Is this a doable plan for college?

[Woozybazoochy]

My son is planning on doing 4 A levels in September. Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry. He has to do 2 science subjects not 1 and the FM has to be a 4th subject.
Currently he is obviously doing GCSES. In both mocks he got 8 or 9 in those subjects. My only concern is his future workload. Is it sustainable? No experience as he is the first child to go to college. Everyone I ask in real life says they are all very hard subjects.

They’re hard subjects but that’s a common combination and lots of kids do it. If he struggles he’ll need to drop further maths, Is he also trying to work part time? The key will be keeping on top of each subject as he goes, not leaving everything to the last minute.

Of course it is doable if he is bright and has a work ethic. Those 4 are a perfectly standard combination.

It’s a very common combination.

they are not easy but if he’s on track for 8s and 9s should be doable

The rules enforced by the college seem a bit odd. Why two science subjects? why does FM have to be a fourth?

It completely acceptable to do FM as one of three subjects especially if he is looking to study maths or maths related subjects at Uni.

Does he know what he wants to do after college?

It's just the college rule that's all. He is thinking about studying aerospace engineering after so Uni.

That’s a very common combination. He can always drop the FM if it’s too much but with 8/9 GCSEs he should definitely be capable of doing these A levels.

It is a lot big it is doable.

DD is yr 12 and doing maths and 2 sciences. She started with 4 and dropped one due to workload. She was 8s and 9s at GCSE but had metal health stuff going on so decided to focus on doing 3 really well rather than 4.

In her friend group there's a mix. Some doing 4 including further maths. Some doing 4 plus an EPQ and some doing 3. I think both doing further maths are planning to drop this and have done the AS exam.

Good to start with 4 and assess what is the best fit for them and potentially drop one. Worth looking at university every requirements and maybe doing a couple of open days in the autumn of year 12 to get an idea of things. University offers generally for 3 A levels and doing a 4th doesnt give an advantage so I'd only really fit those doing it for the love of it.

This is going back to my personal experience some /ahem/ time ago. But I think it should be OK. Maths + Further Maths isn't really like doing two totally separate subjects.

DS is planning to this. He's very keen to do the four but I am worried about workload so I have said if he does four I will bump up his pocket money so he doesn't feel the pressure to get a job alongside his studies. He volunteers in a charity shop at the moment so would probably keep doing that instead (as it's only a few hours a week)

Check university requirements. Generally speaking, if FM is offered at college the university would expect the YP to take it.

That's what DS is doing now (Y12).
Yes, its a lot of work - and you need to keep on top of it, but he also is out 2 or3 times a week with a club, has a gf, and does 2 things on a Sat. So plenty of other stuff ontop of school work.

He too has brought up the "they are some of the hardest Alevels" so I ask him what his predicted grades would be like if he switched to English, Fench and Art - and the answer is probably UUU! The aren't massively hard if you have the right type of brain. There is quite a lot of synergy between them too, so things get taught in 2 different ways between maths&phys, and phys&chem.

If he's looking at engineering, and college insist FM is a 4th (same here) its a pretty sensible combo.

Maths, FM, phys and computer science is also popular.

My DS took these 4 A levels. It was a lot of work but manageable overall. He got 9’s in these subjects at GCSE and A’s & A stars in A levels. He’s currently at Durham uni doing Maths.
They are hard subjects but if his brain is wired in a way that understands & enjoys them, that’s half the battle.