DS1 thinks he has done badly in his GCSEs

Op a pp said that their school or college takes people with 4s but it doesn’t help them. A friend of DD’s sat Eng lit A level with a 4 at GCSE. I doubt she got a great grade, Just bc it’s possible, doesn’t mean it’s a good plan.

Schools and colleges need bums on seats. They might take a student to sit MFL A level with a 5 - but I would say, as someone with experience in this area, a 7 at GCSE will lead to a better outcome for A level. The same is true of many other subjects. A 5/6 at GCSE MFL suggests key skills and knowledge are missing.

Most posters here are teachers or have seen dc go through A levels. Or both. We’re just trying to give the benefit of that experience.

Yes no one knows what your ds will get and I hope he has done better than he says. But it’s worth planning in case he hasn’t.

DC has just done A levels, including Business. I can confirm that there is a great deal of learning required to complete the course, as well as the usual strict exam technique needed. Friends of DC have done Economics and they are all Maths whizzes. Apparently there is (as you might expect) a lot of Maths in the course (most of those students also do Maths, Further Maths or Computing).

DC did ok in their GCSEs, but the step up for A levels should not be underestimated. We've found it considerable, and the requirement for independent study is substantial.

T-level in business and administration?

What will be will be. Thats life. He will find a job he enjoys and will be ok.

I think that say 776666555 would be A level profile until you see that he needed 1-1 tutors to do any revision. That doesn't imo bode well for level of independence needed for A level work.
But maybe the OP has reason to believe things will be different.

If he comes out with 5/6s and a couple of 7s (as predicted) would you still say not to do A-levels?

Including one or two BTECs would be a much better route for any dc with this grade profile.

( @MrHarleyQuin My DD2 missed y11, has 4 GCSEs at grade 3, has done 2 years in college on level 1 courses, taken a year out, and is about to return to college to do a level 2 course. EHCP helped with that. There are options.)

I'm so glad to read about alternative options on here as schools make you feel like they are going to fall off a cliff if they don't get 8-10 GCSEs at grade C and above.

I have one DD who is about to go to university having done very well at GCSEs and A-Levels and was always more than capable of the above, and another who couldn't even go to school with extreme anxiety, ASD, ADHD from age 11 and who has missed most of secondary school, but we hope she will be able to sit four GCSEs next year through doing home schooling.

It is difficult to tell what you do or don't know already.
But as part of the decision making process you need to understand the broad topics, how they are examined/assessed and the % to each.

You have a DC who it appears is on track for 6s and 5s, but possibly less. Who doesn't like school, and who needed 1-1 tutors to do any revision at all. You don't understand what GCSEs people might normally resit, and when/why.

What people ate trying to say is that even if he gets the grades to do 3 A levels that doesn't mean it is the best choice for him. He may be better with 1 or more courses that have more continuous assessments. You don't seem to know what the French A level requires, and seem to be assuming it won't have changed from your day.

In my view you would benefit from looking at specs for possible courses now so you don't just assume that A levels are the right choice over and above a BTEC/A level combo, or even a BTEC extended diploma.

You said four subjects he is looking at so that’s a place to start. You could ask the school which boards - AQA is most likely for French - and have a look. No idea why that would be an issue - info is online, and you clearly are not familiar with the French A level spec in 2024 (fair enough obviously) so it might help him - esp as he is not sure of subjects. Economics in particular is not what ppl often think.

My biggest worry with A-level's would actually be is he capable of doing all the independent learning that is needed. For each A-level they take they need to do extra independent learning as well as attending class. DD gets given Directed independent learning for each A-level she's taking, these are assignments/tasks she has to complete on her own each week. As well as the work they do in class and ontop of homework assignments that need to be completed. I'm aware not all schools/colleges do as much IDL (because they struggle to get students to complete the work). But in order to do well they needed to be able to study well on their own or learn to do so at the start of the A-level's.

