The Practical Decision-Making Process

You have now explored the theory: why A-Levels matter, what universities want, how to match subjects to goals, and what mistakes to avoid. This lesson brings it all together into a practical, step-by-step decision-making process that you can follow from start to finish.

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The Five-Stage Process

flowchart TD
    A["Stage 1: Gather Information"] --> B["Stage 2: Generate Options"]
    B --> C["Stage 3: Test Against Criteria"]
    C --> D["Stage 4: Get Feedback"]
    D --> E["Stage 5: Decide and Commit"]

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Stage 1: Gather Information (Week 1-2)

Before you can make a good decision, you need information. This stage is about collecting the data you need.

Task 1.1: Explore University Course Requirements

Spend an hour on the UCAS website (ucas.com) or individual university websites researching courses you might be interested in. You do not need to know exactly what you want to study — a shortlist of 5-10 possibilities is enough.

Course I Might Study	University 1 Requirements	University 2 Requirements	University 3 Requirements
Example: Economics	LSE: Maths essential	Warwick: Maths essential	Leeds: Maths preferred
___________________	_________________________	_________________________	_________________________
___________________	_________________________	_________________________	_________________________
___________________	_________________________	_________________________	_________________________
___________________	_________________________	_________________________	_________________________

What to record: For each course, note required subjects, preferred subjects, and excluded subjects.

Task 1.2: Assess Your Current Strengths

Create an honest assessment of your GCSE performance and your genuine engagement with each subject:

Subject	Predicted/Mock Grade	Enjoyment (1-10)	Could I Study This for 2 More Years?
_______	__________________	________________	__________________________________
_______	__________________	________________	__________________________________
_______	__________________	________________	__________________________________

Task 1.3: Explore Subjects You Have Not Tried

New Subject	How to Learn More
Economics	Attend a taster lesson; read "Freakonomics" or "The Undercover Economist"
Psychology	Attend a taster lesson; watch a YouTube introduction to key studies
Politics	Read the news critically for a week; attend a taster lesson
Philosophy	Read "Think" by Simon Blackburn or watch Philosophy Tube
Sociology	Attend a taster lesson; read about key sociological concepts

Task 1.4: Talk to People

flowchart TD
    A[Who to talk to] --> B[Current A-Level students]
    A --> C[Subject teachers]
    A --> D[Head of Sixth Form / Careers Advisor]
    A --> E[Parents/Guardians]
    B --> F["Ask: What is the biggest difference from GCSE? What surprised you?"]
    C --> G["Ask: Based on my GCSE work, how do you think I would cope?"]
    D --> H["Ask: Does my combination make sense for my goals?"]
    E --> I["Ask: What subjects do I seem most engaged with at home?"]

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Stage 2: Generate Options (Week 2-3)

Now generate 3-4 possible A-Level combinations. Do not narrow down to one yet — keep multiple options alive.

Combination Generator

Fill in your options:

Combination	Subject 1	Subject 2	Subject 3	(Subject 4 — optional)
Option A	_________	_________	_________	_________
Option B	_________	_________	_________	_________
Option C	_________	_________	_________	_________

For each combination, quickly note:

• What university courses does this allow?
• What does this close off?
• How do I feel about studying these three subjects every day?

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Stage 3: Test Against Criteria (Week 3)

Now systematically evaluate each combination against the criteria that matter:

The Scoring Matrix

Rate each combination 1-5 on each criterion, then total the scores:

Criterion	Weight	Option A	Option B	Option C
Meets university requirements	x3	__ /5	__ /5	__ /5
I am strong in all subjects	x2	__ /5	__ /5	__ /5
I genuinely enjoy all subjects	x2	__ /5	__ /5	__ /5
Keeps future options open	x2	__ /5	__ /5	__ /5
Subjects complement each other	x1	__ /5	__ /5	__ /5
Workload/assessment balance	x1	__ /5	__ /5	__ /5
WEIGHTED TOTAL		__ /55	__ /55	__ /55

The weighting reflects what matters most: meeting requirements (non-negotiable, hence x3), ability and enjoyment (critical for grades and motivation, hence x2 each), and flexibility (important but secondary, hence x2). Complementarity and balance are useful but not decisive (x1 each).

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Stage 4: Get Feedback (Week 3-4)

Take your top two combinations and seek feedback: