sixth form/A level combo

2

Hello,
I am currently in year 11 and close to sitting my GCSEs. I have applied to some schools for next year with the A level combination Geography, Spanish, French and Maths. I know this combo is a bit random but I do really enjoy all of these subjects. Although I'm not 100 percent sure If i’ll keep all 4 subjects, if that's too much, l'd either drop maths or one of the languages. However, I'm not sure on what career path I want to take, I was either thinking of studying geography at uni or maybe architecture. However, I am not sure what career geography would lead me into and for architecture I am not sure I would fully enjoy it as I don't want a very tiring office based job. I do love human geography, however I am not interested in finding a political based job. I have recently started to enjoy physical geography too and I am interested in fields like Marine Biology, Ecology or Environmental sciences. However, I don't think I can pursue these careers without A levels biology or chem and to be very honest I don't enjoy science gcse at all. What other career paths would you recommend? Also I am not 100 percent sure if I should keep maths. I am currently on a grade 6 right now based off of my last mock with little effort in revising. I am predicted a 7 which is good but not necessarily a Level standard. I do enjoy maths sometimes but I am not sure if A level maths would make me hate it, its also a bit boring sometimes and i hate graphs. I honestly want to keep maths as im not sure if id regret not taking it but also i know it opens a lot of doors and just doing 2 languages and geography might make me jobless?
And last but not least I have 2 top choice schools and I am unsure which one to go to here's my list of pros and cons:
School A:
-about 30 minutes away with 2 buses about 6 stops in each bus (a bit far if im planning to work, especially after school hours, can be tiring)
-offered me spanish french geography
-I know more people who go here and the school community is more diverse (ig i might like the people here better)
-quite a strict school
-formal dress code (require students to wear blazers)
-really good extracurricular and super curricular program
-amazing grades achieved way above national average
School B:
-15 mins away from me with 1 bus for about 8 stops (close to me, once again great if im planning to work near my house)
-offered me maths geography spanish and french
-A less diverse school (not sure if the people there match my vibe
-Not strict, No detentions
-No smart dress code
-good extracurricular and super curricular program
-good a level results above national average
-a primary school, secondary skl and sixth form attached to each other so I may struggle finding friends

Reply 1

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

20

Original post

by khadija55075

Hello,
I am currently in year 11 and close to sitting my GCSEs. I have applied to some schools for next year with the A level combination Geography, Spanish, French and Maths. I know this combo is a bit random but I do really enjoy all of these subjects. Although I'm not 100 percent sure If i’ll keep all 4 subjects, if that's too much, l'd either drop maths or one of the languages. However, I'm not sure on what career path I want to take, I was either thinking of studying geography at uni or maybe architecture. However, I am not sure what career geography would lead me into and for architecture I am not sure I would fully enjoy it as I don't want a very tiring office based job. I do love human geography, however I am not interested in finding a political based job. I have recently started to enjoy physical geography too and I am interested in fields like Marine Biology, Ecology or Environmental sciences. However, I don't think I can pursue these careers without A levels biology or chem and to be very honest I don't enjoy science gcse at all. What other career paths would you recommend? Also I am not 100 percent sure if I should keep maths. I am currently on a grade 6 right now based off of my last mock with little effort in revising. I am predicted a 7 which is good but not necessarily a Level standard. I do enjoy maths sometimes but I am not sure if A level maths would make me hate it, its also a bit boring sometimes and i hate graphs. I honestly want to keep maths as im not sure if id regret not taking it but also i know it opens a lot of doors and just doing 2 languages and geography might make me jobless?
And last but not least I have 2 top choice schools and I am unsure which one to go to here's my list of pros and cons:
School A:
-about 30 minutes away with 2 buses about 6 stops in each bus (a bit far if im planning to work, especially after school hours, can be tiring)
-offered me spanish french geography
-I know more people who go here and the school community is more diverse (ig i might like the people here better)
-quite a strict school
-formal dress code (require students to wear blazers)
-really good extracurricular and super curricular program
-amazing grades achieved way above national average
School B:
-15 mins away from me with 1 bus for about 8 stops (close to me, once again great if im planning to work near my house)
-offered me maths geography spanish and french
-A less diverse school (not sure if the people there match my vibe
-Not strict, No detentions
-No smart dress code
-good extracurricular and super curricular program
-good a level results above national average
-a primary school, secondary skl and sixth form attached to each other so I may struggle finding friends

