Come Thursday (Jan 11), students will receive their 2023 GCE O-Level examination results.

The stress over performance can take on a slightly different dimension at this juncture – on the one hand, there is a greater range of education options from the academic to the practical-oriented; on the other, teenagers will have to start thinking ahead to university and even career possibilities.

As educators, we are often asked by students for advice. In particular, those keen on pursuing the more academic A-Level route seek help deciding which subjects they should take at the Higher 2 (H2) level.

Our short answer tends to be a pragmatic question: Think ahead – what would you like to study at university? Take subjects that open those doors for you.

The next question from students is almost always this: Should they then pursue subjects out of passion or to prepare for future careers? How might the choice of A-Level subjects open or restrict jobs available to them after university?

Jobs aren’t always related to field of study

In 2017, experts convened by the Institute for the Future think tank predicted that 85 per cent of the jobs in 2030 hadn’t yet been invented. Chances are that’s about when an O-Level student today will be entering the job market.

Although we think that the forecast is exaggerated, it does make the valid point that many jobs will be disrupted by technology. Therefore, it might seem that the choice of A-Level subjects would become less important. But we think not.

We examined data from the National University of Singapore (NUS) for students who entered in the year 2013. Six months after graduation in 2017, 75 per cent reported being employed in jobs either related or partially related to their university studies. However, a sizeable minority (25 per cent) were in jobs unrelated to their university studies.

This suggests that although university programmes (and by extension, the A-Levels) do influence career pathways, they are not completely deterministic. People seem to have some degree of flexibility in pursuing jobs, even those which are unrelated to what they have studied.

One likely reason is that university education imparts soft skills like critical thinking, creativity and communication, which are valued across a wide range of different occupations and industries. Adaptability and the willingness to continually learn new skills are likely to take on expanded importance in the years ahead.

Another likely reason is that graduates of technical programmes can transition to fields such as data science, software engineering and finance. However, it would be relatively more difficult for graduates of humanities and most social science programmes (economics being the obvious exception) to make the same switch.

So, it is still important that students (and their parents) consider their options with care.

Influence of undergraduate programme requirements

It might help to understand the choices of recent A-Level cohorts, which led us to review H2 subjects for 2021.

As the A-Level curriculum requires a contrasting subject, students in the science stream are practically limited to three science subjects: The top choices were overwhelmingly mathematics and chemistry, with biology or physics as the third.

The huge demand for mathematics is unsurprising, given that it is compulsory for admission to many undergraduate programmes, including business analytics, computer engineering and other engineering. Mathematics also tends to be the contrasting subject taken by students in the arts stream. Chemistry is in demand for admission to popular programmes like medicine, dentistry, life sciences and pharmacy.

It is in the choice of a third science subject that plans for university studies come into sharper focus. Biology is required for life sciences, but medicine and dentistry accept physics as an alternative. Computer engineering requires physics at H1 or H2 level.

As for the arts and social sciences, the overwhelmingly top choice was economics. Economics is not required for admission to any undergraduate programme – not even economics. So, our best guess is that the bulk of the demand is from science students seeking their contrasting subject.

The three next most popular arts subjects were English literature, history and geography, none of which is required for admission to any undergraduate programme. In that regard, A-Level students have more flexibility in choosing among the arts subjects.

Skills in an evolving society and economy

Are there other subjects that offer the opportunity to learn relevant skills in an evolving society and economy? It is instructive to consider trends in the International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma programme, which is offered in four national schools and various private and international schools.

Trends in the IB subjects have been similar to those in the A-Levels, with one major difference: Psychology has supplanted geography and history to become the third most popular higher-level subject after economics and English literature.

Its emergence is all the more striking when considering that only international schools offer the subject. Psychology serves as a foundation to a broad range of subjects including behavioural economics, marketing and public policy.

Despite its usefulness, it has not been offered as a subject in mainstream Singapore schools.

Another surprising observation is the low take-up of computing in this age of digitalisation. Despite the subject being offered at A-Level for over 30 years, still less than 4 per cent of students are enrolled in computing in the A-Levels and the IB programme today.

With even primary school students learning to code, it is puzzling that pre-university students are not doing more to equip themselves with digital skills beyond web browsing and office applications. The low take-up might in part be due to undergraduate computing programmes not requiring any computing background.

Still, in today’s world, the logic and techniques of programming apply much more broadly in the workplace. So much that programming is a compulsory subject across a broad swathe of university programmes, even business.

For those students lucky enough to know where their strengths and interests lie, the choice of A-Level subjects is more straightforward. But for the many teenagers (and their parents) who are still exploring, our advice is to carefully deliberate the trade-offs between pursuing passion and preparing for future career pathways.

Although there is flexibility in the future, at university and in the labour market, getting the appropriate pre-university foundation will help.

The article first appeared in CNA.