FAQs about A level choice – advice on choosing A levels

All A levels are now linear, examined at the end of the course. This has not significantly changed what you need to think about choosing subjects, though it may have lead to some changes in the programme your sixth form can offer. This is largely because, while AS exams still exist, fewer sixth forms are offering them, so the common pattern for bright students of taking 4 subjects in lower sixth, taking AS level in all and then dropping one for the final year is less common (and universities don’t expect it now). That’s not to say that life has got easier: universities still expect good students to take a challenging sixth-form programme, but the extra challenge is now often provided by extras such as the Extended Project Qualification, which counts as half an A level in terms of UCAS points

Unless your GCSE performance suggests that you are likely to struggle in the sixth-form you will probably be advised to take 3 A level subjects in lower sixth. You might be encouraged to take a fourth subject at AS if your GCSE results were very good, but the change to linear A levels has reduced the number of students who take 4 subjects in lower sixth. A further complication is the introduction of other sixth-form options such as the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) which some schools use with strong students instead of an extra lower sixth AS. Your chosen sixth form will certainly have a policy on sixth form subjects, so ask their advice.

University policies on what students are expected to offer are evolving. It remains true that ‘competitive’ universities want students to offer 3 A levels, but it’s now less clear whether it’s necessary to offer more than this. Much also depends on what individual sixth forms expect or allow students to do. In general our advice is that if you can cope with the workload, and if your sixth form allows it, it’s worth taking on something extra, whether that’s an AS, the EPQ etc. Competition for top university courses is intense, and it’s often the ‘extras’ that a student can offer which make the difference.

However, universities have said that you won’t be penalised if your sixth form’s programme doesn’t permit extra subjects, and we think it’s not worth taking on extras if your work in 3 A levels is likely to suffer.

If you don’t do reasonably well at GCSE, you may be better off sticking to a less challenging subject load in lower sixth. There are plenty of universities which will be happier with two good A level grades than three poor ones. Talk to your school about this, but if you are undecided it is probably better to start off with three A levels; it is easier to drop from three to two than it is to pick up an extra subject part-way through.

If one of your subjects turns out to be wrong for you, your college may well allow you to change so long as you do so early in lower sixth. Or you might decide it’s worth carrying on, if your college will let you drop it to an AS qualification. Talk to your teachers / head of year sooner rather than later if you think you’ve chosen the wrong subjects. They will probably insist that you stick with the programme long enough to really find out what it is like, but if you are still not happy more than a month after the course started you need to do something about it!

If this happens and it’s not possible to change, or if your end of first year results are really disappointing, you may face the need to change college or / and to restart the sixth-form. It is possible to do complete A levels in one year: most CIFE colleges offer one-year A level courses and are very happy to give advice.

In the old modular A levels the answer was ‘of course it is’ because the AS result counted as half of the final grade for the full A level. But when an A levels became ‘linear’ the AS mark no longer counted towards the A level mark. So why bother with AS now? There are two circumstances in which ‘linear’ AS might still be important to you.

One is if your sixth form expects you to take AS at end of lower sixth, en route for A level, as a progress marker. Colleges vary a great deal in how they examine students at the end of the first year, and many just set internal exams The other is if AS is offered as an ‘extra’ for students doing 3 A levels, or to add a qualification for those taking a two A level programme. Either way, you are likely to have to do what college policy dictates. ‘Linear’ AS grades do still get UCAS points, but not as many as they did (now only approximately 40% of the score for an A level). One point to bear in mind is that if your GCSE results were disappointing, a good AS grade might make a lot of difference to getting university offers later on, by proving you are more capable than your GCSE results suggest.

Universities will view the importance of an AS qualification in the context of how challenging your entire programme is, what your college says its policy is, and the grades you’re predicted to get.

Yes. They even might affect whether you can join your chosen sixth-form at all. They will certainly provide an important guide to how well you are likely to cope with particular subjects at A level, and they may influence the number of  subjects it is sensible to take on.

Even if you stay in the same school for sixth form you may find that there’s a general requirement you have to meet in order to start A levels. If you are moving to a new college there will almost certainly be some sort of entry requirement. If your GCSE predictions show that you will have trouble meeting the requirement you ought to have a Plan B, just in case you don’t get the GCSE results required.

The same applies to taking particular A levels. For most subjects you should have reached a particular level of skills and/or knowledge to succeed in the sixth form; for instance, you are likely to find Maths and French A levels very challenging if you have not been achieving grade 8/9 level in Year 11. Many sixth forms set minimum entry standards in such subjects. However, there are quite a few A levels which don’t require a specific GCSE background. Our advice pages on individual A level subjects gives details of the GCSE background each needs.

Your GCSE performance can also affect the general pattern of your course. As mentioned earlier, it might affect the number of subjects you take and if you discover you haven’t got grade 4 or better in  Maths or English GCSE you really ought to make room in your programme for retakes of these essential subjects.

You may be at a disadvantage applying for ‘academic’ degrees if universities think you are taking a less challenging A level programme. A narrow programme combination such as Business Studies, Economics and Accounting – subjects which are similar in approach and subject matter – is felt to be too easy. The same applies if your subjects do not include at least two different ‘academic’ A levels – see this article in the Guardian. Practical Art and Performing Arts certainly count as less academic, but the jury is out on subjects like Film and Media Studies. Of course this is less of a concern if you’re aiming at those areas for your degree.

Until recently there was a strong feeling that a student aiming at a top university should only take tough academic subjects – the so called ‘facilitating’ subjects published by the Russell Group of elite universities. In 2018 criticism of this potentially restrictive approach lead to the abandoning of the ‘facilitating’ emphasis, in favour of a more nuanced approach. The new Russell group subject guidance website, Informed Choices explains more and gives help with subject choice.

Cambridge University’s ‘Subject Matters’ advice summarises the issue as follows:

There are, of course, many other A Level subjects we haven’t mentioned at all in this leaflet. The fact that we haven’t mentioned them doesn’t mean that we think they’re not individually valuable. However, they’re either rather specialised in focus and so not a good choice if you’re looking to keep your options open, or else the way in which they’re taught and assessed means that they don’t provide a good preparation for the courses offered at the University of Cambridge. If you think you may want to apply to Cambridge, our advice is to ensure that among your three or four A Levels you’re doing no more than one of these other subjects.

Yes, though you might find some A level subjects provide you with relevant skills or complementary background. For example, if you want to do a Business degree you could take Business Studies A level (even though it’s not required it will show you what the subject is like), or you might go for A levels such as Economics, Politics, History which provide a wider context for the business world. Bear in mind the earlier answers about avoiding narrow programmes and ‘academic’ subjects.

If your college offers your subjects but they’re a ‘forbidden combination’ on the timetable, don’t just assume that’s the final word. Ask whether there’s any flexibility – the timetable may still be provisional. If a subject you want really is not available, look into similar subjects to check whether they may actually be just as enjoyable.

Only you can decide how much of a compromise is acceptable. If you’re really not happy with the options in front of you, do consider other sixth-forms. Some (most CIFE colleges for example) make a point of offering a wide a range of subjects with few restrictions on how you combine them.