Pupils confused by 'preferred' A-levels Pupils as young as 16 are worried that the A-level subjects they choose may harm their chances of a university place later on. Why is there no clear information for them? Universities reveal their A-level preferences Lucy Tobin The Guardian, Tuesday 1 February 2011 larger | smaller
Pupils at Bethnal Green Technology College ponder their options for A-level – and university. Photograph: Felix Clay
'Only a few months ago, I had no idea what I wanted to do in life," says Jade Campbell, 15, as she describes filling in her A-level choices form. "But I had to decide my plans for my whole life really quickly when I picked my A-levels. I know universities are getting more selective about the subjects you study, so I had to think about which subjects would give me the best chance of a place." Jade's classmates at Bethnal Green Technology College in east London are all feeling the pressure of important choices. "I'm only 16, but I feel so much stress to make the right decision," says Amanda Cozer, who joined the college two years ago after moving from Brazil. "Once you've picked A-levels you can't go back, your decision is made." Across the classroom, Sufayan Deta and Tommy Vu, both 15, sound panicked. "I didn't know that some unis say you have to do certain A-levels," says Sufayan, who wants to study either accounting or business studies at university. "I'm really worried now." With record demand for undergraduate courses, universities have tightened their admissions policies. Some have started disregarding subjects such as general studies, while others publish lists of "preferred" or "less preferred" A-levels. Year 11s who are intending to apply to university need to research qualification requirements now – but there are growing complaints that the information they need isn't easily available. "It's hard to know exactly what universities want from us," says Amanda, who wants to study journalism or languages. "I tried to research what A-levels would give me the best chances of getting on to those courses, but it wasn't easy to find. I spent ages on the websites of Cambridge, Oxford, Leeds, Liverpool and Bristol. Cambridge was the clearest, but on many of the others I just found lots of links, with the information all over the place, or not there at all. Because there was often no clear list, I ended up looking up lots of individual courses, even though I'm not yet sure exactly what I'd like to do." Admissions tutors say the information students need – whether they are at the Ucas application stage or just choosing their A-level subjects – is readily available in
prospectuses and on websites. But Ofqual, the qualifications watchdog, says there's a lack of transparency. At the publication of its chief regulator's report last month, the chief executive, Isabel Nisbet, said: "Students are not clairvoyants. They need clear information on which qualifications they need for their chosen university courses." Teachers, too, say their jobs have been made tougher by uncertainty surrounding university requirements. Sarah Snaydon, deputy head of sixth form at Dane Court grammar school in Kent, says teachers feel as if there are "shifting goal posts" in higher education. "I wish we knew what admission tutors want," she says. "Universities are getting ever so picky with their requirements, but worse than that is that those requirements are constantly changing and tough to find out. This year, for example, for the first time on some courses we've seen year 12s being asked for a B at GCSE maths, but that requirement wasn't in place when they actually studied GCSEs." The Ucas Apply website lists qualification requirements for individual courses, but that's not always helpful for year 11s, Snaydon adds. "At that stage, students tend not to know exactly what they want to do where, but they need guidance from universities about the kind of A-levels they need for subject areas. If the information was all in one place, it would be a lot more transparent. And the students hit hardest are those who don't come from an 'educationally aware' background." In part, it's not an easy task for universities – their myriad courses will, of course, have different requirements and most don't rule out particular A-levels, but say some are acceptable only in certain combinations. For example, medicine courses will demand at least two science A-levels (or equivalent). However, not every English course will insist on candidates having English A-level, and in fact, for arts courses, many admissions tutors say they prefer applicants with a range of subjects. The most helpful universities have a list of A-levels they "prefer" over others. The less "preferred" are usually non-traditional subjects such as business studies or art and design. The University of Sheffield, for example, names 28 subjects – including engineering, music technology, applied science and applied business – that it will accept only if students have two other A-levels not on that list. The London School of Economics has a "non-preferred" list including accounting, communication studies, home economics, law and travel and tourism, but accepts candidates with one of those A-levels if the others are from its "preferred" list. Likewise, at Cambridge University, Geoff Parks, director of admissions, says: "No applicant would be rejected because they were taking one particular A-level. However, their A-level combination might rule them out for some, or even all, of our courses." Cambridge recommends chemistry, English