Any advice for A levels?

[William]

First, a bit of background. I'm nearly 16 and go to school in Cambridge so it's the time of year when I need to choose my A levels. I've always had an interest in history and the past and when I did my work experience at a local archaeology unit I found out that there was a job whereby I could chase this interest and get paid for it. I've since done some more volunteering in my holidays and hope to get out on site after I've turned 16.

But I have a bit of a problem. I'm pretty sure I want to study archaeology at university and so it'd be best if I took A levels that are appropriate for this. I know that History is an obvious one (no problem there) and I can take an Early Modern course rather than just Modern history. However, what would be best to take with this? I know that humanities are good but which ones and what about sciences? There's an Archaeology A level offered which looks like great fun if nothing else and there is also Classical Civilisation, Geography, Geology and other subjects such as Biology, Chemistry etc.

So do any of you have any ideas or experience as I thought this'd be a good place to ask?

[BAJR]

You are also suitable to go for this award.....
http://www.bajr.org/BAJRresources/EDF.asp

I'll get back to you on the rest later.

and also hopefully have a chat and give some more general advice

[Pippyn]

Hello, and welcome to the forum.

I was in your position nearly 7 years ago now, although I don't think things have changed much.

I think you're definately on the right track with getting arch. experience as early on as possible - I did started digging when I was 16 and it paid dividends in terms of the personal statement on my UCAS application. It shows you are dedicated and makes you stand out head and shoulders above - few people have any digging experience before they start their degree.

It may seem a bit daunting and far away, but start considering what you want to do at Uni (if you are intending to go) - will it be a BA, a BSc? Will it be a straight archaeology course, one in conservation, or a joint honours?

With that in mind, look at the requirements for courses on Uni prospectus', for example if you picked Archaeology BSc at Durham, their entry requirement for that course specifies having at least two science A-levels (which includes maths and geography).
Joint honours Ancient History and Archaeology on the other hand prefer an A level in history, classical civilisation or ancient Greek or Latin.
I'm in my final year of BA Archaeology at Durham, and my A-levels were English literature, Classical Civilisation and Archaeology

I'm not suggesting you tailor your A level choices to one particular course for one particular Uni (unless you are dead set on one), but just put out a few feelers to get an idea of what Uni's want. Whilst you're at it, you might want to think carefully about your choice of Uni - some offer more opportunity to gain practical skills and go on excavations than others. It comes around a lot quicker than you expect.

I hope this helps, and good luck!

[William]

Thanks for the advice so far, paticularly Pippyn, I've had a look at some universities and a lot of them appear to count geography as a science so it make sense to take Biology and keep my options open, I don't know really. Does anyone else have any advice?

I look forward to seeing what you come back with too BAJR though I can't really think of anything I would need a grant for, as I have no ideas about workshops or anything, not even sure where I'd look.

[trowelfodder]

I hate to admit it but before looking for uni courses in my final year of A levels I wasn't even aware that archaeology was a course that was so widely offered or that there were any jobs in it apart from acedemia! So as you may guess i didnt exactly plan my subject choices and ended up with a very random mix - physics, geography and design technology.

And I dont think this was the slightest disadvantage - although subjects like archaeology and classical civilisations may seem like obvious choices I would argue to the contrary. Those choices are offered at a relatively small number of institutions and they are not asked for by universities. It does also give you a very narrow subject range and what the people who I went to uni with complained of was that thier first year contained a large element of repetition as those of us who were new to the subject were taught from scratch.

Archaeology - particularly in the field uses a massive range range of skills and many of those are not immediately obvious. Geography was a huge advantage as much of the human geography element of the course provided a good backround to the anthropology element, the physical geography side was fantastic in understanding formation processes - both on a site and landscape basis.

Geology - great if you want to look at soil formation
Chemistry, physics + biology great for arch science
IT - computors are now a huge part of archaeology, from GIS right down to digitising site records
English - good grounding for report/essay writing
History - critical reasoning, examining sources
PE - physical fitness essential for site work
Design technology- great for problem solving and teaches you scale drawing and a familiarity with computor graphic programs
Maths - lots of maths, partially for computer based stuff but also basics good to lay out sites without survey equipment 3,4,5 triangle anyone!
Art - illustration is an important element of any site and report.......and so on

So you can see where im going with this - there is no clear answer, often the route in archaeology you will end up taking will happen randomly - a subject will have fantastic lecturer and spark a lifelong interest, youll discover a love of landscape survey on your first fieldwork project....

Who knows thats one thing thats great about archaeology there are so many routes to get where you want to go. My advice would be if pos to take a science as it allows you the option of an arch science degree or degree elements then what ever subjects you love. The trick is how easy it is on ucas applications to make your subject choice fit archaeology!

The best thing you could do is something outside of school college - volunteer, wash finds, try and help a local society on field work (most are predominantly retired professionals so someone without dodgey knees/back would be welcome) this is what unis want to see a really active interest.

Also its worth noting that lots of unis (dont know where your located but hopefully theres one nearby) do free lecture series which are open to all - pop along their given by lectures from throughout britain and abroad and they showcase new ideas. See how you like it as its as close to uni without uni as you can get

And good luck and go for it. I lnow theres loads written about how crap archaeology is as a profession (sometimes by me on a bad day) but the fact that so many of us care and want to stay and fight for change should speak volumes about how much we love archaeology :face-kiss:

[BAJR Host]

well... Trowelfodder has given you a pretty comprehensive answer...

if you want to chat about it.. 01620 861643 and I can discuss it with you.

[Windbag]

All good stuff from trowelfodder, particularly about the volunteering outside of school bit.

In terms of A-level choices, don't forget languages too if you fancy the idea of being a globetrotting archaeologist!

I reckon that one arts-based A-level, such as History, that requires you to learn research and essay-writing skills, supplemented by one or two sciences. Biology, physics and chemistry supported by geography is useful.

I did history, Spanish, chemistry and general studies for my A-levels in 1996, and have had an opportunity to use or build on these skills/knowledge in all four of them since.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend A-levels in absolute terms. Do what interests you, what's available in your area, and what is well-taught at the school or college you're going to attend. Bear in mind that softer, arts-based subjects are less valued by employers generally than sciences.

[kevin wooldridge]

I think Trowel Fodder has made very sensible suggestions........I wonder though if maybe 16 is a bit too young to be thinking about putting all your eggs into one basket.... I guess even with limited archaeological experience you have probably realised that archaeology is not a great career choice.

My suggestion is that you follow an A level/degree path that actually qualifies you for a real job and then consider whether you really want to take up archaeology post-graduation. It would still be possible to take an archaeological based Masters and you may find a 'useful' first degree stands you in good use to obtain employment whilst you wait for an archaeology career to develop.

......But if pressed on the point my personal opinion is that geology, geography and a modern European language are good A levels to take into an archaeology degree course. If it came to a choice between History and a science based subject - I would suggest the science will be of more help in an archaeological career...history is full of losers!! ;)

[William]

Thanks for all the advice and help. I've asked around a bit and get a few more answers and so I've narrowed down my subject choices for my application form. I've put down Archaeology, Biology, Chemistry, Classical Civilisation, Geography and History. I'll then discuss this at the interview but I've been told it's best to have a better idea by then so as far as I see it I've got it down to Archaeology and History then Biology or Chemistry and Classical Civilisation or Geography. I'll have to have a think about this and have a bit of a look around but if anyone has any ideas it'd be helpful.