My advice would be take subjects that you actually enjoy and dont worry too much about what careers they will lead to, the job market is going to have changed by the time youve finished uni anyway and if you take subjects that you love there should be a degree and a career path that you will enjoy based on those subjects.
With your interest in ecology/env sci/marine bio, if you do not like gcse science then you will not like these subjects- they are all sciences, just applied to a more geography based context in some cases!
Maths is a very tricky a level, i wouldnt recommend you to take if youre not getting at least a 7 consistently without too much trouble. Disliking graphs will be a big issue- a heck of a lot of the questions will be graph based across the majority of the topics (especially algebra, geometry, stats and expos&logs off the top of my head).

Reply 2

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

19

Original post

by khadija55075

Hello,
I am currently in year 11 and close to sitting my GCSEs. I have applied to some schools for next year with the A level combination Geography, Spanish, French and Maths. I know this combo is a bit random but I do really enjoy all of these subjects. Although I'm not 100 percent sure If i’ll keep all 4 subjects, if that's too much, l'd either drop maths or one of the languages. However, I'm not sure on what career path I want to take, I was either thinking of studying geography at uni or maybe architecture. However, I am not sure what career geography would lead me into and for architecture I am not sure I would fully enjoy it as I don't want a very tiring office based job. I do love human geography, however I am not interested in finding a political based job. I have recently started to enjoy physical geography too and I am interested in fields like Marine Biology, Ecology or Environmental sciences. However, I don't think I can pursue these careers without A levels biology or chem and to be very honest I don't enjoy science gcse at all. What other career paths would you recommend? Also I am not 100 percent sure if I should keep maths. I am currently on a grade 6 right now based off of my last mock with little effort in revising. I am predicted a 7 which is good but not necessarily a Level standard. I do enjoy maths sometimes but I am not sure if A level maths would make me hate it, its also a bit boring sometimes and i hate graphs. I honestly want to keep maths as im not sure if id regret not taking it but also i know it opens a lot of doors and just doing 2 languages and geography might make me jobless?
And last but not least I have 2 top choice schools and I am unsure which one to go to here's my list of pros and cons:
School A:
-about 30 minutes away with 2 buses about 6 stops in each bus (a bit far if im planning to work, especially after school hours, can be tiring)
-offered me spanish french geography
-I know more people who go here and the school community is more diverse (ig i might like the people here better)
-quite a strict school
-formal dress code (require students to wear blazers)
-really good extracurricular and super curricular program
-amazing grades achieved way above national average
School B:
-15 mins away from me with 1 bus for about 8 stops (close to me, once again great if im planning to work near my house)
-offered me maths geography spanish and french
-A less diverse school (not sure if the people there match my vibe
-Not strict, No detentions
-No smart dress code
-good extracurricular and super curricular program
-good a level results above national average
-a primary school, secondary skl and sixth form attached to each other so I may struggle finding friends

You could start with all 4 subjects and see how you go. Then you could drop maths if it turns out to be too hard.
Career wise- how about teaching? Or something language based? You could even go into teaching geography or a language.

