I’ve often been asked this question by students about to enter Post 16 education, and it’s not a simple answer. In effect, you are not just choosing your A Levels, but also the courses that you can study at university. I’ll share my views with you in this article on how best to navigate this tricky process.
Preferred Subjects
You may hear the term ‘preferred’ or ‘facilitating’ with reference to A Level subjects. These refer to subjects that a self identified group of 24 universities with highly competitive admissions criteria once regarded as being superior. Some courses at these universities require you to have studied just one subject from this group. Sometimes it is a pair of subjects.
Students in England usually take 3 A Levels, so we’ll make that assumption here, although of course it is possible to take 4 or even 5. So if two of the A Levels are on the list of facilitating subjects, the 3rd one becomes more of a free choice dependent on your interests and the specifics of the course you are thinking you might study.
Of course if you don’t want to apply to one of the above group of universities, then you may be able to simply choose any subjects you want. Some highly respected universities such as Aberdeen, St Andrews, Bath, Sterling, Surrey and Sussex are not in the above gang of 24. Having said that, one of the facilitating subjects is very commonly chosen alongside Computer Science, so we’ll cover that first.
Mathematics
The most common A Level to go alongside Computer Science is of course Maths. In fact many university courses require it to have been studied, possibly even without Computer Science. This is both for academic and historical reasons.
Maths is seen as a foundational subject that underpins many of the skills needed in Computer Science, including problem solving and logic. If you take a pure Computer Science degree, there will doubtless be at least one mathematics module studied, and if you’ve taken an A Level in Maths, it will help in successfully completing such modules. Maths in fact is the most popular A Level course studied in the UK and has been for a number of years. 88,316 students in England sat Maths A Level examinations in 2022.
However, not all universities will expect it to have been studied. You can study such courses without a Maths A Level, though naturally you may find the maths modules more challenging than your peers. Some people will argue that you cannot go to a top ranked university without having studied maths, and although that might be true for elite universities like Cambridge, Imperial etc, remember that those institutions will not only expect you to have studied maths, but also to have achieved a top grade. If your only motiviation for studying A Level Maths is to get into one of those institutions, you will need to ask yourself the question “How likely am I to get a top grade in this subject if I really don’t find it motivating?”
That’s true of all A Levels not just Maths, by the way. I mentioned earlier that you don’t even need to study Computer Science to do a Computer Science degree. That’s also true. Because Computer Science has not been offered as an A Level by many schools and colleges in the past, Maths was used as an alternative entry requirement as it was felt it would be unfair to expect candidates to have studied Computer Science if so few schools offered it. This has changed over time as CS becomes more widely offered. You may find yourself at a disadvantage if you “just” have a Maths A Level whereas another candidate has Maths and CS, especially if you have no programming experience.
While we prefer applicants who have previously studied Computer Science, you do not need to have done so to be suitable for this course.
University of Bath: Computer Science entry requirements
Further Mathematics
One of the most common third subjects to study alongside CS and Maths is Further Maths. The rationale here seems to be: if maths is good, more maths is better. It complements CS for the same reasons Maths does, especially if it includes discrete maths modules which overlap with the graph theory topic in A Level CS.
All A Levels are considered to be difficult, but within the range of A Levels you could study, Further Maths is at the top end of difficulty rating. You will need to be a confident mathematician, with strong motivation, in order to be successful in this A Level. You will also be required to study A Level Maths alongside it, so your 3 choices will be gone if you are also choosing CS.
One possibility if you are not certain that you want to study it, is to take it as a 4th subject, and then drop it at the end of Year 12 if you are not enjoying it. Depending on your school or college, it may be possible to take an AS Level exam at the end of Year 12 to gain a qualification. Having an AS in Further Maths as an additional subject will certainly enhance your chances of gaining a place on a competitive STEM course at the end of your post 16 education.
Physics
Another very common third subject with CS and Maths is Physics. It complements Maths very well, and widens your options when applying to university, for example engineering courses will generally require it to have been studied. If you find you enjoy tinkering with electronics or mechanical devices, it’s a great subject to study alongside CS.
Once again, it’s regarded as one of the harder A Levels. Of the three sciences it has the lowest number of exam entries (in 2022 36,292 students in England sat an A Level in Physics compared with 54,139 who sat Chemistry and 65,262 who sat Biology).
