NationStates Jolt Archive

We had our first PSHCE lesson on our A-Levels today and where told that we had to make a list of subjects we might take, I'm allowed four:

My predicted GCSE results:

English Lit.:A*
English Language:C
Maths:B
Science(Double Award):A-A*
History: A*
Humanitys: A
French: D
Exp. Arts: B
F.T:C

I personally prefer English, Science and History, but I have no idea which courses to take, Little help?

you say you like English, Sciences and History

thats what your predicted grades say youre good at, if i were you i would go with English Lit, History (i did those two for A Level), and your favourite science

I agree with Nadkor, but be careful re: the sciences. I can't speak from personal experience, but friends of mine who did double award then had some trouble with taking science A levels (not the same depth as in triple award). Some other friends didn't though, and since your expected grade is high, hopefully you'll be in that camp.

I did English Lit at A level myself - highly recommended, so long as your exam body is not Edexcel!!! (*Remembers fuck-ups thanks to them bitterly*). Anyway, best of luck.

I did English Lit at A level myself - highly recommended, so long as your exam body is not Edexcel!!! (*Remembers fuck-ups thanks to them bitterly*). Anyway, best of luck.
we did CCEA and it wasnt exactly easy ;)

was good though

I can only really offer advice viz a viz science - but it would be good to know which science A-levels you are considering: they are rather different, after all! So, if you'd care to tell?

Find out what science board your school uses. My school did Bio and Physics OCR and my dad gave Edexcel Chem. All I can say in terms of coursework I am so glad I did Chem. Bio and Phys coursework was one big experiment that took months of work and always came out with wrong results/maggots died/ etc.
History check the era. Once again check the coursework.
English Lit. is fun, but remember you have word limits on cwk now if that is going to be a problem.
Consider what you want to do for Uni...you can cut down your options drastically.

I can only really offer advice viz a viz science - but it would be good to know which science A-levels you are considering: they are rather different, after all! So, if you'd care to tell?
Chemistry and Biology

Chemistry and Biology
The lack of single subject science GCSE's shouldn't be too much of a problem, I shouldn't think; so long as everyone in your class did them as well, your teacher will (or should, if they are competant) fill you in on the bits you missed - and compared to A-level, those bits will be so small that the extra learning will make no difference really.

Now, onto the subjects... Well, chemistry I would say is the easier of the two at A-level - but then, I am now doing a chemistry degree, so perhaps I am not the safest source. Certainly, chemistry is less work: biology A-level involves an ENORMOUS amount of learning. It truly is a mammoth undertaking. That said, though, most of it is very interesting, and although I sometimes wondered at the time why I was taking it, I am so glad now that I did. Even the basic stuff you do at A-level will enormously enhance your understanding of what you are and how you work.

Chemistry, whilst interesting, is perhaps less fundamental at A-level. Because it is a physical science, most of the more fundamental bits are too complicated, and you get the very basics (although to be fair it will seem advanced and difficult) and what Terry Pratchett calls "lies-to-children" instead. On balance, if you are looking to expand your mind, you should probably choose biology; though, that said, ideally, choose both if you can - they are both fabulous, and well-respected by employers, universities etc. None of this Arts rubbish!!

If you are considering taking one of them (or both, if you were to do Natural Sciences) to degree level, then that changes things a little. But I can't be bothered to write about all that until I know for sure, so if you are then say. If not, I hope this helps.

I got good results in History, English and Sciences (to name a few), and I took Government and Politics. Best decision I ever made. It is THE BEST subject by far...although that could have something to do with my amazing teacher.

Years ago ( many, many years ago), my best subject were History, Eng Lit, and Languages. My degree? BS/MS in Biology, specifically genetics. The chemistry part of science was the killer for me, but it worked out. Do something difficult, and you'll always have something to fall back on should a job in what you LIKE to do becomes scarce.

and I took Government and Politics. Best decision I ever made. It is THE BEST subject by far...
Yeah, I loved it too. If you like English and History, it is probably something you'd enjoy.

My advice, as a current year 12, is to take the subject you like and enjoy. I am doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Psychology. Maths, compared to GCSE is hard, but you learn a lot and cope. Chemistry for me is my hardest subject, although I am still achieving As and Bs. I didnt take biology simply because I don't like it. Take what you enjoy and you really can not fail :)

I'd take English and History definitely. A science? Careful , you may well have to do catch-up work. I'd advise you to do two subjects which i do, and find extremely interesting: Classical Civilisations and Economics.

Science(Double Award):A-A*

I thought both grades had to be the same with dual award. Anyway, for science I have been told bio invloves alot of essays. If you do chemistry be carefull of which board, OCR is suppsoed to have mammouth coursework while edexcel is only a pratical exam (I do currenly find chemistry my hardest subject out of chem, physics, maths and further maths). Physics isn't to hard so far, I do the OCR course and the course works are only a week (similar in length to the GCSE maths coursework), quite a bit of the physics involves maths though so it depends how comfortable with that you are to some extent. As to the dual award problem if you don't change schools you will be fine, if you do there will be a few things you have missed but its not all that significant.
Maths does get harder but I have found most of it ok so far although I may not be the best judge as I intend to do it at uni.
I have been told that history and english involve alot of essays but if you can manage that then go for it.

If you are considering taking one of them (or both, if you were to do Natural Sciences) to degree level, then that changes things a little. But I can't be bothered to write about all that until I know for sure, so if you are then say. If not, I hope this helps.
In fact, since you are offline at the moment and therefore can't tell me, I feel responsible to tell you anyway, in case I don't come back on here for a few days. What you must know is this: for all that you may be given advice that you should take a variety of subjects to "keep your options open", this does NOT work in practise if you decide to take a science degree. Most degree courses in Chemistry (and I think in Biology too) demand as an entry requirement at least one other science at A-level, and preferably two (Maths counts as a science, in case you didn't realise). You might get in with less, but not to a good department, unless you are really stunning aside from that.

In addition, you really can't do a chemistry degree without maths A-level. Not all departments demand it, but they will look more favourably on your application if you do have it, and you don't stand much chance of getting into Oxbridge or Durham (third best chemistry department in UK) without it; further, if you don't have it you will REALLY struggle with the maths in the first year of the degree.

Also: chemistry is useful if you want to take a biology degree; the reverse is not true, except to fill the "two further sciences" slot on your UCAS application.

I only make such a point about this because it wasn't emphasised enough to me, and it was only really by luck that I ended up with the A-levels to go where I wanted to go. Just taking what you like is fine if you are aiming for an arts degree, I think, but for a science degree you have to choose all of your subjects carefully.

Of course, all of this may be irrelevent to you, but ho hum.