Reply 3

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

18

Original post

by khadija55075

Hello,
I am currently in year 11 and close to sitting my GCSEs. I have applied to some schools for next year with the A level combination Geography, Spanish, French and Maths. I know this combo is a bit random but I do really enjoy all of these subjects. Although I'm not 100 percent sure If i’ll keep all 4 subjects, if that's too much, l'd either drop maths or one of the languages. However, I'm not sure on what career path I want to take, I was either thinking of studying geography at uni or maybe architecture. However, I am not sure what career geography would lead me into and for architecture I am not sure I would fully enjoy it as I don't want a very tiring office based job. I do love human geography, however I am not interested in finding a political based job. I have recently started to enjoy physical geography too and I am interested in fields like Marine Biology, Ecology or Environmental sciences. However, I don't think I can pursue these careers without A levels biology or chem and to be very honest I don't enjoy science gcse at all. What other career paths would you recommend? Also I am not 100 percent sure if I should keep maths. I am currently on a grade 6 right now based off of my last mock with little effort in revising. I am predicted a 7 which is good but not necessarily a Level standard. I do enjoy maths sometimes but I am not sure if A level maths would make me hate it, its also a bit boring sometimes and i hate graphs. I honestly want to keep maths as im not sure if id regret not taking it but also i know it opens a lot of doors and just doing 2 languages and geography might make me jobless?
And last but not least I have 2 top choice schools and I am unsure which one to go to here's my list of pros and cons:
School A:
-about 30 minutes away with 2 buses about 6 stops in each bus (a bit far if im planning to work, especially after school hours, can be tiring)
-offered me spanish french geography
-I know more people who go here and the school community is more diverse (ig i might like the people here better)
-quite a strict school
-formal dress code (require students to wear blazers)
-really good extracurricular and super curricular program
-amazing grades achieved way above national average
School B:
-15 mins away from me with 1 bus for about 8 stops (close to me, once again great if im planning to work near my house)
-offered me maths geography spanish and french
-A less diverse school (not sure if the people there match my vibe
-Not strict, No detentions
-No smart dress code
-good extracurricular and super curricular program
-good a level results above national average
-a primary school, secondary skl and sixth form attached to each other so I may struggle finding friends

Hi!!

Your A-Level choices sound awesome!! I did Maths, Geography and Spanish for my A-Levels, and now am studying Physical Geography at Lancaster University, so I can help you from my experience in getting to where I am, currently in my 2nd Year of study! I'm afraid I cannot advise you on architecture because of this... But I will try my best with Geography!
Geography can take you into many different career pathways, ranging from logistics, to politics, to volcanology, meaning there'll most likely be something for you within this subject! Also, A-Levels in Chemistry and Biology are not required to be able to get to study Geography at Lancaster! In first year, for those, like me, who didn't do Chemistry, i did a module introducing me to chemistry at Uni.

The only requirements for A-Levels that you need to take for Ecology and Environmental Science at Lancaster University are as follows:
Any 2 of: Biology, Chemistry, Computing, Environmental Science, Geography, Geology, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology.

However for Geography Courses:
Recommended Geography, or alternatively 1 of the following: Biology, Chemistry, Classics, Economics, English Literature, Environmental Studies, Geology, History, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Sociology.

So you don't necessarily need any other subjects other than Geography to get into these degrees here at Lancaster!

It is also possible to take a year out before University to take another A-Level, so if you end up dropping one, but really want it, or need it to get onto a course of your choice, you can always take it in a gap year after your A-Levels.

If you put little effort into revising for maths, and got a 6, that's fantastic, because if you properly focus on this, that grade can easily rise, and while A-Level Maths is hard, so is every other subject, and as long as you spend lots of time concentrating and working on it, you can absolutely smash it, and don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it.

For the Schools question, it seems like there's some serious positives for both, and that decision is completely up to you. If it helps though, as one of those schools didn't offer maths, like with Chemistry, many people on my course did not take A-Level Maths, and thus there are Maths modules to help people catch up, or you can take it seperately in another year after your A-Levels!

Hope this helps! And good luck on your GCSEs!!
James (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

