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

Well for DS , 3 better grades actually was better than trying to do 4 - he dropped one ( Maths) ( not AS - he did Pre U so discussion with school) - But his aspiration was a Humanities degree - and not PPE. So it was fine. What I would say though is I like this - good time management skills and a calm approach - Ds is dyslexic and this has carried him through a lot.

RedSandYellowSand yes exactly right: DD1 1990, DD2 1991, DD3 1993, DS1 1994, DS2 1995, DS3 1997, DS4 1999, DD4 2002 for general information, if anyone cares (the stalking suggests they do....).

hellsbells there are vast funding differences between the state and private sector which naturally affect outcomes but I don't honestly think it affects the ability of individual DC to manage four as opposed to three A2. My DS was taught in very large classes for his subjects (Biology, Chemistry and especially History were extremely popular choices at his school, Physics slightly less so). You don't get smaller class sizes at state grammars, so there's no advantage there - funding issues are the same and are having exactly the same effect across the whole state sector.

If a DC with good time management skills and a calm approach is likely to get B grades in three subjects at A2 in whatever school scenario then I reckon they're as likely to get B grades in four, ditto those capable of A*. I don't buy this line about 'better to get three good grades than four bad ones', it's far too trite. I do however believe that three A2s are sufficient and that there's only a point doing four if the DC really doesn't want to drop the fourth, because the DC enjoys that subject so much.

4 girls, 4 boys. All at a super selective, 7,(so far) at/were at Oxford.. Just a perfectly normal, everyday family. Nothing to see here.......

Maybe....

Blanket surely she is saying 8 kids in April, and her youngest is the fourth daughter in August. So presumably 4 sons also?

goodbyestranger Sat 01-Apr-17 10:09:25
Yes, while I don't mind whether DD gets 9s or not, I do have faith in the school's ability to predict, based on the fact that they've been remarkably accurate with my seven older DC who offer quite a good tester group in all sorts of respects smile.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2887164-DfE-Data-Cruncher-predicts-number-of-students-who-will-get-straight-9s?reverse=1

goodbyestranger Wed 09-Aug-17 13:41:09
All my other DC did three A2 not four and disposition wise, that suited them fine (although they have all also worked in a job and had a social life etc.). I think my last DC, DD4, might prefer four A2 and again, it's not about ability, simply that she's likely not to be keen to drop down to three - completely her call.

Goodbyestranger - 8 dc in April down to 4 dc in August.... really?!!!

if the school thinks he can handle it I would go for it - he can always drop one en route. If he's capable I don't see the point of doing economics / business studies..

She has just finished her first year at university and although she didn't have to have further maths, she says she would have found the first year more difficult without it.

She did fine. She did it in year 13 so had already done AS maths and we clubbed together with 4 other parents to get them a private tutor who did a group session for an hour a week.

hellsbells how did your ds do in his futher maths A level?
My ds is thinking of doing this for the same reason.

I was disagreeing with the comment on the type of school being irrelevant!

Actually I disagree with you there Goodbyestranger. My DDs went to a comp and there are disadvantages compared to a couple of friends who went private. The comp had much bigger classes and less support. There was also a wider range of ability in the classes so the teachers had to help those on target for low grades as well as the higher ability ones. DD2 self studied further maths at AS level as school wouldn't run the class before they didn't have sufficient numbers to provide the budget for it.

I don't see that it is viable except initially, to test the water Cauliflower.

I'm surprised that a sixth form would find it financially viable to staff and resource an A level course when they give the entire cohort the requirement to drop out of it mid way through.

The type of school is irrelevant to the amount of work required to cover four A2s and an EPQ. It's a complete red herring introduced to imply that somehow the work load is less/ easier if you go to a grammar or an indie. It isn't, the specifications and grade boundaries are identical and it's equally hard, or at least equal volume. I guess it's arguable that really well off DC tend on the whole to do less paid employment but other than that, the four A2/ three A2 argument is equal.

My DC go to a bog standard comprehensive. The school has no sixth form, so my eldest will be changing schools to do A levels at another bog-standard comprehensive. From September, he will have to get the 7.15 bus, returning at 5.30 make the trip into the city.

He will do the 'easy' 4 A level combination of maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. He was easily dissuaded from doing computer science as a 5th A level (too much work in total/ poor syllabus/ not needed for a degree in Computer Science).

There's an obvious financial problem for state schools (including grammars) in allowing students to drop a fourth, and a timetabling/ staffing one too. Schools are just finding their way even now so I'd expect there to be more rigidity appearing in the state sector, with three becoming the norm from the outset and four allowed as an exception.

It would be madness for my DC to go to anything other than the grammar. It's the nearest school by some way to the house I've lived in for forty years. Why would I inconvenience myself and them by travelling several extra miles each day to go to the bog standard comp. So for us, it's completely normal. Anything else would be odd.

At DS's selective private school they are now all starting 4 or 3 plus an EPQ. In very rare cases they may be allowed 4 plus an EPQ but have been told that for medicine they don't care about EPQs, just the A-levels. If they've started 4, they'll take internal exams in all at the end of the lower sixth and then decide which 3 to take on to A-level on the basis of their year's study and their exam results.

At the 6th form ds hopes to go to, they all start doing 4, but drop 1, except in very exceptional circumstances, at either Christmas or Easter. They have to do an EPQ and some sort of volunteering work.

Don't any of the posters on here children go to bog standard comprehensive schools?

Er, ten posts above yours I said ds did. And did 4 A Levels.

Languages are hard. And indeed it is off-putting if quite a few of one's classmates are native speakers. Ds considered doing French A Level but a) the speaking component was too big for him (he would have preferred the 80s when there was a big literature section and not much need to actually say anything out loud!) and b) several of his peers have French mothers and he felt he was on a hiding to nothing if his "rivals" in the A Level stakes were bilingual or came from private schools where reputedly mfl are taught more stringently. Looking at the A Level statistics at ds's school when 4 ASs were the norm, French was the most AS likely to be dropped.

I don't know what the criteria for starting with 4 subjects is at DD's school. I know that one of her friends who got mostly Bs and Cs was only allowed to do 3, but DD was told to do 4 as she got mostly As and A*s (and 2 Bs).

I agree that it is a good idea to start with 4 because often the student finds that the subject they think they will love is their least favourite subject. In this case it is psychology at DD's school.

I agree with a pp that often it is the least able who take up subjects that they didn't take at GCSE - psychology and government and politics. I suspect that these have the highest dropout rates.

Mine go to a leafy comprehensive (literally - it's split either side of a park!)
Anyway, just looked at their guidelines for 2027/18 entry to sixth form and they are offering the chance to do 4 A levels if students get 8 or more GCSEs grades 7-9 or equivalent (must include English and maths). The requirements to do 3 and an EPQ are pretty high as well.

@LoniceraJaponica - I'm sure many do! Most areas don't have grammar schools and most people can't afford private. There are a lot of us in the South East it seems (and we have quite a few grammars).

Agreed @BertrandRussell. We offer Latin and Ancient Greek. That isn't 'normal' for a state school!