8 ways to choose your sixth form subjects

You'll typically have twice as many lessons for an A level as a GCSE and potentially weeks’ worth of one subject at university. If you have a bent for physics but an aversion to lab work, oscillations leave you in a spin and mechanics fail to move you, you may be better considering alternatives rather than alternators. When it comes to endurance, enjoyment can be the redeeming feature.

You may be hell bent on studying economics at 16, but after two years of charts, diagrams and increasingly complex mathematical operations, may wish to confine economics to the history books and opt for anything but. If that's the case, will your subject combination count against you?

The Russell Group universities used to publish a list of 'facilitating subjects'. Applicants were expected to have studied at least two of these at A level if they wanted to apply to a Russell Group university. This is no longer a requirement. However, for the more academic degrees at higher ranked universities, it is still fair to say that a greater importance is placed on certain more traditional and academically challenging A level subjects. If you click through to the course page on a university website, you'll find that most are up front about the subjects prospective applicants are expected to study at A level. If you're at the very early stages of figuring it out, visit the Informed Choices website to see which A level subjects are suggested for your Russell Group university application. 

Controversial though it may be to some, not all level 3 qualifications are equal and not all subjects within those are considered equally worthy by top universities. A levels are the most popular level 3 qualification. Check the suitability of the subjects you are studying (and the combination) for subjects which interest you. eg Some consider business studies and economics to be too similar to count twice.

If your heart is set on a particular career or university course, find out any course requirements before you chooseyour A level course/ subjects. A course may not only request the specific grades eg AAB but specify the subjects too. Often the grades will be attached to subjects eg minimum of: maths A, physics A, chemistry B, so getting the right grades in the wrong subjects may matter.

Not studying biology will severely limit the choice of medical schools available to those wishing to pursue a career as a doctor. The vast majority of economics degree courses require either A level maths or top grades at GCSE. Similarly, only studying BTecs may limit your chances of getting a place on a course at top universities (those in the Russell Group).

Not only do courses specify grades (and possibly subjects); some top universities now expect all the grades to be obtained at one sitting. The ability to manage a heavy workload is cited as the key reason behind this decision. You may be penalised for taking subjects early, as well as resitting.

University is increasingly expensive and certainly isn't the only post-18 path to success. Degree Apprenticeships offer a compromise between getting a job and continuing with studies and of course, some people have no interest in gaining any further qualifications after school. Regardless of when, the world of work will loom at some point – so when making your sixth form subject selection, remember that the more doors you keep ajar the better.

The Russell Group’s 24 members are world-class, research-intensive universities.

• University of Birmingham

• University of Bristol

• University of Cambridge

• Cardiff University

• Durham University

• University of Edinburgh

• University of Exeter

• University of Glasgow

• Imperial College London

• King's College London

• University of Leeds

• University of Liverpool

• London School of Economics and Political Science

• University of Manchester

• Newcastle University

• University of Nottingham

• University of Oxford

• Queen Mary University of London

• Queen’s University Belfast

• University of Sheffield

• University of Southampton

• University College London

• University of Warwick

• University of York