How can I decide which A levels to take if I want to study Psychology in the future

[weak token]

So hi this might be a bit lengthy, I am thinking of studying psychology in the future as I have always found it interesting and finance wise it does provide well. However, my school had not even offered psychology as an IGCSE since my school is relatively new. I still think though that is what i truely want to study. The next problem is that I don't know what to take for my other A levels. I am thinking of taking 3 A levels and 1 AS. I have heard that a degree in psychology would require A levels in psychology itself, and that taking either math or a science would help if not be required. This is why I am considering taking 1. Psychology 2. English lit(not that I am sure of any benefits I simply enjoy it) 3. and having this spot up for decision 4. choosing either math or most likely biology as an AS. for spot number 3 I'm not sure what to add I could make one of the AS an A level that way I could do both the science(most likely Biology) and math. Any help is appreciated since I'm struggling to choose for reference my grades in my last year mocks were:
English: 6
Math: 6
Chemistry: 5
Physics: 4
Biology: 7
DT: 4(it was revealed that our teacher wasn't actually doing any work before he got fired so I don't count that considering a kid who is known for not doing a lot of work got a 9)
Computer Science: 5
Spanish: 9
Just incase it may help I also have my mock results from December which are not so pleasant to look at but I am willing to share if it can help offer guidance. Thank you so much for listening to this long cry for help and I wish all of you a pleasant day.

[crystal spruce]

hi there! i can see that you're very keen on psych and it's completely fine to not have igcse psych since many people who do al psych don't have the igcse counterpart

if you're thinking of 3AL and 1 AS i personally would suggest psych, eng lit, bio and maths or another subject of your passion/interest, this being the combo that you've already talked about

make sure that psych, eng lit and bio are your ALs as universities always require al psych and though they accept at least one science or maths, a science is usually more sought out for

honestly i think that you should stick to just 3 ALs instead of having that fourth AS because majority of unis ask for 3 and because the fourth is only at AS, it won't really be of much value unless you make it a full AL by either taking A2 or taking another subject at AS. i have a friend who wants to pursue psychology and takes psych, eng lit, bio and phys (which was later dropped) so i think that 3 subject combo is quite good

for your fourth, other than maths you can also take spanish if you'd like

you would struggle at the start of as maths since you don't have addmaths or i assume you're edexcel by your roles, fpm

[crystal spruce]

or even another subject that you didn't do in igcse but want to take out of interest

if not then just stick to 3, it's perfectly reasonable

[crystal spruce]

for example, i am taking al econs but i didn't take ig econs

[weak token]

Thank you so much for the university and A level help i really needed that, for the sciences ive seen online that I should have an A level in one of the sciences but it never specified if bio is more useful than the others. I would assume that it is for obvious reasons but if it does truly hold the same weight as the others I would consider taking physics instead because from what I have heard bio is the hardest A level and the scares me slightly

[young beacon]

Gave +1 Rep to 17269 (967)

[weak token]

I wanted to take spanish, and it was the first thing i was sure on since i got that grade 9 but my school won't offer Spanish for some reason and even if it did I would have probably been the only person taking it

[weak token]

yeah we didn't get offered add maths nor further maths( further maths might come as an a level option but i would like to keep my sanity)

[crystal spruce]

uh well bio is the most related science there is to psych, if you decided to take chem or phys instead of bio i'm pretty sure that it's valued in the same way because then again they ask for a science in general, not a specific science

i can't say that bio is the hardest, it is the heaviest in terms of theory but i've seen many more people complain about chem or phys compared to bio so it's very subjective

[crystal spruce]

can you list out the subjects that your school is offering you for a levels?

[crystal spruce]

a level further maths would be completely unnecessary if you're heading into psych

[weak token]

Maths
Further Maths( maybe)
English Language
English Literature
Bio
Phys
Chem
Geography( wasn't originally an IGCSE)
DT
Computer Science( both branches i think it was IT and something else)
Art
Music( maybe)
Psychology (wasn't originally an IGCSE)

[weak token]

before the a level option anouncments we were told that we might have been given a level drama, I also know a girl in my grade who said if enough people ask for it A level law is a thing\

[weak token]

Ill do some research on what subject covers exactly what

[crystal spruce]

okay so in my opinion, your subject pool consists of math, eng lang, eng lit, bio, phys, chem, psych and geo

[crystal spruce]

if you're interested in al law you could but do note that al psych is a very heavy essay based subject and so is law therefore if you're not the keenest of having many essay based subs then stick to psych and eng lit

eng lit is also considered an essay based subject

[crystal spruce]

if i remember correctly, as psych is more science orientated and a2 psych is more of a humanity

[weak token]

Honestly, I am interested in law and i know that depending on the type it can tie in with psychology to be useful, the thing im trying to avoid though is the long process of time and money to get a job, which is why im certain I wouldn't go into a proper doctor position. So law school would have a similiar route to it but i would be more willing to do that atleast

[crystal spruce]

forensic psych would be a great example of what ties in law and psych

unfortunately i don't think you can avoid the long process of studying as you'd usually need a master's to find a job in psych

[weak token]

yeah, annoying part about my school is that they are doing cambridge psychology, meanwhile the sister school is doing AQA which has the "fun stuff" like bulimia, anorexia, and relationships

[crystal spruce]

if you're aiming for law, you can sort of keep the same combo or switch it up a little

[weak token]

lol, i was watching a psych2go video on recommendations for jobs and they said that pretty much

[weak token]

I would but im not so sure the school would manage to get law in to the options by september

[crystal spruce]

since there are many many psych grads

[crystal spruce]

for a law degree, al law is not required at all

some unis don't even like if you have al law

they would prefer if you had other subjects

but if you're heading for law then psych, eng lit and maths would great

or you could have bio instead of maths to keep the psych option open

[crystal spruce]

they prefer essay based subs

or maths

[weak token]

Like you mentioned before though I don't know what would be to much for me to handle, cause i have heard aswell the maths is a really hard A level but at the same time i have heard that it is somehow fun. the problem is my brain generally sucks in math and rarely has motivation to study for it on my own. I dont mind going to after school classes to get help with my teachers its just that I have close to no motivation for it

[weak token]

Probably essay based or anything logical really

[crystal spruce]

they accept sciences but they mainly want essay based because those subs test your language, critical thinking and interpretation

[crystal spruce]

for al maths, as i've said prior the start will be hard but with enough practice you'll definitely get the hang of it

having no motivation however will be an issue

because if you're not motivated then it's quite hard to study for it and that is a problem especially in a levels

[weak token]

ok so im going to try to cross things out

Maths
Further Maths
English Language
English Literature
Bio
Phys
Chem
Geography
DT
Computer Science
Art
Music
Psychology

im intrested in comp sci but dont think i would do it in the future nor could it work with anthing else in anyway

So that leaves
Lit
Bio
Phys
Psych

i would also need to then talk to somebody of school staff to see if this is applicapble to allow me to get a governmental scholarship

[crystal spruce]

lit and psych i assume will be a definite

so it's between phys or bio for your third AL

unless you decide on 4 ALs

which is a very heavy workload

i would suggest 3

unless you're aiming for a scholarship at the uni

then 4

[weak token]

I want to avoid that since I am doin 2 government mandatory subject anyways

[weak token]

4 shouldn't be required considering my circumstances

[crystal spruce]

ohh alright so sticking to 3 would be great

since you're starting in sept you have plenty of time to do research on unis and figure out your subject combo

[weak token]

True but i think the actual submission is due soon, so they can decide what teachers to hire'

[bleak portal]

u can get into law with those 3???

[crystal spruce]

yeah ofc

you can do sciences and get into law