A Levels for Engineering

I'm a chartered civil engineer, and mine are Maths, Further Maths, Physics and German. I then got the option to study abroad for a year (which I did, in Vienna), and it comes in handy for translating technical documents which are often in German. I've used a couple of DIN standards for some specialist work when BS didn't cover it.

I took maths, chemistry, physics and business studies at AS and at A2 I dropped the business studies. I do wish I had taken Geography instead of business studies as I went on to study civil engineering at uni.

My friend did chemical engineering and is now doing her second degree in civi engineering. she says civil is way easier than chemical.

Good luck to your son whatever he decides to do. Engineering is a good solid route for him to take. I have not regretted it.

DH did maths, physics and history before going on to do a 4 year degree in mechanical engineering.

Further Maths is a must, I would say, and take it A2. Those on my course who hadn't taken FM really struggled, even though they ran two tiers of maths in the first year of our engineering course so they could "catch up".
Either Chemistry or Geography, could be useful, if he is thinking of going down a chemical/geotechnical route.
But honestly, I would say stuck with 4 subjects to A2, don't worry about doing an extra AS (I would say the time that could be spent doing that would be better spent focussing on the 4 main subjects or spending on extra-curriculars), and maybe take the 4th subject in whatever he is most passionate about?
FWIW I did maths, FM, Physics and German, and AS Music - the AS was of no tangible benefit (I mean, I was a musician, but the academic study of it didn't really do anything for me), and German I did because I loved it (and luckily I could take the odd module of it in my degree too).

Wishing him all the best!

dt, maths, physics

Just to show how broad "engineering" is - like Megrim I am also a geotechnical engineer, and have non of the same A Levels! Mine are Physics, Maths and Chemistry.

OP, if you son is interested in civil, river, environmental etc engineering I'd say to take Geography.
If he is interested in chemical, mechanical, process, medical, naval bio- , petroleum engineering - then take Chemistry
For other types of engineering - unless the Geography/Chemistry choice is obvious from the speciality or specified by the course requirements, I'd take whichever I was most likely to get the best grade in.

Geographael
is better than what it said on my degree certificate!

I prefer Geographael!

Geographael = geography :)

Maths, further maths, physics full A levels, plus geogRaphael & chemistry to AS level.

w00t - he agreed with me. And says computing is a really good choice considering current engineering.

However he says it depends what sort of engineering your DS is interested in as to whether Chemistry or Geography is most useful. eg - if Civil engineering, then Geography etc...

However he also says Maths is the key one to get considered, as long as the rest are academic subjects to get him in, then it won't make any difference as any decent engineering course will cover A-level level work in the first two weeks.

He has spent time as a teacher, is now an engineer and does guest lectures at a prominent engineering university, so he's quite well qualified to comment. He'll probably hate me saying this though. I like to blow his trumpet more than he does :)

DS is considering engineering courses, electrical, chemical or biochemical. In order to keep options open he is going to take: A level Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and AS further Maths.

We were advised by the school to make sure he takes the mechanics modules of the further maths as these are what the uni's look for.

OP - I think you are there. DS should probably pick whichever of Chemistry and Geography he thinks would be most fun, IMHO.

DH is an engineer, I've asked what he'd recommend, but can I predict take a guess at what he'll say?
-Maths
-Physics
-Computing
-Further maths or Chemistry

DS has engineering offers (including Southampton!) based on just maths, physics and design tech -- though he wishes he'd been able to do further maths.

The universities we've spoken to have all said they are essentially looking for the maths and physics.

Further maths would be very very useful, even if not a requirement for entry - not having done further maths nearly sunk me and certainly cost me a better class of degree. At school pace I would have got it - trying to catch up when most other people had done it was just too hard.

Other than that he should pick one he likes, IMHO. FWIW (and I realise this was back in the dark ages and therefore not relevant) I did Maths, Physics, Chemistry and French and went on to Engineering Science at Oxford.

at DDs college she has been suggested to start 5 and be willing to drop one at A2 if she is not guaranteed top grades across the board
sounds sensible to me

those who are looking at lower GCSEs start with 4 and drop to 3

5 is a lot of work. Specially when friends are all doing 4 and have so much more free time.
Be honest, is he self-motivated? Is he likely/predicted to get A/A* in these subjects at GCSE?
If not, then stick with 4 to AS.
I don't know much about the apprenticeships. although my nephew is considering this route as he is finding A levels difficult.
To get onto one of the top engineering degrees you are looking at A/A* in your A levels, so a very different (not better or worse) proposition to the apprenticeship route.

It's good your ds is aware of the different opportunities and is keen to keep his options open.

I would go with Chemistry too. However, both of mine found it the hardest of their subjects so be prepared for the hard work.

To keep his options open the gold standard is Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry at AS, carrying all to A2.

If he knows he doesn't want to do Chemical Engineering he can drop the Chemistry if he needs to (if he knows he does he can consider dropping the Physics, but talk to the target uni first), but if he is unsure or is aiming for Cambridge he really needs to keep all 4 subjects going to maximise his chance of entry and range of options once there (and should confirm this by talking to the admissions tutor that deals with Engineering at his target college).

History, Philosophy and Geography are nice (Economics is better), but not in preference to any of the above 4 unless you want to rule out Chem Eng: if you want to keep a broad range of subjects, do the IB instead (you will need to get 7 in Maths and Science Highers of course).

Design Technology can be useful if you are targeting Mech or Auto, but even then not at the expense of Further Maths or Physics.

Geography important for Mining Engineering, but that is a different kettle of fish altogether.

Northerner
Get him to look at the course by course pages for the two Unis I linked to and see what grabs his fancy and then if needs be phone them as they will want to help him.