Several students in DD'S year have dropped out of A-level's (end of year 12) as they couldn't keep up with the work required. I would seriously be thinking again about A-level's if his results come back as 4's and 5's even the odd 6. I mean we take them with 4's but it does them no favours as they often just fail their A-level's which isn't fair on anyone really.

Well that's great that he's taking it bc he is interested in it! But tbf to me (and others), the only thing you had said before (more than once) was that it was one of the easier A levels, so it looked as tho that was the reason. Apologies.

I didn't necessarily mean that A levels are so much harder than 20 years ago tbh - I don't think it's a simple comparison at all - just that they have changed (which is what I actually said). I had to read four texts each for French and German A level including at least one from the 18thC - BUT I answered questions in English. So that is quite different from the A level in French today. And by the sound of it, different from what you took. If your DS scores highly in the speaking, listening and reading exams at GCSE that's a great start.

I was just warning against going off one's own experience of school as presumably if we have exam-aged kids, we were at school a while ago.

Personally I think it is very beneficial to have as much info as possible - including looking at the specs of A levels - before making even a vague decision on subjects, but maybe that's just me(and @TeenToTwenties apparently!). Best of luck to your DS.

I think looking at the specs for a course (any course) is the only way to get a clear idea on what it covers and how it is examined.

However nothing is budging the OP so I hope it all turns out OK.

Sociology A level is not my special subject tbh but from seeing my own DC and their friends do A levels, I am pretty sure that none of them found any of them easy. So to take a subject because it is “well known to be one of the easier ones” doesn’t seem like the best reason to me. Maybe your DS should have a look at some past papers and the spec to make an informed choice,

You imply that today’s young people who have taken A levels and degrees have not had to work that hard (not my experience at all btw) – and yet you say that you (presumably a few years ago) got a top grade in French A level with poor spoken French. Well MFL is my special subject and I can tell you that not doing much work and having poor spoken MFL will deffo not get you a top grade today. If your DS gets an 8 in GCSE then that is great prep – but I suggest again that he looks at the spec as the A level is a big step up. One thing I have seen many times is a student who is a native speaker or who has native speaker parents breezing through the GCSE and coming a cropper in A level as even with native speaker knowledge, there is a good deal of work to do on topics, film, book, IRP.

@winterrabbit no one is saying your DS is not bright – just suggesting that A levels are not the only route and it may be an idea to check out other options at this stage, rather than panicking in four weeks’ time.

In answer to your earlier question, IMHO, 5s and 6s plus a couple of 7s is fine for A levels – but getting Bs and As will need quite a bit of work from that starting point.

Yeh I did it too and no I didn’t have to. Your DS will have to tho - read and watch a book and a film in French and write essays in French. Spoken French is v important and he will need to carry out a research project into something related to France or French (could be a French sportsperson for example) and talk about that for 10 minutes,

Have you or he not checked the spec? I would tbh. Also agree sociology A level is not easy, none of them are. There have been huge changes since you took your A levels.

You are right struggling with school and behaviour certainly does not mean he is not bright. But what i would say having had one do ALevels and one currently doing them is thst it is a very structured way of learning and really hard if you go in with lower grades. A more informal structure such as btec might be a learning environment where he will thrive. Having a chat about all options is a positive thing and gives him the opportunity to have options that he wants to do. Ds who got all A* at gcse found the step up to alevels huge.

If he gets grade 4s then he’s passed and doesn’t need to resit. A 4 is equivalent to the old C grade (a bit confusing as a 5 is also effectively a C ). If he gets 3s or below then he will need to resit.

Not really looked into those as think A-levels are the best route.

Not for him they're not. Sorry but I think you're being a little deluded here. Struggling at GCSE means failing at A level. Not getting a low grade, failing. His French language maybe good, but can he read and discuss whole novels in French?

How's his Maths? Economics A level is very mathsy, endless demand/supply curves. Sociology full of essays - who told you it was an easy option?