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

I have had one at a grammar school and one at a secondary modern, Lonicera, so I sort of count for half!

Goodbyestranger- I do think your idea of "normal" is a little skewed!

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

Quite Donna. Bert the fact that my DC go to one of the state grammars dotted around the country, just as your own DC did, doesn't put their educational privilege on a par with the top independents, largely because the financial background both at school and at home is vastly different. I've no idea why you think their experience is not perfectly normal. They are in fact all incredibly normal, thankfully. So I think their experience is as valid as the next MN DC.

I was just talking about this with a chum. Her daughter's school has decided 3 A levels only, whilst her son's goes for 4, with a minority of children dropping one (it must feel harder to do that now only A2). Both highly selective london day schools.

I am quite surprised by the difference , and wonder whether there are more changes to shake out.

Interesting. Thanks for that @noblegiraffe.

There's a bunch of interesting info about percentages of students with each grade at GCSE who progress to AS level, and what percentage progress to A-level here:

Unfortunately it's from 2012, but there doesn't seem to be more up to date data.

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/183942/DFE-RR195.pdf

The 80s feel like a whole other (rather cold and heartless!) world in education terms!
OP: if your ds achieves his predicted grades it is feasible to do 4 STEM A levels. On the other hand, he might consider doing three and an EPQ, which would give him a bit of freedom to choose a project that could look good when he writes his personal statement and take a little bit off the exam pressures in Y13. Three would be much better if his actual grades aren't quite as predicted.
Sometimes advice is bizarre even if well intentioned. I know one able mathematician who applied to his local sixth form college to do maths, further maths and physics and came home saying they'd advised business studies instead of physics because 'physics is hard'. Not great advice to someone who is good at physics and enjoys it but hates writing essays! His mum had to phone up and sort them out.

Certainly the majority of our students who continue to take languages into year 13 are natural linguists (or sometimes bilingual due to family background). They have a reputation as difficult subjects and that puts a lot of people off. The same is true of Maths and Physics I would say. It would be interesting to know how many start the courses against how many finish. Our 'weaker' students often take one or both of our 'new' (only taught at A Level) subjects Classical Civilisation and Economics. They tend to have the widest range of grades. Totally anecdotal though.

I havnt looked in detail on my phone screen, but the stats are here don't know the source, so no idea of accuracy.

But I'd say the mode is B/C. Average is around a B or C. Median is Similar.

Interestingly, "hard" subjects (maths,chemistry, german) seem to get more A grades than others subjects. Only those good at the subject take them?? ??

Irish and "other languages" also seem to do rather well. I wonder if that is to do with native speakers taking them as per GCSE?? Certainly DH got an extra GCSE with a couple of Saturday morning revision classes as a native "other language" speaker.
If anyone with better stats (or screen!) wants to contradict my summary, I'd go with their answer!

I did the 4, almost 30 years ago, now. Tried not to be disappointed that I only managed a B in physics, but was pleased with the distinction in the biology special paper.

There was more overlap then than now but it still took a fair bit of discipline to keep up with the workload.

Lonicera you're probably best googling, there should be stats somewhere but they might not apply to the new Alevels

Can anyone answer my question about average A level grades? Clearly most mumsnetters have very bright children and don't know any with average capabilities.

Maybe I shouldn't have posted on a tbread where posters children only take 4 A levels and never get less than As.

Slinks off quietly

Oh, and to throw in some "vintage" experience, in my day you only did three A Levels and if you struggled/didn't like one it was tough luck. Much better to start four and have one to play with. My German teacher left after two terms and the school couldn't find a replacement. We had to teach ourselves! These days parents would be up in arms or demand the right to change A Level, but back in the 80s it was Too Bad.

Oh dear @LadyinCement! He would certainly have got congratulations at least from our place.

Shameless brag here (disclaimer: no proud grandparents to be pleased for him!): ds did 4 A Levels (humanities + Maths), had a Saturday job, went to a bog-standard comp... and got A* in everything. Oh, and missed practically half the first year with investigations for Crohn's disease.

Ds's friends who did subjects like OP's ds is considering did well, too. If you do Maths then Further Maths is more of the same (but harder!) and an obvious choice if you're a Maths whizz.

Btw, off topic but remembering all the threads where dcs are not rewarded for academic talent - ds did not receive a word of congrats from the school on his A Level results. And he discovered that he didn't even meet the cut for the school leavers' awards in September! But I suppose this was the place that told assembled parents at the university information evening that the University of the South West was equal to Oxbridge...

@LoniceraJaponica I on the other hand know approximately 50 students who do at least 4 A2 plus EPQ and extra curricular and many hold down jobs as well. But, I am well aware that it is because of my type of school.
The suggested 4 is fine. I often joke that a lot of our students with lots of A Levels have just done lots of Maths (Maths, Further Maths, Physics)! It's rarer, although not unheard of, for students to have done a clutch of humanities A Levels (sometimes musicians who are able to do it as an 'extra' for instance). The student I taught who had the toughest work load was doing: English Literature, Spanish, French and German. I've been a Year 12 tutor and it does seem that MFL are particularly tough. The Sciences on the other hand go together and often over lap. I say, go for it. An A Level can be dropped. I dropped Biology

Goodbystranger-it's your implication that you have/have had perfectly average children at a perfectly average local school....

I mean round of golf, which I doubt will be a round of gold although I do hope for one or two birdies :)

Bert I don't know what you mean, although it is true that I've been on enough threads with you for me to know that you frequently draw the wrong conclusions from false premises. There's nothing remotely disingenuous in what I've posted - I couldn't be bothered to waste my time tbh - if you'd like to explain your confusion then I'll cheerily clear it up (although I'm on the point of departing for a round of gold in the Scottish sunshine, so it might have to wait a wee while).

Don't be disingenuous, goodbyestranger.

Cauliflower I don't, just my observation (hence the use of the word 'seem') that from DCs' and friends'schools there were no more problems in completing the new A level syllabuses in plenty of time than the old ones although some of the material was reportedly slightly tougher and the teachers less certain. This is with a range of subjects including STEM. I can quite believe that it might vary depending on the subjects, teachers and ability range.

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.

Bert my point was precisely that it's about disposition, not brilliance (and not that my DC are brilliant).

"Can I just say, as a point of information, that goodbyestranger's children are exceptionally bright. Please don't take her/their experience as the norm"

That is reassuring. I know a lot of teenagers and don't know any who did 4 A levels, plus an EPQ, plus a part time job and achieved all A/A*. Let alone achieve anything near that without any kind of stress or meltdowns.

The problem is you get one or two parents who make this kind of achievement sound like the norm and it makes you feel sad for your own children for whom it isn't that easy.

DD goes to a comprehensive school and therefore has friends who are clever and some who are not so clever. Some of her friends have been getting Ds, Es and Us in year 12, and this constant barrage of kids getting As and A*s on here and in the media creates the impression that very few students actually achieve less than that.

I would be interested to know what actual mean, median and mode A level grades are.

No, cauliflower. But I have been on many threads with her.