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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

Confused over A level choices

234 replies

ihearttc · 07/07/2021 20:25

DS1 has just finished Y11. He is a fairly bright boy and is predicted 6s, 7s and 8s for GCSE. He has picked his a level choices…PE, Geography and Biology. These are some of his best subjects and is predicted 8 in both PE/Biology and a 7 in Geography.

He had his induction day at 6th form this week and PE/Geography are ok, the Biology didn’t go well. He thinks the teacher is great (he taught him before) but the others in the class are just not on his wavelength. I’m aware that sounds really shallow and pathetic but 2 of the boys especially are very hard work and he said he was only in there for an hour and wanted to walk out. There are 10 of them and he said there is literally no one he could talk to. He is rather cool and sporty…they are the complete opposite so I can see why he found it tricky.

Anyway…my question is does he suck it up and just accept the fact that he is going to hate a lesson just to do the subject or walk away and chose something else. He wants to do something sport related…either sports science or become a Secondary PE teacher if that’s relevant.

The other option is his other choices are limited due to timetabling. It would have to either be the biology, Media Studies (which he did for GCSE), a BTEC medical science (which seems not at his academic level) or Maths. The obvious one is maths but he is freaking out over hard it will be and he doesn’t want to fail.

Any thoughts if that makes sense at all?

OP posts:
floridapalmtree · 07/07/2021 21:03

I think he needs to stick with the Biology and suck it up, it's only one lesson out of the three and Biology is a very solid A level which will really help with his future. It's only two years, which might seem like a lifetime to him now but it will fly by. If he wants to do a degree in Sports Science then Biology is must to do well at it. Also, PE and Biology have a lot of similar topics so doing both will help with both A levels (my son did both).

Also, regarding the BTec, some universities will not entertain them, like Leeds, didn't even give my other son the time of day with a BTec Sport on his UCAS application with a double distinction.

One of my daughters took A Level Maths, after achieving A* in Maths GCSE and A in Statistics, and A in additional maths. She struggled at A level as despite being good at maths she wasn't good enough to achieve top grades.

Original poster
ihearttc · 07/07/2021 21:03

@HasaDigaEebowai

I’m probably not making much sense and making my poor DS sound like something he isn’t! It’s not that he expects them to be like him, it’s just that the whole class is the complete opposite. A really bad example but imagine most of the class is like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory and DS is like Jack Grealish.

OP posts:
underneaththeash · 07/07/2021 21:01

Choosing an A level based on other kids in the class is ridiculous. He can just hang around with other people he likes.

GoWalkabout · 07/07/2021 20:58

I think he has all the information, he can make a choice. There is no wrong option - too many unknowns. Good experience of weighing things up. Maybe have a look at uni courses using the A Level explorer and the possible options to see if any of the choices rule out anything for him www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer

Original poster
ihearttc · 07/07/2021 20:57

@motogogo

Fully aware that A levels are hard work…he knows exactly what PE entails. He isn’t even doing it for the sport element so much, it’s the theory and coaching side he is interested in.

You imagine putting kids that don’t fit into the Sport/PE side of things into a PE class and see how uncomfortable they feel? It works both ways. Just because he can do the work and is able doesn’t mean he feels like he fits in with the rest of the people in there.

I’m probably explaining it really badly…it’s very obvious to me as I know who the kids are (one of which made DS’s life very difficult in Primary School) but it’s like trying to make a class of polar opposites. There are 9 of one type and 1 of another type…it’s extremely difficult for the odd one out.

OP posts:
HasaDigaEebowai · 07/07/2021 20:55

Surely there will be non cool non sporty kids in all a level classes - particularly maths

Original poster
ihearttc · 07/07/2021 20:51

Thank you…we’ll have another look at Medical Science. I found some of the exam papers yesterday and it looked easier than his GCSE biology but I may have been looking at the wrong thing.

I just feel so bad for him…he so wanted to do biology and this has just made him doubt it all. Appreciate they don’t need to be best mates but assume they will need to do partner work at some point and knowing who is in the class that would be tricky.

He is good at maths, top set and predicted an 8 but had to work hard for it. His mate is doing A level maths and is on a whole other level…DS would never cope with that!

OP posts:
motogogo · 07/07/2021 20:45

I'm sorry but if it were my son I would be telling him it's school and to suck it up, cool and sporty is for out of school. Does he realise his other a levels are actually hard work? Pe isn't just sport

mrsdolittle · 07/07/2021 20:33

Tricky one. Depends on how much he wants to do the Biology. He's got nearly two years of class time with these kids and if he's already having doubts it's not ideal. However if he is happy with his other choices/classes he could maybe suck it up. The teaching is the most important thing imo. My DS doesn't gel with his biology class either - but adores the teacher.

Don't dismiss the BTEC - they are much more highly rated than they used to be. Considering what he wants to do next a BTEC in Medical Science might be a really good fit.

A Level maths is proper hard!