DS 15 and A level English?

English grad, PhD student lecturer/tutor and mum here… if he is not a voracious reader he will hate A Level English. The critical skills you acquire by reading outside GCSE, from reading between genres, underscores what will be taught in the syllabus.

Lots of teens think it will be an ‘easy’ option, but it’s very academic at A Level - much more difficult to spoon feed if your child has no other texts/reading experiences to draw upon. Most of my friend’s kids who chose it thinking it was an easy subject, had swapped out by half term in Y12. You need to love English to do it for 6 terms (for context, I didn’t read a proper book for years after I graduated… and you couldn’t pay me to read Dickens or Beowulf).

I wouldn’t push it right now, but the conversation I would be having is which subjects did you absolutely love at GCSE and which ones do you think you might consider at university - is English or a strongly essay based subject something he really wants to do? Obvs if he is looking at History and French, then English is a natural accompaniment and would work well… provided he is genuinely interested. I’d also remind him that he needs the best possible grades to increase his chances of getting into preferred courses/universities - so again, he should chose the subjects he is strongest in and feels he would perform well in.

Ie. I’d focus away from talking about English directly and upon choosing subjects strategically. Usually I’d start with which subjects he actually gets 9s in, but that may not help if he gets 9s across the board.

I have a degree in English and read every day. I also don't/can't picture the story. There's no reason for that to make reading a slog. He could engage just as well with the emotions of the story and find it interesting.

That being said, I'd be concerned about the school pushing English lit instead of drama if that's what he's really interested in. Would he be better off moving school for A level?

Not necessarily as it may change from year to year depending on the teacher. You can find out what the current lot are doing and assume it will probably be the same, if the teachers are the same. Or you can find out what the exam board is and see the list of set texts so at least know what it could be.

I teach the lit A level. We always tell kids they can't do it unless they love reading. In reality I can count on the fingers of one hand vociferous readers I've taught in a 20 year career. I've taught many non-readers who've gone on to get As. The only time it's a pain is when they can't choose coursework texts, but they get there in the end. I know for a fact that some A grade students I've taught never read their coursework texts in their entirety. Pains me to say it but it's true.

Back in ancient times, when it was "O" and "A" levels, I came into my own when I moved on to "A" levels; I found the process of formulating my own thoughts liberating, after ploughing through reams of "stuff" that I had to be able to churn out. I appreciate that GCSE's aren't the same in many ways, but I would imagine that spoon-feeding at that stage remains a more feasible prospect for the teachers.
I remember one of my friends, a nice, conscientious, hard-working girl who had acquired a very respectable set of "O" levels by steadily ploughing through the reams of rote learning and practice, dropping out when she realised how different the work was. She went off and got an office job (the world of work was very different in those days!)
The expectation from my teachers was that I would not just read the set books, but would "read round" each author, but that was no hardship!
In fact, before the start of VI th form, we were given a reading list, not compulsory but a steer towards more challenging texts.
I wouldn't go up to the school specifically to air your concerns with the teachers, as I would guess that they have his measure, and have taught many of his ilk.
It's true that it's his decision, but as things stand, it's unrealistic.
(And if it's charging high fees, the school will have half an eye on the league tables, and won't want someone lowering the grade averages.)
A friend of mine who undertakes tutoring told me of a lovely student who transferred to my old school for "A" levels, with a good GCSE grade in English, which she managed on the strength of revision notes, having not actually read any complete books, just "relevant" chunks. She was astounded by the suggestion that she might do well to read whole books!
You may well find that, after public exams finish, the timetable will be reorganised with a view to the coming academic year, and and he will find that his teachers are saying much the same things as boring old Mum!

English teacher here. Not uncommon for (sorry to say it, but based on experience) boys to excel at GCSE English Literature without much effort and then come a cropper at A-Level. When he revised, did he reread his set texts multiple times? That would be the key question for me.

My brother got a grade A at A level German and we never heard him speak a word of German!

You don't have to read lots to do literature. If he's great at understanding emotion and characters, then he'll do great studying the set books/texts.

He needs to go with the A Levels he is passionate about. If he has passion and the right work ethic (putting in the hours outside of lessons) then he will do well.

My son goes to a bog-standard comprehensive and started English Lit A level in year 10. I fully supported him doing it but it was a heck of a lot of work. However, it also gave great insight into the expectations of A-level study. We get his results in 2 weeks. We took the stance of nothing ventured nothing gained, but perhaps get the book list and then make a fully informed decision. I think if my son had his time again he wouldn’t have done it in parallel with his GCSEs.

I don't know which syllabus his school uses but I wonder how he will get on with the coursework if he does not read independently.

Does he not have set texts for GCSE English?

What about Drama A level? All the Drama Scholars did it at our school. If he’s doing History and Maths, English Lit isn’t necessary, unless he wanted English at uni! Drama would be fine. Cambridge Uni have a very good guide to A level choices. They list History and Maths as being great choices if you are not sure which subject. Fran’s isn’t listed so maybe swerve if he wants Cambridge but if he likes maths and history, why not economics or politics? Or a MFL?

What do you want him to take instead?

is he a hard worker generally? If so he might be willing to read for homework if not for pleasure. That said, if he doesn’t enjoy reading he’s going to hate English A Level so I do see why you might want to dissuade him. What’s his reasoning for wanting to do it?

How would the teacher know? He’s getting 9s. We are not mind readers.

He will be ok. Presumably he reads the set texts for school English Lit and enjoys them? I teach Literature A Level and suspect many of my bright students don’t read much beyond the syllabus. They still enjoy it and do very well.

At the end of the day it's his choice, but I do wonder why someone would choose to spend two years studying English Lit if they're not a book reader. What does he actually enjoy about the subject?

1. Get him into Waterstones so he can choose for himself.

1. If at all possible, start with books that had movies based on them and watch those at the same time. Make it a bit of a family thing - treats, coziness, you get the picture. If finances allow, and there are shooting sites nearby, go for a trip.

1. Is there a chance he is aphantasic - is he able to visualise the story in his mind? If he isn't, then reading can be a total slog and he will never enjoy it.

If he's getting all 9,s I'm sure hexwill cope🙄

I did A-level English Lit and didn't read high brow books (or any others really) in my spare time, way too busy socialising. We did Equus and I loved it, try him with that perhaps, it's very short and definitely won't take 7 months to read. Definitely do not go in to school and tell his teachers on him.

You can reason with him about doing Eng lit - look at what books his school studies and see what he thinks - but let him make the final decision.

He might be thinking of English Language A Level. You are talking about English Literature.