School Gate blog: The truth about those "soft" A levels

Bright pupils may be ruining their chances of getting into a top university by choosing profession-based A-level subjects such as law and accounting, a report suggests.

Although many teenagers who are keen to work in these professional areas think that studying them at A level will give them the edge at university, a report suggests that they are as little valued by top institutions as other “soft” or nontraditional subjects, such as media studies.

The report, Hard Truth about Soft Subjects, by the Policy Exchange think-tank, obtained data from 27 leading research universities.

It showed that while they clearly favour traditional A levels over “softer” subjects, most “offer no clear advice about subjects that may count against students”.

The report highlights A-level law as a striking example of a soft subject that might fox parents and students as it sounds impressive and professional. The data shows that many research-intensive universities admit relatively low numbers of students with A-level law, suggesting that they regard it as a soft subject. And yet, of these universities, only the LSE and Cambridge list the soft subjects that they do not consider on a par with traditional academic A levels. Both universities emphasise that they will accept subjects on the list, but only with at least two traditional subjects as well.

Anna Fazackerley, research director of Policy Exchange, said: “While universities have the right to make their own decisions about whether a subject provides the right preparation for a course or not, the current lack of transparency is unacceptable.”

She added that subject choice has become yet another hurdle that may prevent students from less-advantaged families achieving their full academic potential. This is because nonselective state school students are far more likely to take soft A levels than those from independent and grammar schools.

David Willetts, the Shadow Universities Secretary, said that lack of proper advice from schools and universities about the relative merits of different A-level subjects represented a real barrier to social mobility.

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