Are my A Level options suitable for psychology at uni?

1

Hi, I’m currently taking maths, chemistry, music and Spanish right now (y12). Are these suitable to do psychology at uni? Would it be better to take psychology instead of music/ Spanish? I was doing all STEM A Levels originally but switched to have some variety and now I’m worried that my options might put me at a disadvantage for trying to do psychology at certain universities.

Reply 1

MariahOptimaMax

8

Check the UCAS or university website course pages for the psychology courses you want to apply for; the A-level subject requirements should be listed. I am not sure what Psychology courses usually require, but I guess maths and chem should be worth something.

Reply 2

faye12458

OP

1

Hi, I’m currently taking maths, chemistry, music and Spanish (y12 currently) and I was wondering if this is okay for applying to do psychology at university. Most websites say that you need 1-2 stem a levels which I have with maths and chem, but most applicants also had psychology and I'm worried I may be at a disadvantage if I don’t take it, or that I might be at a disadvantage as my other two a levels aren’t science related.

Reply 3

K4HL1L

3

If you want you could see if there’s still time to change one of your A level choices to Psychology. If not then you won’t be at that big of a disadvantage, as you said you’ll require 1-2 subjects in a STEM subject. As long as you have a genuine interest in Psychology, I don’t see why this should hold you back.

I’d recommend checking the entry requirements at universities you’re interested in studying at as well just to be sure.

Reply 4

University of Bath

Official Rep

14

Original post

by faye12458

Hi, I’m currently taking maths, chemistry, music and Spanish (y12 currently) and I was wondering if this is okay for applying to do psychology at university. Most websites say that you need 1-2 stem a levels which I have with maths and chem, but most applicants also had psychology and I'm worried I may be at a disadvantage if I don’t take it, or that I might be at a disadvantage as my other two a levels aren’t science related.

Hi there,

I did Psychology here at Bath and I did Chemistry, French and Psychology - however many of my coursemates had not taken Psychology. At Bath Psychology is not a required subject because first year is designed to bring everyone up to the same level and teach you everything you'll need to know for the rest of the course. So whilst A-Level Psychology gives you a heads-up as to the kind of content you'll be learning in first year, it does not necessarily give anyone an undue advantage.

What Bath and some other unis ask for is a strong performance in a combination of mathematical subjects (e.g. Maths and Chem) as well as essay-based skills. As has been said, if you look at the entry requirements of s few unis you're interested in you'll be able to see that not all will ask for the same thing so its important to check; and if you want clarification on what unis will accept, then feel free to try and ring their admissions teams.

I hope this helps and best of luck 🙂

Reply 5

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

21

You'll be fine without Psychology, most unis just need Maths.

4 subjects is a risk as unis only make offers on three. Unless you are comfortably into A/A* territory for all three you should consider whether dropping Music or Spanish might boost the others.

Reply 6

Scotland Yard

Universities Forum Helper

20

Original post

by faye12458

Hi, I’m currently taking maths, chemistry, music and Spanish (y12 currently) and I was wondering if this is okay for applying to do psychology at university. Most websites say that you need 1-2 stem a levels which I have with maths and chem, but most applicants also had psychology and I'm worried I may be at a disadvantage if I don’t take it, or that I might be at a disadvantage as my other two a levels aren’t science related.

As above, no disadvantage at all. It doesn't even matter once you study psychology at university. I didn't study A-level psychology and in no way did I struggle more than my course mates at uni for it.

Reply 7

McGinger

20

You don't need A level Psychology - at degree level Psych is a science subject and so Maths and Chem are ideal A level subjects. Consider dropping Music or Spanish - you only need 3 subjects and taking 4 doesn't give you any advantage.

Reply 8

Uni of Southampton Students

Official Rep

16

Original post

by faye12458

Hi, I’m currently taking maths, chemistry, music and Spanish right now (y12). Are these suitable to do psychology at uni? Would it be better to take psychology instead of music/ Spanish? I was doing all STEM A Levels originally but switched to have some variety and now I’m worried that my options might put me at a disadvantage for trying to do psychology at certain universities.

Hello @faye12458,

That’s great to hear you are considering psychology at university! I would recommend you checking the entry requirements for unis you think you might want to apply to.

The entry requirements for the University of Southampton is AAA without a required subject and AAB with a required subject. You can find out more about this here.

A few of my friends didn’t study A-level psychology which didn’t matter, as the first year catches everyone up and puts them on an equal playing field.

Hope this helped and let me know if you have any more questions!

Poppy, 3rd Year Psychology

Reply 9

LSBU

Official Rep

11

Original post

by faye12458

Hi, I’m currently taking maths, chemistry, music and Spanish right now (y12). Are these suitable to do psychology at uni? Would it be better to take psychology instead of music/ Spanish? I was doing all STEM A Levels originally but switched to have some variety and now I’m worried that my options might put me at a disadvantage for trying to do psychology at certain universities.

Hi there,

You definitely don’t need to worry, the subjects you’re taking are perfectly suitable for applying to Psychology at university. Most universities, including London South Bank University (LSBU), don’t require Psychology to be one of your A-levels to apply for a BSc (Hons) Psychology degree. What matters most is that you have a good mix of academic subjects, and you clearly do, with Maths, Chemistry, Music, and Spanish. You’re showing both analytical and creative strengths, which are excellent for studying psychology.

At LSBU, the BSc (Hons) Psychology course is accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), meaning it meets professional standards and gives you eligibility for postgraduate training if you decide to become a chartered psychologist later on. The course covers a wide range of topics, including cognitive psychology, neuroscience, social behaviour, mental health, and research methods. Having a background in maths and science can actually give you an advantage when it comes to the research and statistical parts of the degree.

You don’t need to swap Music or Spanish unless you strongly prefer Psychology as an A-level. In fact, having creative and language-based subjects can make your application stand out, as psychology is about understanding people, culture, and communication, areas that your current A-levels already help you explore. Universities like seeing students with a variety in their studies.

If you’d like to find out more, LSBU has an Open Day on Saturday, the 15th November, where you can talk to psychology lecturers and students to see how your current subjects fit the course.

👉 You can sign up here: LSBU Open Day.
👉 You can also chat with our students through our Unibuddy platform: Chat with our students.

So, you’re absolutely on the right track, your A-levels won’t disadvantage you, and your mix of STEM and creative subjects could actually make your application stronger for psychology.

Are my A Level options suitable for psychology at uni?

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