A level choice crisis

I was originally going to do law environmental sciences and history to go into law now I'm thinking I want to go into conversation and do a degree in zoology where I would need to take biology a level. Whatever I choose I'll have to close the door to the other one. So I'm lost. I don't enjoy biology much either at GCSE so I don't know if it's worth the pain but then I'd close a door to a career which I want to do

Hi, I don't think you need to do anything to go into law at uni - sure an essay subject might help, but there usually aren't any subject requirements as it's a very open subject - so by choosing biology, you wouldn't be closing any doors... Ultimately, you'll get the best grades if you do subjects you like. If you want to do zoology, then you should probably take biology. You would also need another science related subject - like geography or environmental sciences. What do you think?

Hi, I don't think you need to do anything to go into law at uni - sure an essay subject might help, but there usually aren't any subject requirements as it's a very open subject - so by choosing biology, you wouldn't be closing any doors... Ultimately, you'll get the best grades if you do subjects you like. If you want to do zoology, then you should probably take biology. You would also need another science related subject - like geography or environmental sciences. What do you think?

Thankyou^ i was definitely thinking about doing environmental sciences and then I'll probably do history as it's a good essay based subject so I might change law to biology

I was originally going to do law environmental sciences and history to go into law now I'm thinking I want to go into conversation and do a degree in zoology where I would need to take biology a level. Whatever I choose I'll have to close the door to the other one. So I'm lost. I don't enjoy biology much either at GCSE so I don't know if it's worth the pain but then I'd close a door to a career which I want to do

Hi @Spaceandthewoods ,
Echoing the other comments below, whichever A-levels you take shouldn't necessarily limit your chances of doing a law degree! An essay-based subject like history combined with sciences will demonstrate a fantastic level of versatility, showing you can master the nuanced, persuasive writing required for legal arguments alongside the logical, evidence-based reasoning needed for complex problem-solving.
Even if you choose to go on and study a zoology degree, the door to law will still be open to you - if you wish, you can always study a postgraduate conversion course (like I am now!), which will require one extra year of study rather than three. In fact, many law firms admire non-law students for the diversity of skills and knowledge they bring; you may find a zoology degree sets you apart differently than if you were to study an LLB. However, do note that the PGDL is arguably more professional focused with the aims of teaching you the foundations you need to excel in a legal career. If you want to explore the academic and theoretical side of law more, an undergraduate degree in this area (or a MA) may be better.
I did history, geology and English literature at A-level, an undergraduate degree in anthropology and am now doing the law conversion - there are many more routes into law than you would think!
Best of luck 😊
Holly - PGDL Student

From what I’ve heard from friends who do environmental science it’s a great a-level. Don’t underestimate how difficult it is, it may be more of a physical science at times than you realise but it is so relevant and applicable to today’s world.
I think if you’re considering zoology at higher education I would strongly recommend biology as some of the content on that course can be very biology forward, although applied in different contexts.
I then think having an essay subject (whichever one of history or law you would prefer. Even politics or an English subject would work well if that interests you?) provides a very balanced mix of subjects and makes you a strong candidate for universities!

I was originally going to do law environmental sciences and history to go into law now I'm thinking I want to go into conversation and do a degree in zoology where I would need to take biology a level. Whatever I choose I'll have to close the door to the other one. So I'm lost. I don't enjoy biology much either at GCSE so I don't know if it's worth the pain but then I'd close a door to a career which I want to do

I was originally going to do law environmental sciences and history to go into law now I'm thinking I want to go into conversation and do a degree in zoology where I would need to take biology a level. Whatever I choose I'll have to close the door to the other one. So I'm lost. I don't enjoy biology much either at GCSE so I don't know if it's worth the pain but then I'd close a door to a career which I want to do

As youve been told, law doesnt have required subjects but sometimes essay subjects can be preferred so having one is a good idea. History is generally more respected as an a level than law from what I know so id recommend that 🙂
For conservation and zoology type degrees, biology is often needed and a second science is extremely useful so env sci is great for that and very relevant ofc!
I do biology and env sci a level btw so feel free to ask me any questions! Incidentally, I’m also aiming for zoology and conservation degrees!