Reply 4

dariyan0002

7

Original post

by khadija55075

Hello,
I am currently in year 11 and close to sitting my GCSEs. I have applied to some schools for next year with the A level combination Geography, Spanish, French and Maths. I know this combo is a bit random but I do really enjoy all of these subjects. Although I'm not 100 percent sure If i’ll keep all 4 subjects, if that's too much, l'd either drop maths or one of the languages. However, I'm not sure on what career path I want to take, I was either thinking of studying geography at uni or maybe architecture. However, I am not sure what career geography would lead me into and for architecture I am not sure I would fully enjoy it as I don't want a very tiring office based job. I do love human geography, however I am not interested in finding a political based job. I have recently started to enjoy physical geography too and I am interested in fields like Marine Biology, Ecology or Environmental sciences. However, I don't think I can pursue these careers without A levels biology or chem and to be very honest I don't enjoy science gcse at all. What other career paths would you recommend? Also I am not 100 percent sure if I should keep maths. I am currently on a grade 6 right now based off of my last mock with little effort in revising. I am predicted a 7 which is good but not necessarily a Level standard. I do enjoy maths sometimes but I am not sure if A level maths would make me hate it, its also a bit boring sometimes and i hate graphs. I honestly want to keep maths as im not sure if id regret not taking it but also i know it opens a lot of doors and just doing 2 languages and geography might make me jobless?
And last but not least I have 2 top choice schools and I am unsure which one to go to here's my list of pros and cons:
School A:
-about 30 minutes away with 2 buses about 6 stops in each bus (a bit far if im planning to work, especially after school hours, can be tiring)
-offered me spanish french geography
-I know more people who go here and the school community is more diverse (ig i might like the people here better)
-quite a strict school
-formal dress code (require students to wear blazers)
-really good extracurricular and super curricular program
-amazing grades achieved way above national average
School B:
-15 mins away from me with 1 bus for about 8 stops (close to me, once again great if im planning to work near my house)
-offered me maths geography spanish and french
-A less diverse school (not sure if the people there match my vibe
-Not strict, No detentions
-No smart dress code
-good extracurricular and super curricular program
-good a level results above national average
-a primary school, secondary skl and sixth form attached to each other so I may struggle finding friends

Hi!

This might be a bit of a pessimistic response in comparison to the others. I'm in year 13 and I took maths solely because I saw that it was a required subject for some of the uni courses I was interested in doing and because it was a 'respected' a level, thinking it will widen my prospects after 6th form. I was thinking between taking German or Maths and ended up picking the latter. I got a 7 at GCSE and I struggle quite a lot in maths and its very hard to catch up on topics if you lose motivation to keep up with the material (at least for me). I find maths interesting and I used to love it at GCSE and as a subject in general but I think I would have been better off by not taking maths and I would have had a better time in sixth form overall. There's a lot of tiktoks and memes going around with the general consensus that you spend most of your free time at school doing maths if it is one of your a levels. I can say that really is the case for a lot of people including me. I also want to add that, in GCSE you learn about the pure side of maths and in A level you have mechanics ands statistics which people struggle with.

The mistake I did when I was in your position is I solely picked maths thinking it will widen my future prospects, not because I enjoyed it. I even started off with Further Maths and Physics for the same reason. You realise sooner rather than later that picking subjects just because they'll widen your future prosects is not a good idea because you'll start hating your time at school and then you realise that you'll probably feel the same at uni and your future job if you pick a course/job based of the same ideology. After trying further maths and physics for a bit, I switched them to do English Lit (a subject I enjoyed a lot more at GCSE but also got a 7 in) and now I'm at the top of my class and have a higher predicted grade in it in comparison to maths, not necessarily because I found it easy but because I enjoy the subject and I actually want to spend time revising and learning more about it in my spare time (something which is necessary for a level).

Of course, if you have amazing time management and discipline, unlike me, and have genuine interest in learning more about maths post GCSE, I don't see why you shouldn't take it for A levels as, you are right, it opens many doors for you.

As others have said, I would start with 4 and drop the one.

Reply 5

Fayth1234

9

What about urban planning as a career path?

Reply 6

UEA Rep Jas

Official Rep

10

Hi there!

I'm currently a third year Ecology and Conservation student at UEA, and I did no science A-levels, so I can definitely tell you a little bit about routes into ecology. I did all of my A-levels in humanities/social sciences, and I still ended up here, so there's no pressure to 'get it right' at A-level, because there's always the option to change or switch things around afterwards, your career is not set in stone.

I definitely felt similarly to you at GCSE, I didn't really enjoy science, biology was my favourite of the three, but only really biology paper 2 (the ecology one!), the rest I didn't really love, but I wanted to do a biology a-level as I knew that's what I needed for a degree in an ecology field. That didn't end up happening (for reasons that are not relevant here), but after a gap year after my A-levels, I decided to do a foundation year in environmental sciences, to allow me to do a degree in ecology! This was something that was really worth it for me, but it certainly isn't the only route in. Some universities will allow experience in a relevant field in place of an academic background. For example, if you were able to accumulate enough volunteering in a conservation field, this may allow you to decide to pursue a degree in conservation, without the typical A-levels, as you would still have the relevant knowledge and skill set.