literature, history, languages, maths, physics, further maths and biology for year 11s who "want to keep their options open". For wannabe arts undergraduates, it flags up English literature, history, languages and maths, while scientists "are advised to take at least two, and ideally three, of biology, chemistry, maths and physics". It's a similar story at University College London, which says candidates must have at least two A-levels from their "preferred" list of 76 subjects, which includes history, maths and Biblical Hebrew. The university adds: "If you are unable to offer a minimum of two A-level subjects from the list, this does not prevent you from applying to UCL, but it will be at the discretion of the admissions selector to determine whether your application is sufficiently strong to warrant further consideration." However, students say these lists are confusing. "I want to study psychology or Oriental studies at university, so I started looking up what A-levels I'd need for those," says Campbell. "I looked at the websites for Oxford, Cambridge and Soas [School of Oriental and African Studies], but instead of having a list of what they want, they say "we prefer this" or "these A-levels are less favoured". They should clearly put what the requirements are so we don't keep wasting our time searching, or theirs applying for a course with the wrong A-levels." To avoid knocking out a whole spectrum of the UK's HE institutions, year 11s should
avoid picking similar A-levels. "Subjects with significantly overlapping curricula, for example economics and business studies, should be avoided," says Peter Dunn, spokesman for Warwick University. "And in general terms, subjects with a higher proportion of assessed written work are likely to provide a better preparation than more practical subjects for studying a degree at Warwick." The other decision many year 11s face is whether to study general studies to boost chances of a place at university. Alongside critical thinking, general studies is the Alevel universities most often rule out. City University London, Warwick, Reading, Oxford and Exeter are among the many institutions that do not accept general studies for any of their undergraduate courses. Cambridge accepts general studies and critical thinking A-levels only as a fourth, extra subject – but adds confusingly that it sometimes includes critical thinking in students' conditional offers. Staffordshire University, meanwhile, says: "General studies is accepted for all of our courses – no A-levels are looked upon less favourably here," and the universities of Bedfordshire, Liverpool, Lincoln, Cumbria, Westminster and Wolverhampton are among others with the same stance. But some institutions are less clear: the University of Bolton, for example, says: "We look at academic subjects first, but we do consider general studies in that context." The University of Sussex says it "welcomes applications from students taking the full spread of A-levels, including general studies." But its spokesman adds: "When setting offers, we would rather 'protect' key subjects than exclude particular A-levels. For example, if an applicant applied for international relations and was taking A-levels in history, art, maths and general studies, we would normally ask them to achieve AAB, including history." Other qualifications are up for debate, too. While all universities accept qualifications other than A-levels, such as the International Baccalaureate and Scottish Highers, they don't all take every qualification. City University, for example, is typical in saying BTecs are "generally more vocational … so may be equally good preparation for professional courses, though not so for purer academic ones." It says there is "not usually sufficient maths in any of the BTecs for one to gain sufficient preparation for a maths degree, but most of the BTec IT courses would be fine for a computing course." By contrast, Canterbury Christ Church, Bolton, Staffordshire and Sheffield Hallam are among the institutions that welcome BTecs as well as other qualifications. With such a minefield to negotiate, it's no surprise that year 11s, their parents and teachers are left feeling confused. For now, the best way for students to tackle their Alevel choices is by talking to teachers and careers advisers, and trying to work out the kinds of courses and universities they might want to apply to. From there, someone keen to study a popular course such as medicine, for example, should check requirements of courses at a range of institutions to see which A-levels are obligatory, and whether any, like general studies, would block their chances. For those considering less popular courses or universities, the issue may be less pressing. But those students most likely to be left behind are those who, coming from disadvantaged backgrounds or with unaware parents, don't know that their university options are being whipped out of reach as early as year 11. That issue is leading to a growing campaign for universities to be clearer about their requirements. At the moment, as Ofqual's Nesbit puts it: "Some students, who are able to get really sophisticated advice and guidance against other disadvantaged pupils, have a competitive edge. That's unfair." Education Guardian asked over 150 HE institutions for clear advice on which A-level subjects they view favourably and which they rule out. xx responded, and we thank those that did. See their responses in detail at EducationGuardian.co.uk guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011