As a kid my mum wanted to do meteorology, but her parents told her to do law. She did that, but then specialised in environmental law. Even if you do take a liking to biology, but decide to stay in the law branch, you can always kind of mix all of them up down the line!

Thank you this is very helpful! Now some questions 1) how much overlap in content is there typically? 2) out of env sciences and bio is there one which is "easier"(I know no A-level is easy as such) 3) did you do or are you doing any additional things for your personal statement such as volunteering, if so what were they (in terms of a zoology degree). 4) for practical based work in biology do you have to evaluate and write up anything after the practical or be assessed individually?

1) There is actually quite a lot of overlap! The evolution, biodiversity and ecology stuff from biology is all really relevant to env sci and a lot of the definitions we need to know and main concepts for the living env stuff in env sci are biology stuff. I would say that env sci often requires a lot of examples which you dont need to know in biology but the great thing about doing both is that in your env sci essays you can write about stuff from biology or recommended reading stuff from biology and it will work great. When i had my first env sci assessment i had a bio assessment the same week and just revised for bio which funnily enough actually got me a B in bio and an A in env sci on those tests lol even though i didnt review anything for env sci
2) I would say that it depends on your skill set a lot, as it does for any a level, but especially for env sci the breadth of the content means you can be very good at one side of the course and not at the other! The living env stuff for me is easier than biology because you basically replace the complex processes from biology with lots of examples for env sci but the physical env sci is more geography/physics/chem based so i find that harder to get to grips with, mostly because its been quite a while since i studied physical sciences or geography. The exam tech for env sci is definitely more difficult, you need specific examples and some phrasing is really picky and the essays are quite tricky to get a handle on but the questions are more straightforward usually imo if that makes sense
3) bit reluctant to share exactly whats in ps as i havent applied for uni yet but i can definitely give you some suggestions for where ive found the best stuff! Online courses are really great, Ive done ones about animal behaviour, aquatic mammals, animal responses, biodiversity, animal management and fire ecology (sites to look at: edx, openlearn, Springpod). Documentaries can be very useful, i usually look on iPlayer for these! Google arts and culture is great, their articles are really interactive and museum based which i love. I did the Cambridge biology challenge in year 12 which i cannot recommend enough! Channel talent runs amazing webinars with uk universities on a massive range of topics, i usually go for the biology and geography centred ones. Ive done virtual work experience on Springpod on geology, sustainability, agriculture and vet care. Also been to some cool places like geology and zoology museums, nature reserves, zoos, wildlife parks, sea life centres, botanical gardens. In terms of books ive only actually read a couple but the strategy id recommend is finding books on specific topics that really interest you rather than reading the books everyone goes for. I did work experience irl as well which was quite agriculture focused but office-based. Only a fraction of this stuff will end up on my ps but i didnt do any of this stuff with the aim of putting it on my personal statement, just did it because i love learning about these kind of things and i want to know as much as it can lol. I haven’t done any volunteering relevant to zoology but ive done tutoring and i hope to do some relevant volunteering type stuff this year 🙂
4) you sometimes have to do biological drawings or graphs or answer some practice questions but ive never had to do a big writing task for a practical. You are assessed individually, the teacher walks around and reminds people that they need to see everyone doing each thing at least once or twice for everyone to pass the skill that time around.

I was originally going to do law environmental sciences and history to go into law now I'm thinking I want to go into conversation and do a degree in zoology where I would need to take biology a level. Whatever I choose I'll have to close the door to the other one. So I'm lost. I don't enjoy biology much either at GCSE so I don't know if it's worth the pain but then I'd close a door to a career which I want to do

Hi, I don't think you need to do anything to go into law at uni - sure an essay subject might help, but there usually aren't any subject requirements as it's a very open subject - so by choosing biology, you wouldn't be closing any doors... Ultimately, you'll get the best grades if you do subjects you like. If you want to do zoology, then you should probably take biology. You would also need another science related subject - like geography or environmental sciences. What do you think?

I was originally going to do law environmental sciences and history to go into law now I'm thinking I want to go into conversation and do a degree in zoology where I would need to take biology a level. Whatever I choose I'll have to close the door to the other one. So I'm lost. I don't enjoy biology much either at GCSE so I don't know if it's worth the pain but then I'd close a door to a career which I want to do