A level choices

@SummerInSun our local secondary school (just out of special measures) gets rid of most of year 11 after gcses as they don't measure up to what they want in the 6th form. They take little consideration of extenuating circumstance etc.

Have you or she rung the current school to talk to them about it? Might they be more flexible about the entry requirements if she didn’t miss out on the 8 by much, did well in the other subjects, and they learn she is considering leaving the school altogether over it?

I hate schools ramping up the pressure on pupils to get top marks in order to do A levels in that subject. Dd3 had to get 9s in the subjects she wanted to take at higher level IB - maths, physics and chemistry!

I was in exactly the same position as your daughter (many years ago). I decided I wanted to do maths at an all boys grammar school that had recently opened the 6th form to girls. Coming from an all girls grammar school it was a complete culture shock and I hated every second. If I had my time again I would have dropped maths and stayed at my original school and picked another A level subject.

How close is she to the grade boundary for the 8? Would it be worth requesting a remark?

That is highly unusual. Were there extenuating circumstances?

My son got a 5 in GCSE maths and is on track for an A at A level!

This!!
I am a maths tutor and a lot of kids drop it because they don’t realise the jump. Would it be possible for her to take 4 a levels with the plan being to drop one after the first year? That’s what we did when I was at school. If she is going to take maths, I would suggest maybe getting a tutor from the get go to keep on top of it. Maths is the better option from a uni/employment stance - but I’m biased I guess.

DC1 decided to move to a super selective girls grammar school for 6th form (wondering actually if it could even be your DD's school).

Howevr DC1 changed their mind and stayed at their comprehensive and did spectacularly well. The two deciding factors were that (1) all the classes in the grammar school had 30 on them and in the comp, their classes ranged in size from 2 to 10. (2) when we thought about, all the A -Level courses should ideally be be finished by about February of y13, so that is really only 4.5 terms to learn more everything, so there is no time to waste with settling in.

Is there any mileage in persuading the existing school to let her try maths?

Is it worth considering a comprehensive with a smaller sixth form to get smaller class sizes?

DC2 got a 6 for GCSE maths and still got a B in A-Level maths although I know this is a stretch.

We were in similar situation yesterday. My daughter had maths, physics and psychology down as her choices and was predicted 8s in maths and physics but achieved 7s. Her grammar school woul still allow her to do maths A level but she decided it was too big a leap so has now switched to biology (got 8 at gcse). However she is sure she doesn't want to do an engineering degree or anything in that field (more interested in space psychology, marine conservation etc) so we're less concerned her choices will be limited by dropping maths. She originally wanted to swap maths for sociology but the school wouldn't allow it as she didnt get 7s in English and history which was their minimum requirement for sociology. I have no advice, only empathy, as we just want to see them happy.

My son is doing Computer Science at Nottingham University. He doesn't have maths A level. Some ask for it, but lots don't.

My son only got a 7 in maths instead of the 8 he was predicted, and like your daughter wasn't allowed to do maths A-level in his current school. He still wanted to do physics so has just completed Physics (A), computer science (A) and geography (B). If your daughter is looking to do engineering I would say to move schools and do maths. My son struggled to find any university or degree apprenticeship in engineering without a maths A level. He's now going on to do a computer science degree, which he's really happy about, but even for that a lot of universities wanted maths.
We have since found some universities where he could do engineering if he did a foundation year first so he could catch up on the maths, but he's happy with his computer science choice now.
If your daughter really wants to do engineering, I would definitely suggest she moves and does maths. Not having it has definitely closed a lot of doors to my son.
Some people mentioned physics being hard if you don't also do maths, but my son has been totally fine and has just got an A, so I think if you're mathematically minded anyway, then physics should be fine on its own.

I think she should figure out how to deal with the move and do maths. I know that isn't easy, but those grades are only obtained by someone who's got a bloody good maths brain and enjoys it!! I think she would possibly find that she is stuck later on because what she really wants to do NEEDS maths A-level.

A 7 is still an A!!! I wouldn't want my child to study at a school that didn't think an A was good enough!
A possible alternative to consider- could she do AS level maths alongside the other subjects? Not got a clue whether this would help with her career plan, just a thought.
Whatever she decides, she has done brilliantly and should be proud of her achievements!

