Philosophy, Pyschology and Sociology

Discussion and advice on Sixth Form matters

Moderators: Section Moderators, Forum Moderators

11 Plus Platform - Online Practice Makes Perfect - Try Now
Daogroupie
Posts: 11100
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Philosophy, Pyschology and Sociology

Post by Daogroupie »

What is the current thinking on these three A levels? Are they considered hard or soft options? Which one would be considered the most academic and best fit for an English degree? Thanks DG
hermanmunster
Posts: 12820
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:51 am
Location: The Seaside

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by hermanmunster »

I reckon philosophy has the most kudos and would help with structuring arguments in any subject
Daogroupie
Posts: 11100
Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 3:01 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by Daogroupie »

What about English language A level? What would be better Eng Lang or Philsophy to go alongside English Lit and History? DG
Looking for help
Posts: 3767
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
Location: Berkshire

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by Looking for help »

I don't think universities accept both English Language and Literature, it's either/or.
Philosophy would be my preferred option out of your three subjects.
FreddySam
Posts: 14
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 1:37 pm

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by FreddySam »

I teach psychology and sociology. Psychology is more scientific and includes biological topics. Sociology is focussed on contemporary issues and is based on the ability to develop reasoned arguements. I have had students who have taken both these subjects and then gone on to study English at Uni but sociology seems to fit particularly well as you are using very similar skills (true also of history). Last year we had a student who took English, Sociology and History and they went on to study History at Cambridge. My advice is to take the subject you are most interested in.
p.s. At my school sociology achieves better results than psychology (maybe something for you to look into)
yoyo123
Posts: 8099
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:32 pm
Location: East Kent

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by yoyo123 »

Master yoyo has philosophy A level with English and psychology , he is starting a degree in philosophy, they are not easy options...
Y
Posts: 463
Joined: Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:49 pm

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by Y »

A bit off-topic, but why would it be either/or for English Lit and English Language? What is in the English language syllabus? Isn't it linguistics-based? If so, it's quite a different beast to English Lit.
sherry_d
Posts: 2083
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 4:38 pm
Location: Maidstone

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by sherry_d »

This might help Daogroupie

http://www.policyexchange.org.uk/images ... _Truth.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The hard truth: a snapshot
• At Oxford, more students were accepted in 2007-08 with Further Mathematics A-level (711) than Accounting,
Art & Design, Business Studies, Communication Studies, Design & Technology, Drama/Theatre Studies, Film
Studies, Home Economics, ICT, Law, Media Studies, Music Technology, Psychology, Sociology, Sports
Studies/Physical Education and Travel & Tourism A-level combined (overall 494 of these subjects were
accepted).
• Biology, Chemistry, Further Mathematics, Mathematics and Physics comprised close to half of all accepted Alevels for Bristol (49.8%) and UCL (46.9%).
• More than three times as many Economics A-levels (640) were accepted at Nottingham University than
Sociology (193) or Drama/Theatre Studies (165). These two subjects are both more popular than Economics at
A-level in schools.
• More than four times as many A-levels were accepted in French at Warwick University (331) as in Law (82). Law
is more popular than French at A-level in schools.
• More than four times as many A-levels were accepted in Physics at Manchester University (1875) than in Media
and Film Studies combined (403).
More A-levels were accepted in Latin (272) at Oxford than Business Studies, Law, Psychology and Sociology
combined (214).
Some universities seem more generous torwards these subjects than others. Cardiff and Exeter for example seem to have a good number with psychology or sociology while Imperial and Oxford clearly hate these.
Sociology and Psychology
- Although they do not appear on the Cambridge or LSE non-preferred subject lists, we looked at Sociology and
Psychology because they are now so popular (Psychology is now the third most popular A-level excluding
General Studies), and because they remain the subject of considerable debate about their academic rigour.
Together these subjects comprise 10.2% of all A-levels studied by 16-18 year olds at school.
-However, at research-intensive universities these subjects comprised an average of 6.7% of A-levels accepted,
with 81% of all research-intensive universities falling below the 10.2% average uptake for schools.
-Uptake was particularly low for Imperial (0.7%), Oxford (1.2%) and St Andrews (2.9%).
Impossible is Nothing.
solimum
Posts: 1420
Joined: Wed May 09, 2007 3:09 pm
Location: Solihull, West Midlands

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Socialogy

Post by solimum »

Interesting figures. However it may to some extent reflect the A level choices of those pupils who have already decided they want to apply to the top universities, which will predominantly be from the sorts of schools which don't offer the "less approved" subjects anyway - becomes a vicious circle. As far as I know, they would not automatically exclude from consideration someone who was taking one such subject together with two or three more "respected" ones

Mind you, left to me everyone would do science & maths (perhaps with some music and an MFL) anyway!
ian35mm
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2008 8:04 pm

Re: Philosophy, Pyschology and Sociology

Post by ian35mm »

According to the RAE rankings of university research, Essex is one of the top 10 universities.

Massive Sociology department, with sociology very much a desired subject.

Like all reports, you have to know how to read them!
Post Reply