Easier, but.....

Sixth formers in comprehensive schools are turning against physics as a subject to study at A level, and turning to Media Studies.

In 1997 in state comprehensives, 3,000 studied Media Studies. In 2009 the number had risen to 12,000. Over the same period the number studying Physics has dropped from 12,126 to 10,118, having reached 9,916 om 2005.

Does this matter, after all the more you enjoy a subject, the easier you will be able to discipline yourself in study, and shouldn't you choose the subjects you find easiest?

This is true, but many of the better universities regard such an A level as a poor preparation for an academic course at university. (Unless, of course, they are claiming to offer it at degree level, as some do, in which case students should ask which job possibilities will open with that qualification.)

There is no substitute for the mental rigour of following the academic thinkers, discoverers and inventors of centuries gone by. Media Studies and others like Sports Science, Golf Course Management,etc., may provide a breadth of knowledge (fitting in well with the "learn-in-and-then-forget-it" modular structure of A levels) but not the depth of concept.

There seems little doubt that some subjects are "easier" than others, and that in the past schools have persuaded students to take these in order to to obtain the highest possible rating for the school.

There are some who claim that the "traditional" subjects are showing signs of recovery, with English, the sciences, Maths and History, etc., showing early signs of recovery. This is good, so long as colleges can avoid dumbing down in these subjects.