To think getting four A*s at A-level is pointless and might even be bad

My son is doing his A'levels this year.
He was given the option of doing 4 with the proviso that if he or his teachers felt it was too much then he would drop one.
He's carried on doing all 4 as he finds it easy and TBH appears to do no work but is excelling in practise exams.
So no, I don't think he's been hindered at all

This is the second post today urging people not to try to excel in their degree, and now in their A levels.

Is someone dreading competition?

Not just more in your back pocket - when I did it (Maths + Further Maths -> Maths degree), I'd already covered almost all of the first year of the university course.

Of course, this could be a bad thing - I kind of coasted my first year, and then hit the wall in the second year.

Yes but the content covered in FM is really interesting (or so ds tells me - you couldn't pay me to do it) It's not just about minimum entry grades, it's about knowledge and challenging yourself. It's about being armed for your degree with more in your back pocket.

I did 4 A levels, partly because I wasn't entirely sure of what to do next. (Maths, physics, chemistry and biology). I got AABB (before A* grade added).

I think it was worthwhile for me. Could I have got 3As? Maybe... I will never know. But I am happy with the decision.

@MeJuly The further maths issue is that not all sixth forms offer it so they cannot ask for it as it discriminates but it is often advised that if your college offers it and your degree will probably require it then you should take it. If a course is oversubscribed then of course the university cherry picks who they want.

To be clear. 4 A Levels, not A*

I have four back when they meant something and it's about being well-rounded, indulging my interests, change is as good as a rest.

It's why the International Baccalaureate is a better program than A Levels. More range.

DC1 got 4 Astars in Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Physics. They then went to a top uni to study chemistry - the entry requirements were AstarAA. While at uni, they always said to me how glad they were that they did all 4 of those subjects because the course would have been much harder without.

I think for very bright kids, 4 A levels is perfectly doable. DC1 actually did an EPQ too and had had a part time job as well as a few hobbies.

Ds was predicted 4 A stars and achieved 4 A stars. His highly competitive course entry was 1 A star and 2 As. They actually offered pretty much all their places to 3 A stars or more. There are published statistics by the universities on this.

Just because entry is A star AA does not mean they offer to those applicants with that predicted grade. Having 4 A levels puts you in a much smaller group, around 5% have 4 A levels, the rest have 3. It also means every course at every university is open to you whereas if you are predicted 1 A star AA then some course are out of reach.

For some students, Ds1 included, his A level work came very easy to him. He had brilliant teachers all of whom were available every day at the end of the day to ask questions, improve, feedback was specific allowing for excellence academically. He also completed the vast majority of his homework in his free periods in school hours. If you have a cohort that is grade specific ie maths/further maths pathway where you needed a grade 7 in maths then the lesson moves at a good pace. He had the same in physics. Other subjects just worked on the sixth form entry grades which were 5 grade 4s. So a huge range of ability just not in Ds's classes.

It also depends what grades you come into A levels on. Ds1 had all grade 9s for the subjects he was taking and mostly 9s with a couple of 8s overall.

A capable student will want to do well and fulfil their potential no matter what. Ds is predicted 3 A stars and has an Oxbridge offer of 3 As, which is the standard offer for his subject. There is no way he will now just aim for 3 As as it's a matter of pride for him to do as well as he can. Two of the subjects come easily to him and he just needs to keep on top of the new content as he covers it, so he will devote most of his energies to the third. It's not neither good nor bad, it's just how he is and what he will do.

I agree that there is little point doing 4 A levels and, depending on the subjects it could be a bad idea and result in lower grades than would otherwise have been the case for no reason - no universities require 4 A levels and if the subjects in question all have coursework for instance, it can make for an unmanageable workload for no real benefit and bring some grades below what is needed for the 'top' courses/unis.

They have an expected number of hours of independent study. If you needed to go well beyond them then you probably have bitten off more than you can chew.

Why are you worried about these students? Is your DC thinking of taking four?

My dd just had 4 offers from uni for an Access course to do Maths.

When one subject is further maths you often need 4 A levels.

My DS imperial offer as three a* and one a.
This was during covid grade inflation.

Doing an excessive amount of work to the detriment of your well-being is bad, whether the aim is four A stars or four Cs.

Getting four A stars in itself is not bad.

I guess it depends what sacrifices (if any) were necessary in order to achieve those grades. If the fourth A-level was, say, Art or Music or an MFL alongside STEM subjects then I think it could be viewed as a positive broadening experience, especially if the student enjoyed the extra subject. Otoh if it meant that the person in question did absolutely nothing but study for two years and hated every minute, then yes, that could be seen as "bad".

Well, 4 A-levels comes with 20 hours worth of lessons and 20 hours of independent study a week. It's more work than three but we aren't into 18 hour day territory.

But what you are advocating is doing less than you are capable of simply because it isn't necessary. When for kids, at least for those who aren't cynical and jaded, it's taking the most advantage of what college can offer.

Yes op. We should all aim for the bare minimum and mediocrity where possible.