Psychology at A level

[watford]

Dear All

Back again....

DD is taking psychology, RS, economics ( slight change from my last post!).

She wants to go into a finance related field but Is debating whether to change psychology back to her original choice of chemistry.

Having rung some universities Nottingham, Kings, Leeds, Birtmingham etc they say that she only needs the grades and the 7 in maths. A facilitating subject would not be advantageous for the course she wants to do.

How true is this? She enjoys both chemistry and psychology although finds psychology easier. She only had a few lessons though!

How true is this about about applying to universities without any facilitating subjects?

Thank you for all your help! This forum is amazing!!!!!

[Guest55]

My worry is that she may change her mind and restrict other choices. Economics tends not to be asked for - even for Economics degrees.

Is she totally against doing Maths? That would benefit any degree in this area and keep more doors open. Remember most unis will say choices don't rule you out but that does not mean you will be a strong candidate.

Put potential A levels in this: https://university.which.co.uk/a-level-explorer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[RedPanda]

One thing I noticed (back in the day) was that subjects with pupils who chose A-Levels that they hadn't studied at GCSE tended to have a higher proportion of less able students. Probably hoping for a new start that didn't always materialise That often affected the class dynamic and ultimately the teaching. Psychology/Economics could suffer from that.

All that said, if she enjoys the subject(s) then that is half the battle.

Agree with Guest, regarding maths.

[watford]

My worry is that she may change her mind and restrict other choices. Economics tends not to be asked for - even for Economics degrees.

Is she totally against doing Maths? That would benefit any degree in this area and keep more doors open. Remember most unis will say choices don't rule you out but that does not mean you will be a strong candidate.

Put potential A levels in this: https://university.which.co.uk/a-level-explorer" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thank you for the valuable input

She struggled with some of the maths at GCSE and so is reluctant to take it for a level. She is concerned that she may spend a lot of her time on maths at the expense of the other subjects which is what happened previously.

[watford]

One thing I noticed (back in the day) was that subjects with pupils who chose A-Levels that they hadn't studied at GCSE tended to have a higher proportion of less able students. Probably hoping for a new start that didn't always materialise That often affected the class dynamic and ultimately the teaching. Psychology/Economics could suffer from that.

All that said, if she enjoys the subject(s) then that is half the battle.

Agree with Guest, regarding maths.

Thank you, interesting point.

[kenyancowgirl]

She struggled with some of the maths at GCSE and so is reluctant to take it for a level. She is concerned that she may spend a lot of her time on maths at the expense of the other subjects which is what happened previously.

Then she may find that down the line she doesn't like Psychology.....40% of Psychology is Statistics (I always find teachers tend to gloss over that bit when they are "selling" the subject to prospective students....)

[Guest55]

Yes, Psychology involves a lot of maths - the maths team used to teach that bit of the syllabus.

[RedPanda]

40% of Psychology is Statistics

There is a joke in there somewhere

[anotherdad]

...and 60% of statistics is psychology. Trust me.

[kenyancowgirl]