What subjects should I take at A Level if I want to become a journalist in the future?

Question

So I'm going into college [in England] this September, and normally here in the U.K we have to choose 4 subjects to do for the next 2 years, before going into university. I want to to pick carefully coz I know it will probably affect what I do in the future, but I'm not quite sure on one or two subjects.

I aspire to be journalist in the future, preferably print, you know, like magazines, etc, or some form of a writer, so in college I'm planning to take:

English Language

French

Psychology

and Theatre Studies.

I'm not quite sure on theatre studies or psychology, I know people who want to be journalists normally take english lang with history, but I really can't stand history, or geography. I wanted to take psychology because it's something new I want to experience, and theatre studies because it's probably the one subject I fully truly enjoy. I have a couple days to make my final decision, so I was just wondering...what should I do? Would it be bad if I picked these 4? Any advice?

Anything you have to give would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Answer 1

I would choose the following as full A levels:-

English Literature

Business Studies

Sociology - I did this as GCSE and LOVED it.

Pick something a bit fun for your 4th A Level - how about Drama.

Psychology is extremely boring.  Half the class I was in walked out after lesson 2.

Answer 2

I'd take a media course.

This includes things like;

Magazine Editing

Photography

Journalism

TV and Radio.

you will do all 5 things x*x

Answer 3

Languages are always good classes, since through the organization of a language you get a sense of how that culture thinks.

But if your choice is language or psychology, I'd choose psychology, since as a journalist you're going to be experience human behavior in all of its forms.  Understanding the psyche will be a great asset to you.  I'd also take some sociology if that's available as well.  The more you understand about the human condition, the more insightful will be your journalism.

Answer 4

I suggest English language, a media based course, IT, and then a subject of your choice - theatre studies?

Answer 5

They sound good to me, English language is your key subject there. There's no need to take history, I don't particularly see how it connects to journalism (although it obviously depends on what sort of journalism you want to do). Another suggestion might be media if your school offers it.

Answer 6

Your choices seem good to me.  Before I read your whole question, I thought of composition and social studies, it they give A-levels in those fields.  But now I see that you're not referring to your exams, anyway. but to the next step.  Keep in mind that as a beginning journalist you're likely to do general reporting for a while--politics, crime, human interest.  It will help to have some knowledge of the kinds of events you'll be assigned to cover.  But may you wind up as a theatre critic!

Answer 7

Obviously, I would suggest taking all the writing classes you can-- creative writing, composition,  journalism, etc. Don't be afraid of writing courses that are heavy on research papers. Information technology courses are good, too. Journalists should have strong research skills- being able to dig up background information for articles is very useful.

Subjects like history (even though you hate it), sociology, psychology, and even political science can be very helpful in understanding what's going on in the world, social issues, human behavior, and the historical context of it all.