Choosing subjects at school is one of the first major decisions that you make as a young adult that has serious bearing on your life beyond school. While it is important to choose subjects that you enjoy, perhaps ones that you are good at, it is also worth considering ideas about your future studies and career, as certain subjects may be essential for certain courses or jobs later on.
Here's how some young people made their subject choices:
Case study - Changing my mind - Holly
When I was in Year 11 I requested to move from a school for the blind to mainstream school. I still had no idea what subjects I wanted to take as I enjoyed all my GCSE courses. Eventually I settled on subjects I thought I would be good at, and that would be easier for the school to provide for me. So, I chose English Lit, English Language, History and Politics. By the end of my first year in sixth form, it was clear that English Lit wasn't right for me. I had changed from English Language to Psychology at the beginning of sixth form after a couple of weeks. I am now continuing with History and Politics and have picked up Economics and Sociology. Sometimes you realise that you made the wrong choices when you started sixth form, but that's ok, usually schools are really willing to support you and want you to be comfortable with what you're studying.
When choosing your subjects you should think about where your strengths are and what you enjoy. Even if you're reasonably good at a subject you wont do as well if you don't enjoy it, that's what I found out. I'm so glad I changed to courses I am more interested in, it's really made me feel better about school.
Case study: Me and my subjects - Harriet
I chose the subjects I took for GCSE with guidance from my teachers and parents. I also considered what subjects I would enjoy learning about most. For instance, I took a subject called Expressive Arts for one of my GCSEs. I felt this was a good subject to take as it gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my creative skills in an original way. I had to complete three projects throughout the course, and I believe these projects helped me to become more confident with my creative skills.
Similarly, when I was choosing my A level subjects I thought about the subjects I would enjoy studying most at a higher level. I took English A level as I was planning to study Creative Writing at University, so I felt that it would help towards my University application. Another subject I studied at A level was Psychology. I found this subject extremely interesting and gained a lot of useful knowledge from studying it and it has also helped with my Creative Writing.
Case study - Don't panic! - Dylan
For some people this is an incredibly stressful experience as it can feel like these decisions will dictate the rest of your life. It is important to choose what you like doing, because ultimately education is what you make it. When you are choosing, I think the best thing is to really find out with your subject teacher what the examiners will want your paper or coursework to say. I wish I'd done this! Common sense helps a lot - for example, I enjoy reading so I chose Business Studies and English. I use the internet a lot so I chose IT and I want to work in radio so I chose music.
What do you think?
Are you finding it hard to choose subjects? Have any particular subjects been really good or really bad? Have you wanted to study something but the right support not been in place? We would love to hear from you.