My DS got an 8 at GCSE, and started maths A level. He did a year before dropping it, absolutely hated it, and found it pretty tough. It was his 4th A level, and he wasn't planning on doing engineering by that point (had been in the running when he started A levels) so it didn't matter too much. I agree that if your DD does want to do engineering it will be difficult to get a place without it. He did however get an A in physics, and his GCSE maths was sufficient for him to not struggle with that, so I don't think it's essential to have the maths for physics.
Their school is a grammar, and they have loads of new kids starting for 6th form every year, and they do seem to integrate very quickly, so if she decides she wants to move I'm sure she'll be absolutely fine.

I am wondering if your 6th forms are near me in S. If so, I'd most definitely say move schools as there are a good amount of movement between the two schools/6th forms plus the new starters. I'm sure she'll settle in, especially doing the subjects she really wants to do. Good luck.

My son got a 7 in maths this year, daughter finished A level maths last year. There's not a chance in hell he'd manage what she did.

I went to an all-girls school that had a joint sixth form with a boys school. I did what were typical boy subjects back then and ended up in classes with 30 boys and 3 girls. It was fine. Having read through everyone else's advice and your reply I'm just going to reiterate that she must be prepared to ask lots of questions when she gets stuck.

What do you think the reason was for the 7. Was it that she is understanding and operating at 7 level or is it that she miss read questions, didn’t understand fully what the question was requiring (in other words, non maths related weaknesses)

if it is the later then there is every reason to believe given another 2 years, her question interpretation will improve significantly. If it is that the math content itself was challenging then it wouldn’t be wise to pursue maths a-level.

physics and psychology will benefit from maths and most engineering degrees require maths. But all but the vast majority. Anyone without it would find the degree very challenging.

can you find out the reason for the 7 and if it is more the questions rather than the content speak with the school again?

It is a very good result OP, and at most schools a 7 would not prevent a student from studying A level in any subject (except probably Further Maths). It's probably the lowest grade that many would recommend for A level Maths specifically* *but it is still very much do-able. It seems that your DD is at a high performing selective school who can afford to be very fussy because they have enough pupils who got 8 or 9 to fill an A level class. And let's face it, it's going to make life easier for the staff and probably lead to some excellent A level results for the cohort so from the school's perspective it makes complete sense. But what is best for the school is not necessarily what is best for your daughter.
I completely understand her anxiety about moving schools for 6th form because I did it. I was the only new pupil in my 6th form and at first I absolutely hated it. New teachers, the step up to A level, new buildings, new routines that everyone except me knew, and everyone else in long established friendship groups. It was a bit different fir me as I was at a truly terrible school before then and was glad to move to somewhere better but I was still leaving friends and familiarity so it was really hard. But by Christmas it was like I'd always been there and that short term pain led to long term gains. At least your DD would have a cohort of other new girls, most of whom will probably have the same anxieties. The desire to stay where she is is completely natural but she does need to consider the future. If settling for A levels she doesn't really want to do means that she then has to settle for a degree that isn't really what she wants to do and possibly ultimately a career that isn't the best fit for her, will she feel that the "safe" decision around which 6th form to attend was really worth it?
As well as looking at Engineering requirements I'd also approach it from the other direction and look at what degrees she could do with Physics, Biology and Psychology and what kind of careers they are then likely to lead to. Is there anything there that appeals or not? I know it's hard to know at 16, but if she has at least an idea of what kind of things sound interesting or not it may help.
But most importantly, she has got a great set of exam results to be proud of and lots of doors will be open to her. She's clearly a very able girl and absolutely should not feel that she has "failed" at this stage in her life because she "only" got a very good grade for her Maths rather than the absolute top grade.

My son achieved a 7 at maths (& physics)GCSE a few years ago & went on to get an A at A'level (with some private tutoring help). He is now doing aeronautical engineering, so it is possible.

Maths A'level really is very important to do engineering, although she may be able to get on to a foundation course without it (need to check this).

Is there any chance of persuading her school to let her on the course at all?