics, quotes, and suchlike. It's interesting you say Uni's don't want Econ at college, I've not heard of that before and most of the courses I'm applying for this autumn are Econ & Politics lol.

Good luck!

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