All that being said, UEA's BSc Ecology and Conservation Entry Requirements does allow for just geography (and two other subjects) at grades BBB, as a typical offer, to study the degree, so actually, your current subjects would be ok!

I love to recommend ecology, as it really is my passion, but before I go all in- what parts of science GCSE do you enjoy less? What do you enjoy more? And what draws you in to ecology/marine biology? Both of these are quite broad fields, so I might be able to recommend more specific areas, that might be worth you looking into!

Overall, I think you'll be ok keeping your current A-levels, they will open up a lot of areas of further study for you, but if you did decide that you want a career in ecology, that would totally be possible!

I hope this helps a bit, please let me know if you have any questions, or need any further advice!

Jas :smile:

UEA Rep

Reply 7

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

19

Original post

by khadija55075

Hello,
I am currently in year 11 and close to sitting my GCSEs. I have applied to some schools for next year with the A level combination Geography, Spanish, French and Maths. I know this combo is a bit random but I do really enjoy all of these subjects. Although I'm not 100 percent sure If i’ll keep all 4 subjects, if that's too much, l'd either drop maths or one of the languages. However, I'm not sure on what career path I want to take, I was either thinking of studying geography at uni or maybe architecture. However, I am not sure what career geography would lead me into and for architecture I am not sure I would fully enjoy it as I don't want a very tiring office based job. I do love human geography, however I am not interested in finding a political based job. I have recently started to enjoy physical geography too and I am interested in fields like Marine Biology, Ecology or Environmental sciences. However, I don't think I can pursue these careers without A levels biology or chem and to be very honest I don't enjoy science gcse at all. What other career paths would you recommend? Also I am not 100 percent sure if I should keep maths. I am currently on a grade 6 right now based off of my last mock with little effort in revising. I am predicted a 7 which is good but not necessarily a Level standard. I do enjoy maths sometimes but I am not sure if A level maths would make me hate it, its also a bit boring sometimes and i hate graphs. I honestly want to keep maths as im not sure if id regret not taking it but also i know it opens a lot of doors and just doing 2 languages and geography might make me jobless?
And last but not least I have 2 top choice schools and I am unsure which one to go to here's my list of pros and cons:
School A:
-about 30 minutes away with 2 buses about 6 stops in each bus (a bit far if im planning to work, especially after school hours, can be tiring)
-offered me spanish french geography
-I know more people who go here and the school community is more diverse (ig i might like the people here better)
-quite a strict school
-formal dress code (require students to wear blazers)
-really good extracurricular and super curricular program
-amazing grades achieved way above national average
School B:
-15 mins away from me with 1 bus for about 8 stops (close to me, once again great if im planning to work near my house)
-offered me maths geography spanish and french
-A less diverse school (not sure if the people there match my vibe
-Not strict, No detentions
-No smart dress code
-good extracurricular and super curricular program
-good a level results above national average
-a primary school, secondary skl and sixth form attached to each other so I may struggle finding friends

You could start with all 4 subjects and see how you go. Then in the first few weeks decide what to drop.
Geography wise, could you go into teaching?
Languages are always useful and you can go into several different things with it.

Reply 8

Cindyquack

6

For the career path, I personally would advise you to go into architecture. There are lots of different routes within architecture that you can choose to work into, of which may can also relate to both physical and human geography. Also, I would assume that the workload depends on what type of company you get into since smaller and bigger companies have different workloads and work ethics.

However, I am slightly biased as architecture is the path that I am planning to go down (I’m also in year 11 currently) and I’m not very sure about geography since I am not taking it for GCSE

Best of luck for your GCSE :smile:

Reply 9

Cindyquack

6

Original post

by Cindyquack

For the career path, I personally would advise you to go into architecture. There are lots of different routes within architecture that you can choose to work into, of which may can also relate to both physical and human geography. Also, I would assume that the workload depends on what type of company you get into since smaller and bigger companies have different workloads and work ethics.
However, I am slightly biased as architecture is the path that I am planning to go down (I’m also in year 11 currently) and I’m not very sure about geography since I am not taking it for GCSE
Best of luck for your GCSE :smile:

There is also a chance to drop maths even if you go down the architecture route as many/most unis do not have a specific requirement of subjects (you might need some proof for art though)

sixth form/A level combo

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Articles for you

How The Student Room is moderated