A level choices - are these good?

@Catsandcannedbeans I do think maths is a young person's game! I remember my now sil about 10 years ago explaining the golden ratio to my then 7 year old. He had such enthusiasm (he had just got a starred first in Maths from Cambridge (Trinity)) and as a by explained the formula for circles (I think circumference) from first principles. She was fascinated though I think it went in one ear and out the other!

@katand2kits He got an 8 at GCSEs - his highest mark I think. So according to you what can he do? I’m somewhat glad you think MFL A level candidates must be very clever but in your reasoning no one would ever take maths A level! Also a step up! Yet over 100,000 a year do. Yes, some subjects do test the brightest minds, but they should. If everyone ducked a challenge, where would we be?

A level German is an order of magnitude harder than GCSE. It involves studying literature in German, and writing essays about social and historical topics in German. It's a lot harder than writing 150 words about last year's holiday. Unless he really loves German, and is willing to spend plenty of time reading and listening to German media in order to get fluent, I would not recommend German A level.

Years abroad are not that difficult for MFL students if the university has partner universities abroad. Students then do not have to find their own study placements.

@pinotnow The best universities will still have decent MFL departments that are very good. They are not all closing! However if he looks at the strongest MFL departments, economics will require quite a high tariff because the best MFL universities are more at the elite end. There are universities like Bath that would probably offer Management and German but will be competitive. Working abroad is a challenge for students but university options are still there.

Honestly it’s just my least favourite to teach and a lot of the kids I teach get forced into it by their parents which just makes it kind of depressing. When I did it myself I enjoyed it but now I’m old and slow.

No funding for years abroad like there was with Erasmus. Theres only Turing and unis have to bid for that with no guarantee. Visas can be complicated too - working abroad no longer possible, only study abroad. Brexit….

Why do you dread your FM tutoring sessions? 3 of my dc did FM and the youngest is doing higher level maths at IB. The oldest 3 got A stars (dd2's offer specifically asked for A stars in Further Maths and Physics). Dd2 did have a handful of tutoring sessions for Further Maths as she'd been predicted an A.

With the big step up in the curriculum and exam requirements for A-Level, he is right to put his strongest subjects first. So Maths and German. I guess the next question is whether he thinks he will go more for humanities or mathematics at degree level. Psychology or history would be good prep for a humanities degree, and biology better for a science or maths degree. It’s really early to decide this though. As a teacher of languages, it is always disappointing for us when pupils give us up in favour of all the STEM subjects. But I can say that smaller class sizes often means the language teacher has a chance to really cater the course to the interests of the pupils, and provide lots of support. German goes with everything!

Honestly, Maths plus any of the other two would be a good solid lot of subjects. German would (sadly) be the one I’d suggest dropping - simply because unis are closing MFL depts left right and centre, and years abroad are difficult at the moment.

He’s right to sack off further maths. I’m a maths tutor and to be honest I have to psyche myself up before I do a FM tutoring session. I would swap psychology for economics or something like that - but really it’s up to him. Most schools let you swap around a bit in the first few weeks.

My view would be maths and biology. This is ok for environmental sciences for example where chemistry isn’t needed. German is not a vocational A level any more than history is. What does history lead to? These A levels are still listed by Cambridge at the best prep for many of their academic courses. So this is what they lead to! (Not suggesting he’s going to Cambridge but you get the point). They facilitate further study. No one would think it odd if he did maths, biology and German. If he kept going with German he’s going to be able to add that into a degree (universities like linguists) and that’s a useful MFL for scientists and shows he’s versatile. So I would do that as the world and his wife does psychology!

It sounds like he’s not too clear on what he wants to do at uni, so is your question what gives the most flexibility for future?

If he does want to pursue biochem then I wouldn’t be too hung up on the gcse grade - a levels are a different game. If he’s staying on at sixth form the teachers will be able to give a sense of his aptitude especially if this one didn’t go as well as mocks, for example.

I’d suggest Maths, one science and then probably either Econ/history (as a social science type) and then German. If he likes the teacher and has an aptitude for German then he might benefit from keeping that as a fourth - especially if there are trips/exchanges?

I am discounting psychology a bit as I think if he wanted to pursue that at degree then he’d be permitted to do so with any other science - but it doesn’t necessarily work the other way around (based on historic anecdotes vs knowledge of university admissions).