Can anybody help me write a letter to the school PLEASE?

I'd give it a few more weeks to be honest, when it comes to A Level (ime) students start dropping like flies when they realise the rules are more relaxed for them. A lot can't be bothered with the harder subjects, some realise 6th form is not for them and drop out, especially when it gets to A2.
When I did my A Levels, four of the local schools were joined together to make a Sixth Form Consortium, at the start there were about 800 students, by the end of year one that number had more than halved.

sorry, no linky

www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/courses/mathematics/mathematics_.html no mention of Physics, just Maths and Further Maths.

What are the outcomes you would find acceptable?

Does the school usuall have this number doing physics, or have they be taken by surprise? Is the limitation teacher numbers? Or is it timetable constraints and/or lab availability?

There aren't enough physics teachers. Realistically, if a second class were to be made, it would likely not be a specialist, which wouldn't be great either.

I really don't think A level classes should be more than 15 ideally, maybe 20. I'd be looking at another college, or rethinking physics. Are you sure it is necessary? Do they offer further maths?

I'd ask for a meeting so you can ask what their intentions are. If you're still unhappy, I'd move her pronto.

I think Lady Sybil's letter is a good start. Talk of withdrawing her or involving the press at this stage is a bit dramatic - after all, what if you do withdraw her from the class? It will help solve the class size problem for the school and your dd loses out because she has to choose another subject for AS.

Chill (easy for me to say I know).Of course she has a chance to do well in life .She's made an excellent start with her string of A*.Well done DD . I would've thought it might be best to make an appointment to go in and discuss your/your DD aspirations and aims with the Head/head of Science . If you think you're going to be over emotional is there someone you could take with you ? I've no experience of sixth form yet so I can't advise on class numbers however if there are 35 kids who've done well enough in GCSE to take Physics AS I would think it's teaching quality and pupil motivation to do well rather than class number that's more important.
You say science results are shit ? Is this backed up with results or emotion?

They may have lost a teacher and are trying to recruit one. You're better off with the nicey nicey approach (first), just so until you can work out what's going on.

Y12 classes do tend to start out bigger (35 is extreme!) and naturally reduce in the first 3 or 4 weeks as students drop out/switch subjects. If, by half term, there are still 30+ students being taught together the the school really needs to look at splitting the group into two. Hopefully they'll already be thinking about doing this but I like LadySybil's letter above - school's response should tell you about what they intend to do in the long run.

I understand your problem but, even if the school agreed with you, where would they magically find an extra Physics teacher at this time of year.

Any idea of the average fall-out rate at half term or even the end of Y12?

Does Physics have something similar to the FM network.

Dear Sir,

It has come to my attention that DD's physics class currently has 35 pupils. You may be aware that DD wishes to study mathematics at an Oxbridge University, which is a course that requires a high grade in physics, and I believe that the size of the current class would have a detrimental impact upon her grades.
I hope that this is a temporary measure, as (teacher's name) surely isn't able to ensure that every child is given the guidance that they need in order to achieve exam results which would reflect their true ability. I hope that this matter is resolved quickly.

Yours sincerely

That's ridiculous! Surely other parents must be angry too?

Sorry, no advice but sympathy.

oh BOF, that sounds awful.

are there any guidelines as to optimal maximum class sizes for A level? maybe try talking to some admissions people at other sixth form provision to see whether they would give guidance on this?

I hope you can get this sorted - I can't even begin to imagine that many pupils in an A level class - my largest was 6 (in fact, my whole year was only 40 odd people!).

the main reasoning is surely that there are not adequate facilities for all of them, since they do not even fit into the lab all together (and not like you can just switch rooms for science)