The school subjects behind Scotland's stars
Let’s explore how option choices at school helped some well-known Scots get into amazing careers.
At some point, everyone has to make their option choices. And Scotland’s celebrities are no different!
We spoke to a few well-known faces to find out more about their unique career journeys and how their school subjects helped them get into their dream jobs.
Holly Dingwall – content creator
Subjects Holly studied in S3 and S4: National 5 Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Art, Fashion, History and English.
Highers Holly studied in S5: Chemistry, Biology, Maths, History and English.
Highers Holly studied in S6: Psychology, Business Management and Dance.
Love food and use social media? You’ll have heard of Holly Dingwall – aka foodieholly! At school, Holly loved maths and science-based subjects.
And before she cooked up a storm on social media, Holly studied psychology at university. She believes business and psychology were the two school subjects which served as the perfect recipe for her successful career.
Holly said: ‘A career in content creation involves being business-minded. Studying business helped me with content strategy, marketing trends and brand identity work. Psychology helped me learn how to build a community and understand the behaviour of my audience.’
Today, Holly has more than 400,000 followers on her Instagram account. Think you’d like to get into a career in content creation too? Here’s Holly’s top tip: ‘Just have fun with it! Pick something you’re passionate about rather than what you think is trending. You can always find smaller trends within the specific niche you love!’
Dom Thomas – footballer
Subjects Dom studied in S3 and S4: Maths, English, Spanish, Physical Education, Modern Studies, History and Administration.
From a young age, Dom preferred the football pitch to the classroom. The attacker played youth football for Celtic then left school after S4 to sign a full-time contract with Motherwell.
Reflecting on the subjects he picked, Dom said: ‘Honestly, I don’t think a particular subject helped me throughout my career. What did help me was the life skills I learned from all my subjects at school – discipline, routine and working with people from different backgrounds.’
Dom has now played more than 300 games – ranging from Europa League qualifiers to the Scottish Premiership. And he’s still in full-time football as captain of Queen’s Park.
His advice to young people who want to become a footballer is: ‘Pick the subjects you enjoy and work hard! There’s absolutely no pressure and your school subjects are unlikely to mould your career and life.’
Olivia Young – dancer and TV personality
Subjects Olivia studied in S3 and S4: National 5 Maths, English, History, French, Spanish, Business Studies, Chemistry and Administration.
Highers Olivia studied in S5: English, History, Business Studies, Spanish and French.
Subjects Olivia studied in S6: Leadership and Hospitality at National 5 level and Advanced Higher Business.
When it came to option choices, Olivia was en pointe! The Glaswegian always wanted to become a dancer and knew it was important to choose a wide range of subjects.
Speaking about her option choices, Olivia said: ‘Languages are fab for travelling and they gave me a genuine interest in different cultures. Administration helps with life tasks and hospitality taught me how to cook. Business studies was a great subject and if I didn’t get into dance, I’d have studied business with admin at university.’
Olivia is also a successful dance teacher. And in 2023, she rose to fame on Big Brother – opening up more business and TV opportunities after the show. She added: ‘Choose subjects you enjoy, it’s more likely you’ll put in the work if you love what you’re doing.’
Sean Connor – actor
Subjects Sean studied in S3 and S4: Drama, Physical Education, Religious Education, Business Management, Physics, Biology, Maths and English.
Highers Sean studied in S5: English and Drama.
Sean’s option choices took him from Barrhead to the big screen! During school, he had his eye on a particular drama course and tailored his option choices towards an acting career.
Once Sean passed Highers in English and drama, he left school to study his dream course. Sean said: ‘Those were the two subjects I enjoyed most and was best at. They also fitted with my plans to become an actor.’
And Sean’s decision has paid off! He’s starred in huge TV shows like Still Game and River City, as well as lots of other film and theatre projects.
To anyone who’d like to get into acting, Sean says: ‘Acting, or any career in media, can be daunting and difficult to break into. It’s a good idea to find a second job that you enjoy, so the quiet times are more manageable.’
