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Original poster

If you're a teacher who advises students on their A Level options ...

183 replies

inthisvehicle · 02/07/2025 08:35

... which of these factors influence your advice, and in what order?:
1.The student's stated interests or career aspiration (and your confidence in their ability to reach their goals).
2.The student's predicted KS4 grades?
3.Attracting good students to your own subject area? (Please say what that is).
4.The school's need to fill up undersubscribed courses.
5.The school's aspiration to retain students that might otherwise go to college or elsewhere.
6.The Office for Students' guidance to HE institutions on its strategic priorities, and their categorisation of some courses as low value.
7.Trends in the graduate job market which show that some courses are more likely to lead to "graduate-level" jobs than others.

Fwiw, my personal experience as a parent (which might not be typical) is that 1-5 are all influential but that not all teachers have visibility of or interest in 6 or 7. As a consequence, they advise based on their own past experience of university, which can be out of date.

OP posts:
clary · 02/07/2025 22:58

Most universities and courses are offering ABB or whatever. Grade is more important than subject choice - unless it is something like medicine you are intending to do that requires Chemistry, for eg. The majority of courses do not specify what A level subjects you must have.

That’s a bit glib though.

Lots courses offer at ABB or thereabouts (AAB/BBB). But masses of others offer at AAA. Or Astar AA. And some offer a lot lower like 96 UCAS points.

And I cannot agree with the last sentence – there are certainly a good number of courses that do not require specific A levels for obvious reasons - things like criminology or journalism or law or social policy. But there are masses that do specify. I would be willing to bet that those are in the majority.

Every year there are parents on MN whose DC have realised that they want to do engineering and should have done physics A level. Or medicine and chemistry. Good luck getting a degree place to do maths, biology, engineering, chemistry, physics, Eng lit, French, German, Spanish, economics, CS, medcine, vet sci, dentistry (and other choices for sure) without specific A levels.

Anyway @inthisvehicle to answer your question, in my subject (MFL) GCSE grades are key, and also I would seek to find out if the student had a specific aim post A level; yes encouraging MFL post 16 would be in my mind (I no longer teach in school but if I still did) as it is woefully undersubscribed. 5 & 6 would not be something I would consider (I know nothing about 6 tbh); 7 only in terms of the student’s possible aims for the future again. An MFL A level or MFL degree is always going to be worth doing (assuming the student is not aiming for a uni course which requires three different A levels, like engineering) and I would never advise a student keen on MFL A level that they should study physics and maths and do engineering at uni so they could be sure of a good job if that was not where there interests lay. If that's what you mean OP.

noblegiraffe · 02/07/2025 22:47

It depends on whether you think education is a purely utilitarian pursuit I suppose.

Original poster
inthisvehicle · 02/07/2025 22:45

Hatty65 · 02/07/2025 22:24

Retired this year after many years of teaching GCSE and A level.

Always, pick the subjects you enjoy most for A level. A levels are hard work, don't pick a subject you don't enjoy.

Most universities and courses are offering ABB or whatever. Grade is more important than subject choice - unless it is something like medicine you are intending to do that requires Chemistry, for eg. The majority of courses do not specify what A level subjects you must have.

History - my subject - is a good academic A level to take, whether you are interested in medicine, law, journalism, or whatever. Please don't pick it unless you get a minimum of a grade 6 at GCSE or you will struggle. 2) Predicted grades (for my subject) are frequently a load of bollocks that bear little resemblance to what I think the student will achieve.

4, 5, 6 & 7 are of no interest to me. I'm interested in what is best for the individual student, not SLT or the school.

Yet 6 & 7 are in the interests of the student.

I mention them because I'm seeing a lot of young people coming out of uni with good degrees in things they love, like History and English Lit, and finding that the "any degree" job market that was very buoyant when their parents/teachers were young has greatly shrunk, especially compared to the increased numbers of students.

OP posts:
Hatty65 · 02/07/2025 22:24

Retired this year after many years of teaching GCSE and A level.

Always, pick the subjects you enjoy most for A level. A levels are hard work, don't pick a subject you don't enjoy.

Most universities and courses are offering ABB or whatever. Grade is more important than subject choice - unless it is something like medicine you are intending to do that requires Chemistry, for eg. The majority of courses do not specify what A level subjects you must have.

History - my subject - is a good academic A level to take, whether you are interested in medicine, law, journalism, or whatever. Please don't pick it unless you get a minimum of a grade 6 at GCSE or you will struggle. 2) Predicted grades (for my subject) are frequently a load of bollocks that bear little resemblance to what I think the student will achieve.

4, 5, 6 & 7 are of no interest to me. I'm interested in what is best for the individual student, not SLT or the school.

Partridgewell · 02/07/2025 22:19

I advise English Lit rather than Lang to very bright students because it's more academically rigorous and the cohort of students in Lit tend to be harder working which raises the attainment of the whole group. Neither are hugely desirable in today's job market unfortunately, even though the skills they develop are desperately needed in society.

noblegiraffe · 02/07/2025 22:15

Grades are obviously important, no point in advising a kid to take A-level maths if they're only predicted a 5, for example. There's also no point in advising kids to take A-levels if their predicted grades show that they might be better suited to vocational courses.

So grades first, then interests.
If they're good at maths (grade 8/9) then I will always plug A-level maths (I'm a maths teacher), particularly with girls, sometimes they need someone to tell them that they're good enough to do it.
No idea about 6. But for 7, maths is always a good shout.

samlovesdilys · 02/07/2025 09:34

I advise based on interest and capability (gcse results but also attitude in class, application etc), the conversation about future plans can also influence - especially if engineering/medicine etc.
getting the right students on the right course is really complex!

Octavia64 · 02/07/2025 08:39

Ex teacher

I have advised students whether maths is a reasonable choice for them. I have no ir very little awareness of 6 and 7.

my advice is usually based on whether the student is capable of it. You do get students who get a 5 on foundation who want to do a level maths. For those students graduate level stuff isn’t relevant - realistically they are never going to pass a level in the first place.