3 A Levels or 4?

If you're only allowed to take three, but you really hate one, what can you do? I dropped the one I hated most after the first year. If I'd had to continue it, tbh I'd have left.

My DD in year 12 is currently doing three plus an EPQ and a Crest award.Her independent school have advised 3 for everyone apart from Oxbridge candidates.DD wants to do Vet. science and all offers are based on 3 plus/minus a EPQ.She has checked this with the relevant Vet. Schools. She does need to get A/A* in these 3 and the A levels are meant to be harder this year.

DD1's school offers 4 to the top of the top set, not to everyone.

She's only in Yr10 at the moment but is doing very well and would like to explore the possibilities of doing a 4th A-level if her GCSEs are good enough.

I think it's good the flexibility can be offered to really stretch very able pupils, especially if there is the option of dropping one after a year if it's proving too much.

Its an absolute shit storm
my kids are at / will go to a humungous 6th form college with the resources to cover all permutations and THEY are confused
I find it horrifying the mess that smaller 6th have to cope with

For DD, being able to choose 4 has meant she has been able to choose something she likes but isn't confident she will be OK with at A level. She can still drop a subject.

School does the walk up GS too. DS1 refused to do it as a 6th AS, he had 2 exams already that day and wanted to concentrate on them.

Incidentally DS1 is doing 4 A2 inc FM and all his offers, are based on 3. There are other reasons he is doing 4.

EPQ. That's the extra thing I was paying attention honestly

DS2 taking 3 come September. GS 6th form . Sounds like FM will be a standard 4th for those taking Maths. Talking to one the the teachers who taught DS1 at same school reckoning was that the new A levels, at least for his subject, have / will have 20% / 25% more content.

I have mixed feelings about the demise of AS. The 4 to 3 approach did provide a margin for error on choice. Plus those elite Unis did like the academic trajectory from GCSE that AS results could demonstrate.

I'm always a bit unclear as to why people think the elite Unis, never mind just the good ones, are going to expect at least 4 A levels. Stealth boast alert! - DS1 at Cambridge, they are clear that standard offers will be based on 3 still. He only did 3, although along with most of his year he also did General Studies as a turn up for the exams 4th , very few Uni's counted them within offers though. His UCAS tariff points - quoted on all the subject league tables - was therefore very high, although arguably artificially so. I'm not convinced an A i General Studies is remotely equivalent to an A in, say, Further Maths. Yet both were worth the same 140 UCAS pts.

The next few years, as the full effect of the end of AS and revamped A level courses becomes clearer, will be interesting

DD is still doing 4, with the option of FM as well, (which she wont do).

Only 3 are allowed at dds 6th form, with an AS in Year 12 and an EPQ in Year 13.

Ds1 is doing four. His school also offer further maths as a fifth and the option of something that's a bit more personal for the dc (can't remember what it's called atm).
Ds1 has declined further maths but may do the additional bit.
His A levels are now linear so no AS.

HI, saw that you had not had any replies to this. Most schools do 4 at AS and 3 at A2, but in reality a good number of dc drop one AS subject during Y12 because they find the workload too heavy. No unis expect 4 A levels. It is much better to get 3 good ones than spread yourself more thinly just to comply with the norm. She should just focus on what she really wants to do.