Economics
For students who intend to pursue a career in finance rather than in a more technical role, Economics is a popular choice as a second or third A Level. A strong argument for studying Economics alongside CS and Maths is that it is a more rounded set of subjects. If you’re not sure that you want to study CS at university, having Economics might strengthen your application to courses that require essay writing. I often find that CS students who are studying Maths and Further Maths struggle with the longer written answers in CS exams and I guess that’s not surprising given that most of their time is spent studying maths. Some students prefer to study a more traditional subject, either A Level Geography or History as many undergraduate economics courses don’t require economics to have been studied at KS5.
Psychology
This one might surprise you. It might not seem an obvious choice at all, but when you think about the products that computer scientists produce, and the emphasis on users rather than the technology itself, you can start to appreciate that it is a useful subject for a software developer. A whole new category of job, that of the User Experience (UX) expert, is based on an understanding of user needs and motivations. Many influential technologies were actually developed by researchers with academic backgrounds in psychology rather than maths or computer science. The field of computational neuroscience is where computer science, maths and psychology neatly intersect.
As with economics, this is another essay based subject and one that will give you a breadth that maths based subjects might not.
Art & Design
If I had a pound for every time a student told me that they wanted to work in game development I’d be able to buy myself a new iPhone at the very least. Once I’ve given them the talk about how hard it is to enter that industry and they haven’t been put off, I tell them that actually, the games industry requires more artists than it does software developers. So an A Level in Art is actually a great addition to CS A Level. You could even end up with all the skills you need to be a solo developer of an independently released game. Art would also be a useful skill for UI/UX specialists.
There are no written exams in Art so the downside will be a huge amount of practical work needs to be produced throughout the two years of the course and that requires discipline and motivation.
Design & Technology
If you like making things, and maybe fancy a career as an engineer or maker, the skills you will pick up in DT could prove very useful. I have known many of my CS students to choose this subject simply because they want a more practical subject to complement more theoretical subjects such as maths. In a similar way to A Level Art, it can make Y13 a little more challenging as there will be coursework due for CS and DT at around the same time. Once again strong discipline and high motivation is needed to successfully navigate this period of the course from around November to March.
Alternatives to A Level
Sometimes, I come across a student who cannot find any subjects that they want to study alongside A Level Computer Science. This may be for any of the following reasons:
- options are limited by entry requirements
- options are not particularly motivating
- subjects are full
- subjects clash on the timetable
So what can you do in such a situation? One alternative to A Levels is a Level 3 BTEC National qualification which comes in several sizes:
- BTEC Extended Certificate = 1 A Level
- BTEC Diploma = 2 A Levels
- BTEC Extended Diploma = 3 A Levels
So if you want, you can simply study a BTEC Extended Diploma in Computing, and no other A Levels. If you know for certain that you want a job in the tech industry, and the qualification is simply to prepare you for that, then it could work for you. Most universities will also accept it as an entry qualification for Computer Science degrees, although a handful such as Cambridge, do not (strangely, Oxford will accept it).
You could instead study the BTEC Diploma in Computing, and another A Level alongside it such as Maths. This might put you in a better position to apply for courses at top rated universities.
One more alternative is to study other BTECs alongside Computer Science A Level and again this will enable you to progress to a good university. I recently had a student who studied A Level Computer Science with me, alongside a BTEC Diploma in Business who sucessfully obtained a place to study Computer Science at Royal Holloway (one of my favourite universities for CS, with a really strong reputation for Cybersecurity in particular).
Summary
Maths is a very common partner A Level to Computer Science and gives you a very wide choice of universities you can apply to. Further Maths might make you more attractive to the handful of elite universities that mention it in their entry requirements.
You should not study Maths if you hate it and feel you might struggle to obtain a grade B or above. Many universities will let you study Computer Science or related degrees without a Maths A Level, though nearly all will require you to have a grade B/6 in GCSE Maths.
Physics is a nice partner A Level to Maths and CS for students certain that they want to do something highly technical.
For everyone else, the choices depend on what sort of degree you want to study and what your ultimate career intentions might be. Subjects like Economics, Psychology or Geography might give you some breadth that maths based subjects lack. Art or DT is great for more creative students who like practical work and are disciplined.
BTECs are an alternative to A Levels, and it is possible to study BTEC Computing and nothing else. You will probably need to leave your school and attend an FE College to study BTEC Computing.
Choosing A Levels is easy if there are certain subjects you love, and you know exactly what you want to do. Not everyone knows exactly what they want to do at age 15-16, so if you’re not sure what you want to do, having some flexibility through clever choices of A Level is key to successful progression after the age of 18.