Choosing A-levels without a specific degree in mind

I thought I knew what I wanted to do at university, but suddenly, I had no clue! With Year 12 starting in only a few months, GCSE’s quickly approaching and Results Day just around the corner, reality started to hit. How would I make one of the most important decisions of picking my A-level options if I didn’t know what I wanted to do at university? This is the exact challenge I faced in Year 11 and 12 but eventually, I figured it out! Here’s how I did it.

The degree I thought I’d choose

As cliché as it sounds, from a young age, I had always loved watching movies and TV shows, until I reached an age where I found the making and production of my favourite works to be enjoyable too. After dabbling in short film making, running a filmmaking group and a film club, those most obvious choice of degree was… Film! Since then, I found it so important to choose A-levels that would only help me in my higher education. However, being an indecisive person (which many can relate to... right!?) I started to doubt my choices and felt trapped in my choice of only studying creative subjects. Fearing that I would be stuck in one pathway, I found a way to leave the door open for future-me to make decisions about what I wanted to do at university for certain.

The A-levels I chose

When I got the phone call on GCSE Results Day from my school, asking about my subject choices, I rashly decided to opt for 4 A-levels as I could not pick between two of my choices. I started Year 12 as a student of English Literature, Media Studies, Psychology and Sociology. Just as I predicted, the workload caught up to me, and I knew that I had to drop one so I could give my full attention to the others. For some, 4 (or even 5!) A-levels are suitable for them and that is okay. But doing just the 3 is perfectly okay too if that’s what works for you. So, within a month of Year 12, I dropped Psychology as it interested me the least and I instantly felt more engaged with my other A-level subjects now that I had more time to enjoy them.

How I chose these A-levels

I knew these A-levels were the right ones to study for my future through using the simple yet effective process of elimination. Although I had achieved similar grades across all subjects in throughout secondary school, I had always known I am not meant to be a woman in STEM as my interests always lied in creative subjects or in the social sciences. While choosing my A-levels, I also knew that I did not want to pick anything that would limit me to a single degree or industry. In my case, I was also interested in Criminology as a potential route to pursue. And although I was set on a Film degree, I still wanted the option to explore other fields if necessary and my A-levels needed to allow me that.

My choice of A-Levels also meant that I benefitted from how they connected with each other. I found that content I learned in Media Studies could be applied to Sociology or that my analysis skills from English Literature could be used on a media product.

Takeaways from this experience

While I picked my A-levels with Film in mind, I ended up switching to Liberal Arts which suited my new desired career path a lot more (that’s a story for another day!). I owe my ability to reconsider my options to the fact that I wisely chose my A-Levels to suit a range of industries and degrees, and I still find myself using learnings from my A-level days with the work I do now. Remember, you don’t have to cater to one degree. Keeping your options open is allowed. You do not have to be confined by a decision you made at 17/18. If you are still worried, I would recommend talking to a trusted member of staff at your sixth form/ college and be sure to check in with the university admissions team for any specific requirements for whatever degree you do decide to choose!