Do you think "soft subjects" exist in education?

[Ekelektra]

Like what @Daltron; said, here subjects are scaled so the harder ones give you more points and 'easy' subjects are scaled down and aren't worth as much for your final score.

Eg. While my school had a really good new food tech kitchen, no one ever did it through to year 12 because it gets scaled down by like 10 points because it's really easy to score high in. Here basically all subjects that were scaled down were kind of thought to be 'soft', that didn't stop people doing them though, we were told if it's what you're good at might as well do it and get a high score instead of doing terribly in a hard subject and getting a low score.

Universities here don't really look at all of your subjects and think 'she did 5 soft subjects! We don't want her!!!' they only care about your final score and whether you achieved the prerequisites.

[Kardan]

Like what @Daltron; said, here subjects are scaled so the harder ones give you more points and 'easy' subjects are scaled down and aren't worth as much for your final score.

Eg. While my school had a really good new food tech kitchen, no one ever did it through to year 12 because it gets scaled down by like 10 points because it's really easy to score high in. Here basically all subjects that were scaled down were kind of thought to be 'soft', that didn't stop people doing them though, we were told if it's what you're good at might as well do it and get a high score instead of doing terribly in a hard subject and getting a low score.

Universities here don't really look at all of your subjects and think 'she did 5 soft subjects! We don't want her!!!' they only care about your final score and whether you achieved the prerequisites.

But surely that's because they have already accounted for soft subjects in the final score by scaling them down?

[iJim.]

Yes they do.

Obviously, it doesn't really matter as the subjects you pick are ones you enjoy and likewise are helping you towards a job you want to achieve. So yes soft subjects exist. Some of us, me included, aren't Oxbridge material However, if you're happy in what you are doing then there is no issue!

[Charz777]

I think when it comes to degree level, some degrees are pointless. Especially considering the cost to do a degree. I think worthwhile degrees are ones that are 'of the mind' so to speak. Things that require a lot of thought and really do need to be taught to be understood; maths, sciences, languages etc. are the sort of things that are useful to study to degree level. I think if something is skill-based, taking a degree in it is pointless, because success is based primarily around practice than being taught, such as arts. I think things like hairdressing or photography etc are better taught and learned 'on the job' through experience rather than being told how to do something instead of doing it.

I'd say it's not such a big deal for GCSEs as for many student it will be the first time they get to experience some of these subjects which I don't think make worthwhile degrees, and I suppose the foundations have to be taught somewhere.

I'd say for A-levels, this is where people should make their choice as to which path they should take. If they want to do a 'hard' subject or a 'knowledge-based' subject then they need to go to uni. I would advise them to take all 'hard' A-Levels. I took an Art A-Level (and wanted to go on to do Maths at uni) and nobody took it seriously as you don't need to be intelligent to do art, you need to be talented or skilled. If you want a career in a 'soft', skill-based subject I'd take all skill-based subjects to make up good portfolios in a variety of areas. Like I said, practice makes perfect. Additionally, when it comes to A-Levels I think picking similar subjects is very beneficial. I took Maths, Further Maths, English Lit, Fine Art and Citizenship. It's difficult to find time to study for Maths when you've got Art and Literature demanding paintings and essays. If I'd have taken science subjects at least I would have been applying Maths and using it at least some of the time.

[-:Undertaker:-]

There are softer subjects, yeah.

Somebody who knows Mathematics is more valuable to society than somebody who has taken media, travel or drama.