It is really feasible to do 4 "hard" A levels?

Oh, and 'hard' subjects is all relative. I promise you those 4 were the easiest a levels i could have done for me. Anything else would have required a lot more effort!

20 years ago, that is what i did (plus General studies).
Personally, I'd have found it much harder to drop 2 of them and do a humanity, as i would have had to work much harder at it than the sciences.

If those are what he wants, and school are happy, I'd start all 4, and then after he has seen what's involved, started the courses and thought a bit further into uni, then drop one (don't do what I did, start bio, chem, phys then get to Christmas and realise that maths was needed for many of the interesting uni courses, and start maths one term in!)

Ds1 is going into yr13 in September. He did all three sciences and maths last year (some of his friends are also doing further maths, he opted against). He is planning to drop either maths or physics for next year but is still trying to decide which one.

The high achieving 6th form ds is hoping to go to used to encourage 4, and expected a lot of extra curricular stuff as well. Now, they expect kids to start 4, then drop to 3 at Christmas or Easter, except in very exceptional circumstances.

We've been looking at 6th form for Sept 18 and have been repeatedly told that DD should only take 3 subjects regardless of how bright she is under the new papers.

From a sixth form tutor's perspective, I agree with PP - 3 excellent a levels are better than 4 that might not be as good. These subjects have an enormous amount of content and the jump from gcse to a level is astonishing.

It was quite common amongst people I went to school with but I don't know how much it's changed now. I did 5 AS levels and worked 10 hours a week with no problems. I was going to continue with 4 academic A Levels but I'm lazy as fuck so dropped one. I did no extracurricular stuff/hobbies/instruments because I wasn't interested, apart from being head girl which didn't require much effort outside of attending school council meetings now and again. I came out with all As and got into all my university choices.

As others have stated, overlap in the sciences helps a bit too so In would encourage him to give it a go. Much easier to drop than to pick up anyway.

Back in the last 1980s I started Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
It was hard, and I ended up dropping Biology after about 6 months - I wasn't that interested, and realistically it served no real purpose to my future career ambitions, since I'd decided that I didn't want to be a vet any more anyway.

There is a lot of overlap between Maths and Physics, and a bit between Physics and Chemistry, but high contact time and good aptitude needed for Maths. Still need to write some essays for Physics and Chemistry - my highly crafted essay on "The Wave-Particle Duality of Light and Electrons" got me through both A levels and a couple of years of my degree!

You don't need extra curricular stuff on your ucas application. You need to demonstrate why you love a particular subject, backing it up if you can with evidence as to what you have done extra in that subject, even if that's just reading round the subject.

don't encourage him to do a mix if he doesn't want to.

Biology not a respected A level?

Going back a couple of years now, but I taught a girl who took 5 A levels. Physics, Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Statistics I think. She kept all of them for year 13. Passed all 5 and went to Oxford studying Maths.

The only student in 15 years of teaching I've seen pull it off. She was a very gifted student though.

So yes it is possible but the work will be very challenging.

Depends on capability. I did 5 A Levels but played a sport, did a drama club, quiz teams and did Duke of Edinburgh as well. We weren't encouraged to do loads of extra-curricular compared to today's children, but I fit it all in.

I think sticking to 3 and having a life outside is better than doing 4.

You need extra-curricular things to put on your UCAS form - if you're doing 4 A levels when are you going to find the time to eg play a sport or an instrument or any hobby or DofE etc?

Speaking as a recently ex-teacher, please let your son do the A Levels he would like to do, and that he would enjoy. Three sciences and maths is a powerful combo and if he does well, he'll have his pick of universities. This country is crying out for engineers, physicists and chemists!

The most respected combination (yes, there are tables ranking the A Level subjects) for uni application would be physics, maths and chemistry. Biology not so much.

Do also bear in mind that AS Levels have become a stand alone and many schools are not entering students for them.

Agree with Superpug. My DD did 5 AS levels (Maths, Eng Lit, History, French & German) but found the sheer number of essays a killer, so dropped History and did the rest as full A2s. A lot of her friends did the 3 sciences and Maths, particularly the medic applicants.

If DS has an aptitude for maths and science then they aren't hard for him. Sciences usually involve a lot less essay writing than humanities, and when I did my A-levels my textbooks were considerably shorter than some others.

If he wants to do a science degree at a decent university he'll want maths and two sciences anyway.

I'm not sure why these A Levels are labelled "hard" tbh. I think it's that perception which puts a lot of girls off and therefore means they're less represented in STEM careers and subjects.
I did a mixture of the ones above and Arts. I found science harder because I wasn't very good at it. But it's not hard if you have a natural aptitude for it. Similarly, some people find languages a doddle, others wouldn't.
The new A Levels are tough. I teach a subject which is not science based and it's the hardest specification I've ever had to teach. I really feel for the pupils.

I think his plan of doing 4 related subjects that he enjoys ( very important!) is much better than your idea of doing 4 unrelated subjects, sorry!

The advice on better three excellent than four not is spot on.

Be aware also that some HEIs discount further maths for some courses, just as some HEIs insist on it.

The issue is workload.

What you seriously don't want is eg Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Maths and Art because the Art workload is huge.

Depends whether he has an affinity for the subjects, or struggles with them - one child could easily manage four hard A-levels, another could struggle with two simpler topics. As we don't know your son, how can we say? You're the best judge!

The new specs have a huge amount more content. Universities offer 3 grades. We recommend 3 A levels now and not 4. Better to get 3 high grades than juggle 4.

Starting with 4 A levels is perfectly normal, even with the change in specifications. This leaves him open to dropping a subject later on, either mid year or after AS. If he were to start with 3 and find he doesn't lile one, after October he would not be able to drop a subject or change as it would affect the school's funding. If he is prepared for the work that comes with it (maths and chemistry are notoriously difficult) then go for it. Don't push him into taking humanities subjects on the premise that theu are easier, if he doesn't like it he will not work as well for it and subjects like history or psychology are just as tough.

Starting off with those four would be perfectly doable if the school allows it. I would advise him to reassess at the end of the first term.
Does he like physics and biology equally?

With the changes to A levels, starting 4 is becoming more uncommon. It requires special guidance at both 6th forms DS has applied to.