PE A Level

@Dahliafairy well done to your dd, that sounds fantastic!

Update - very frustratingly DD’s school say they have to have GCSE for A level PE. I’ve checked at other local schools and it seems that none of them have the same requirement, they just ask for a 6 in science. Even the corresponding boys grammar!

Ive emailed one of the PE teachers who is on the SLT to see if there is any leeway.

DD did A level PE - she hadn’t done it at GCSE but was allowed to as her science grades were high. Her sport was dance too - her coursework focused on strength and conditioning in dance and she had to submit videos of her competing for her practical element. She ended up with an A star and is now doing teacher training with the RAD.

I've found it, thanks!

I can't read it! Do you have a link?

Not very clear image but that is for social sciences, politics, education and law at Leeds so not medicine

Well I didn't mean excluded as in not accepted at all. I said some courses require at least 2 traditional subjects. The attached is an example where applicant are required to have 2 subjects from list A and no more than 1 from list B. Drama and PE are on list B so if you chose both if those you would be excluded from this particular course. That's what I meant but may have worded it badly.

Some courses require at least 2 'traditional' subjects and have a list of subjects which are excluded

No they don't. Unless its general studies and critical thinking. Drama and PE are not excluded by anyone, anywhere. Obviously if you have Drama, PE and another you aren't going to get into medicine, but subjects are required, not excluded.

If she might want to go to university but doesn't know what she wants to do then it is really worth just having a quick look at some potential courses to make sure she isn't excluding herself from anything she might be interested in with her A level choices. Some courses require a science and some require 2 but will accept Psychology as a second for example. Other courses such as History or Geography might require an A level in that subject. Some courses require at least 2 'traditional' subjects and have a list of subjects which are excluded, so whilst PE might be ok, if she were also doing drama that could be 2 non qualifying subjects (not saying they are on that list but just an example in the importance of checking) You are definitely right that choosing the subjects she is likely to get the highest grade in is the most important factor but the research is worth doing to be sure she has as many options open to her as possible. My son had a list of areas of interest for university which included psychology, law, history and sports science. As a result he took history, psychology and biology because that combination would allow him to apply for all of them.

What circumstances? You don't need PE gcse to do the A level.

*randoms

Perhaps better to actually ask the school and see if they'd be happy to take her for A-Level in all the circumstances. They're the only ones who can decide, not a bunch of fandoms in the internet.

If she did well at Biology gcse then PE A level won't feel that new.

Psychology was the one that dc regretted taking.

@MrsAvocet thank you so much to your ds, that’s really helpful. A good point about 3 new subjects.

Yes thats fine then if there is no clear plan for after A levels then just do ones she will enjoy.

She has no idea what she wants to do afterwards. A levels are tough, my view is that they should choose subjects they enjoy and are good at.

(dcs friend studying Law at Bristol with PE A level!)

Dd wouldn’t consider a science. She’s quite good at science but finds the plant stuff in Biology very dull. I think she’d quite like the human biology aspect.

My DDs friend is a Doctor. She has PE A level. It’s a fourth one though.

So both went on to something sport related so A level PE would make sense. Ots hard to give any advice on A levels without knowing what the plan is for post A level.

One of mine did Physiotherapy and one did a Sports degree (and then physiotherapy!).

One did PE, psychology and RS.
One did PE, RS and History.

Two of mine did A level PE and neither did GCSE PE. School didn't offer it and they both got As and A*s so made no difference.

There's more human biology in PE A level than there is in Biology A level.

I asked DS for his opinion @bendmeoverbackwards and he said that he thought that as long as your DD gets a good grade for Biology GCSE then he would think it would be perfectly possible to do A level PE without the GCSE. He thinks that there would be some disadvantages to not having done GCSE as there is work that builds upon what they have already done, but that it wouldn't be too difficult to overcome, though it might require a bit of work over the Summer.
One thing he did say though, is that as someone who does sports that aren't taught in his school, he feels that he has had to do more for himself in terms of research as to what's needed and collecting evidence than the pupils who are doing the standard school sports. Not that is necessarily a bad thing in many ways, but he says he does feel that those who were doing sports that the teachers were more familiar with got a bit more support. Of course that's not necessarily the case everywhere, but it's just something to bear in mind.
DS is doing the OCR syllabus and the requirements for each sport are downloadable from their website (Dance is on page 57 and there does look to be quite a lot of options in terms of approved genres etc) and I presume the other boards also have the info available. It would probably be worth showing it to your DD's dance teacher as they may need to help you collect the evidence if school aren't au fait with dance. It will probably be relatively easy to get video evidence for dance as presumably most of it can be done solo, whereas DS has to get matches videoed and then identify himself demonstrating various skills, which is a bit tricky - and well beyond me filming on my phone unfortunately!
One point DS made which hadn't occurred to me, is has your DD done Psychology or Sociology before or would they also be new at A level? He says at his school they probably wouldn't let a pupil do 3 new subjects at A level , as there are always some pupils who want to swap out of "new" subjects when they discover they are not quite what they expect, so they aren't keen on anyone doing more than one subject that is completely new to them.

I would be interested in what she is planning to to post A level and does PE/Sport feature. If not I would say do a science instead.

That’s interesting from @MrsAvocet. Yes would be worth checking – would exams in dance count I wonder, or would she have to be competing at dance festivals? DS also did athletics and considered offering that – he would have needed to be throwing discus about 35-40m by the end of the course IIRC for a good grade which seemed eminently achievable. Trouble is with athletics, bc it’s a summer sport you are likely to be assessed on your year 12 level (esp with discus which yoi cannot throw indoors in the winter, unlike a sprinter who can still compete) hence he went with footy. YY you do have to be quite pragmatic about it.