National 5 choices, French or not?

"Ds2's issues with English are complex, he is a clever boy but didn't lean to read properly until primary 5."

Oh definitely encourage English then...with English (and maths) you want to be thinking less of exam grades and more that they're skills supporting all the other subjects.

Any other subject I'd drop for another they're doing better in (unless they really really want to do a certain subject for a reason) but you need English itself more than a higher grade.

Do ask about a Nat 5 class, but there's nothing wrong with doing 4, 5 and then Higher in S6 for English or Maths.

I'm not currently teaching, but I have been told that Nat 5 to Higher is less of a jump than credit standard grade was anyway, so he may not need 2 years for Higher if he passes Nat 5 well.

I would ask that he be entered into a Nat 5 class. Let him have a go at the internal unit assessments, prepare a Folio etc but prepare a Nat 4 AVU (most schools get this out the way late S3 or as soon as timetable changes) as if he then fails Nat 5 he will get a Nat 4 under the positive recognition conditions. look on senior phase as a 3 year journey - what would you like him to have attained at the end of that? I agree with Tabulah completely. I see clever pupils who are Maths/Science oriented and dropped English post S4 struggle with the language complexity required for Advanced Higher never mind uni as they have stepped away from focus on language too early.

Pick the nat 5, While a MFL might be useful in itself, it's no use at all for uni if it costs him a Higher later.

English however is different, I wouldn't advise anyone to drop English until they're at the point that they definitely won't pass the next level exam.

Not having Higher English might be more of an issue. Higher History is a good qualification and will help him to evaluate sources and structure an argument but technical accuracy of language will only be fully addressed in English. Many courses look for C minimum at Higher English in the "small print". If he is thinking about picking English up in S6 if languages are not a strong point he might struggle after a year away.

I would definitely go for Geography if I were him, although I know it's a bit trickier now that the Nat 5 choices are more limited. My Ds sat 8 Standard Grades two years ago and my my Dd sat 8 Nat 5s last year, but I don't think any schools are doing 8 subjects now.

Scottish parent here. No, I don't think the lack of a MFL will be a problem. My son dropped French at the end of 2nd year and he's now in 6th year with 3 conditionals for a technical subject, none of which are remotely bothered by the lack of a foreign language!

The russel group says not a problem, there's one Uni where he'd have to take an extra language module if he doesn't arrive with GCSE in MFL. That's about all.