ds's A Level choices drama rumbles on... help!

I teach a number of pupils who do the English/History/Philosophy combo. Philosophy is hard unless you have a particular type of brain! So I have seen pupils get AAD at AS Level with that combination of subjects.

At least he's got the GCSE grades to be able to go, I suppose. Rest really has to be up to him.

does he have any idea what he wants to do after A-levels?

I work with lawyers frequently. They are fond of trotting out latin phrases

If it's just for the grades, then definitely the subject most likely to do well in/appeal to the universities. Not much to choose between Phil and Latin imo. From the totally ignorant (of the level of effort required) standpoint of an employer they both have more credibility than media studies but no-where near that of an A* in Physics for example. Totally unfair I suspect but that's how the market works.

He could do a broader range if he went down the IB route of course.

Oscar, the law went over from Latin to English many years ago, it wouldn't be any use now.

lainie it sounds as if none of them really appeal. You could go one of three ways:

Do music as it will be relatively easy for him, so he can cash in his As in the other two subjects by doing not much work for music. i did that back in 1980- i took English, French, German and two Music A levels, Theoretical Music and Practical Music. The music ones were freebies for me and I got five A grades. It's a high risk subject though for not getting an A*, be warned. Very unpredictable.

Do a modern language which will be far more useful in getting work and competitive in University entrance than any of the three he is looking at.

Do either of philosophy or Latin, whichever you think is most reliably taught and is the least work.

If there is any chance of doing a modern language and getting a decent grade then I would do that.

I don't wish to sound incredibly rude but what use is Latin if you are only going to study 4/5 subjects and none of them are another modern language? It's nice to study something you enjoy but at what point in the education system do you focus on the longer term benefit?

It's a genuine question. I'm sitting here racking my brains but Law and Medicine are the only professions I can think of where it might be of use and Med is obviously (given the rest of the subject choices) not in question.

Background: Educationally I didn't go to school in UK and at home subject choice was heavily biased towards "use". Latin would be deemed as a luxury choice, only offered by a tiny number of schools, and people study 7-9 subjects at A level so doing a minority course just for interest sake is somewhat more acceptable.

Feel free to tell me I am talking crap and an A* in Latin will be of use after school.

Where does he want to go to University? What does he want to study?

In your shoes I would say the priority is to get at least AAB including English and history. That would be good enough for most places.

Or, if you are looking at a very competitive University, you need to be looking for A*AA.

Even for Oxbridge, as long as he has English and History and is going to get A in both, the third subject isn't terribly important as long as he gets an A. Philosophy has an OK reputation especially if he is looking at something like law at Uni. Latin has no reputation either way unless you are doing classics, because its not offered in many places. Music is seen as strong evidence of performing and music skill, so relevant if you want a music degree, but not relevant if you are doing something else. A modern language would be better than any of these, to be honest, but only if he could get an A.

So if he can get AAb or A*AA depending on his ambition doing English, history and philosophy then that would not be a bad choice.

Absolutely pointless doing five. Nobody wants five A levels in the humanities and social sciences (its different in science where maths, further maths and three sciences is the dream package) and if he dilutes his effort and doesn't get five A*s then he has wasted his time.

All three are minority choices, so if there is a particularly poor takeup for any the school may not run them. There's lots of financial pressure at the moment for sixth forms not to run small classes, and it may be wise to seek assurance from the school that they will offer the A2 courses next year definitely too, whether or not everyone deides to continue the subject for two years.

any combination would be fine, so put all on the form and let him go to all lessons for a week (assuming school can timetable them all - if not, the choice may be made for him). He can then drop the one he likes least after seeing what the teachers, class groups and subjects are really like.

Do the music to A2 if there is even a hint you may want to take it further (apart from anything, if you ARE in that position, it will be a subject you are strong in and will get a good grade!).

Probably true Friday - but presumably if OP's ds was seriously thinking about a music degree he wouldn't be wondering whether or not to do music!

Dropping Music would be fine, even if he was intending to do a Music degree (as long as he had the practical requirements)

Oxford:

Q2 I’m a UK citizen and want to study Music at Oxford, but I don’t have A2 Music. I do have ABRSM Grade 8 Theory. Can I still apply?
A2 Although ABRSM Grade 8 Theory is helpful in providing useful theoretical background to the course, it is not a substitute for A2 Music at Grade A.

There are places that don't agree, and will accept Grade 8 theory as an alternative to A Level music. However, (a) grade 8 theory is not a walk in the park and (b) you will need to explain why you didn't do A2. "My school didn't offer it" is OK. "I didn't fancy it much" might undermine your claims to want to do a music degree.

Which board does Latin A level and doesn't have essay style answers needed?

Depends on the Latin syllabus, surely?

I did A-level Latin back in the day, and there were very few essays to write that I remember (hell of a lot of unseen translations of Agricola's weird ideas of British geography/Aeneas and Dido breathing heavily in caves/watery reflections gleaming on the oiled skins of beautiful youths, though, that sort of thing).

I agree that it doesn't matter especially if he is likely to carry on with Eng Lit and History to A2. My dd did four of these (not music) at AS and then dropped history and has just done UCAS (and is getting offers). Eng lit and History are fine for facilitating subjects - you don't need three (the RG guide has more info on this). Almost no courses need Latin (my dd has managed to find a very obscure one but there would have been plenty of options without), as many schools do not offer it; the same may well be true of philosophy - you can check this on the UCAS website by searching for degree courses he might want to do and seeing what the essential and preferred A levels are.

I would ask the school for recent results in all three subjects - they are all likely to be small and therefore potentially vulnerable to staff changes etc so look for a good, stable record. And then all things being equal, he should go for the one he enjoys most and is likely to do best in. My dd found the four essay subjects (the Latin lit is effectively essay based) at AS very, very hard work. I gather philosophy is perfectly well regarded as a "hard" subject - it is just not essential for specific degrees, and I suspect the same is true of music. None of these are easy options - I think my dd would say Latin is more work than philosophy but she is keener on it. History was shedloads of work at AS.

I disagree that dropping music wouldn't matter if he wants to do it as a degree - been there, done that, lots of universities wouldn't even look at my application without it.

I'd say to put down the one he enjoys most. If I were him I'd put two or three of them down and make his final decision in the first few weeks of term - there's always some movement and schools are usually happy with movement up to about the third week.

Eng Lit and History are good heavyweight subjects. The other three are also very well-regarded and would be very acceptable to Oxbridge, so he doesn't need to worry about looking impressive - any combination will look impressive!

Unless he is intending to do Latin or a specific period of History where Latin would be useful, dropping Latin would do no harm. Dropping Music would be fine, even if he was intending to do a Music degree (as long as he had the practical requirements) and dropping Philosophy wouldn't rule out Philosophy degree.

So basically dropping any of those will do no harm to his chances of a university place, and any combination will look impressive. So he shoudl make his choice based on what he enjoys!