Do I have a career in mind which requires particular subjects?
Are there any new subjects that interest me?
Your choice of subjects is an important decision - your future
career could depend upon it.
Take account of the preferences of universities and degree courses
you may be interested in.
Our advice
As a guide, the
three subjects that you intend to continue into the second year
should be the ones that you feel most enthusiastic and confident
about since you will be taking these at the higher level.
You should also consider university departments’ admissions
policies. These are published in the university and department
prospectuses and on their websites. The most popular and prestigious
universities and subjects may well declare preferences for particular
subjects and may not accept certain subject combinations. If
you wish to keep your options open to apply to these courses,
you are strongly advised to take these into account.
Which subjects go best together?
Some combinations may be desirable or even essential for a
particular career. Some subjects support each other well,
while you may wish to
think about other combinations very carefully because of the
large amount of practical work out of lesson time that they
entail. The fourth AS subject (which is usually studied for
only one year) could be chosen to support the other three.
However, do consider getting extra breadth by doing a contrasting
subject, for instance a language or humanities subject with
sciences. All these issues will be discussed upon application.
Choosing your A&AS level combination