Which A-level to drop - French or English Lit?

@stickygotstuck Well done! She will enjoy what she's chosen. She's certainly got a number of degrees she could do with this combination if she wishes too. Very solid subjects!

I hope your daughter has a great time and gets her preferred college choice 🤞

This is all about probability. The probability is that if you need to pass the HAT test for history and talk with enthusiasm about the subject at interview, if you get that far, then taking it at A level has obvious advantages. Obviously a dc doing an essay subject has a major advantage but the number taking history at a prestigious university without studying history and having the skills that entails, is always going to be vanishingly small.

Dc can have 3 A levels in all sorts of subjects but the elite universities have a huge choice. They give a clear indication which subjects are preferred at Cambridge. One ranked much lower will be needing dc. They won't have the same level of competition for some courses. MFL is usually easier to get into but history at the top flight universities is long odds against if you don't have history A level. Law is more forgiving. So it's a case of choosing wisely and not assuming the "recommended" subjects means loads don't have them. The admission stats will say otherwise. It's the same for FM. You can apply but at Imperial, would you get in? Possibly not,

@Boodahh Which does indeed support the idea that it definitely isn't ruled out. Plenty of candidates with A-level history don't get interviews. And plenty more don't get offers after an interview. Being very confident is usually a misjudgement regardless of A level history!

My dd knew someone apply for History at oxford without history A level , or GCSE , he was very confident.
He got an interview but no offer.

I work at Oxford University. Generally quite choosy. I recently asked our Fellow for History whether they would actually take a student who hadn't taken A-level History ( it is listed as recommended on the website, but not required). He said yes, in principle, provided they showed sufficient interest and aptitude, there was no reason why not. Historical knowledge acquired through A-level not particularly required! Of course, in practice he didn't remember it ever having happened, but he didn't remember anyone having applied without A-level history either so it hadnt been put to the test!

Well teacher assessments benefitted more or less everyone. I'm just saying the courses that are selective would not do this. Sometimes dc do take the "wrong" subjects and of course they should not be written off.

There's a lot of bums on seats in this day and age! Some universities cannot afford to be very choosy.

Yeh a fair few unis don’t require the A level for a degree in geography or history

Core maths is actually very useful from DD experience of it in relation to life skills so she would be learning something new.
Also it does count towards UCAS tariff.

After DS and DD experiences, my advice would be to do A levels they will enjoy.

Friend's DS is doing Geography at Liverpool uni through clearing - doesn't have it at A level

A C in Maths means that on the day you had the exam, you recalled a decent amount of facts but not all

The entire reason I did well in maths (and physics) was that you didn't usually need to recall facts, just work it out from first principles. I was great at Latin for similar reasons (and a bit shit at stats, where you did need to remember definitions, and very very bad at geography and history, which were alllll about the recall at that level).

I'm not really getting the impression that she likes maths. It doesn't sound like it sings to her the way languages and music do.

Tbf most A levels are predominantly exam assessed now. French is totally unless you count the research project I guess - but that is assessed in the speaking exam. Dd did an NEA for English lit and there is one for history too but it’s not a large element.

Others have probably said this but is it possible to get hold of the syllabus for each subject from the colleges, or at least an answer of whether the subject involves a good deal of coursework or is 100% exam assessed.

This is something that I wish I had thought to ask back when I was selecting my own A-Levels. I ended up with 2 of my 3 subjects being 100% assessed by final exams which stored up a lot of stress for the last 6 months of Y13!
Of course if your DD thrives in an exam scenario, perhaps she'd prefer to avoid subjects that are heavy on coursework!

I started with Maths, Chemistry, Biology, English Lit and History (yes, five!).
After a term dropped Chemistry and switched Maths to Accounting as I just knew I wouldn’t get As in those subjects.
If I had my time again I’d do Economics, Maths and History.
Could your daughter swap Maths for Economics? (Unless she finds Maths very easy).
French over English Lit all day long.
Could she manage Music, Econ, History and French?

*A C at Maths A level

@stickygotstuck ,

’ A C in Maths means that on the day you had the exam, you recalled a decent amount of facts but not all.’

No, it really doesn’t! Firstly, the C can come in in the 40s, which means you have failed to grasp more than half the syllabus.

Secondly, Maths isn’t like that. You should be understanding it, not learning it (obviously there is a little to learn, but the content is minuscule if you can work stuff out).

I taught Physics for a decade, and those who got a C at A level were really shaky (to put it politely) at Maths.

I'm in my 40s too and did French and maths. My experience was that I was really good at French so I found that very easy. BUT it doesn't mean it was cheating or taking the easy way out as OP's DD seems to be worrying - I still learnt loads. I read books and watched films (used to set the VCR timer to record all sorts of weird arthouse stuff on BBC2 and Channel 4) and was delighted that it all 'counted' as work. In general, I think DCs do well at things they enjoy, and being good at something is motivating.

So true. I'm in my 40s and Maths was my easiest A-level (others French and Physics). but further maths would have been really hard work.

If you can do maths it's easy and homework is pretty self limiting leaving time for more finicky perfectionist stuff in music and essays subjects.

French and music would probably have "enough" essay content to get by - I did law with French off the 3 above and ended up doing history type modules as my options getting good results despite dropping history before GCSE.

Lots of schools don't agree to GCSE 6 in maths taking the A level. It's too big a leap.

@stickygotstuck I would not say it's coasting. It's working within your reasonable capacity leaving time for other pleasures in life. My DDs worked but A levels didn't consume them. They found time in school for drama, music, dance, various clubs and school trips. They had very full lives. In other words, a broad education which suited them. I'm not sure anyone other than a maths genius coasts at A level!

@stickygotstuck What's the point of only learning the stuff you are good at?

This is a reasonable question and I do see what you are saying. The thing is tho with maths (and MFL as it goes) the A-level really builds on and assumes a raft of knowledge and ability that (for example) history just does not.

The main way this is evidenced is via GCSE. And the MFL A level, while of course so much more advanced than GCSE, yes, the same skills are there, grammar and vocab will be expected.

There was a student in DS2's maths A level class who got a 6 at GCSE; they struggled so so much. In an early test where DS with an 8 got 47/94 or something, this student scored zero. They were just not good enough at maths. Maybe the 6 was thought to be an aberration from someone capable of more (as your DD's possible 6 in French clearly would be) but they just were not good enough at maths to get much at all out of the A level. IIRC they ended up switching.

Btw tho I realise your DD will not be happy with a "maybe" kind of vibe, she could switch easily within the first week IME anyway. Especially if it's a big setting with multiple classes for maths etc. I strongly advise keeping up with both maths and French between May and September if either or both is seriously on the table.