AIBU to think Chemistry A Level is essential?

[Mooda]

Long time lurker, first post - for traffic - sorry I know this is a niche post but could do with quick advice from anyone working in scientific field.

DS has just got excellent GCSE results. After a slow start he worked hard and became really enthusiastic about chemistry and physics. He was planning to do maths, physics & chemistry A levels and Spanish AS. However DD has (unhelpfully) convinced him that AS Spanish will be too difficult to do in a year so he's now decided to do the full Spanish ALevel and downgrade Chemistry to AS.

He thinks AS Chemistry will be enough if he wants to do it at uni/ pursue a career in pharmaceutical science, food production etc (which are current ideas but obvs at 16 not a firm decision) but a quick google suggests he would have more options in these fields with the full A Level.

Can anyone offer advice - would AS Chemistry rather than full A Level cut off related career paths? Thanks

Start with doing 4 A levels? Is that a possibility?

Tell him to look at a few uni prospectuses and see what the course requirements are for things that interest him

I’d drop the physics rather than the chemistry to be honest.

If he wants to go into a chemistry field then it's a bit odd not to do a full A level in chemistry. He can check the prospectus.

Spanish is a great language to learn but he doesn't need to do a qualification in it. He can learn that on the side in his own time.

If he wants to study chemistry at uni then yes I'd say a full Chem a level is required. I'd suggest he instead do physics to as level.

For reference, I did biology, chemistry and French a levels and a physics as level and went on to do a degree in genetics from a common biology first year.

I agree with you.
Tell him to look at some uni course requirements. My guess is that chemistry will be more important than maths or physics (which are good subjects for him to have )

If he's considering a career in a science orientated field, then dropping chemistry for Spanish sounds bonkers to me.

Can I ask why he's sticking Spanish in there at all?

Are you meaning doing 4 and then dropping one at end of year 12 sitting an as? Which is what most schools do? In that case hang on and speak to his chemistry teacher and ask her and the head if sixth form to have a word with him !

It's been a while since I was in his position, but I had a similar quandary. Do chemistry. Your ds will be competing against people with full chemistry a levels, so he will be left with less good uni options if he doesn't. Pharmaceutical science can be competitive.

Plus, when he gets there, he will have to catch up on that missed year to get his degree.

Physics is also really helpful for your mentioned potential degree subjects, as it is really tye only science at school that deals with the fundamentals, so useful for any scientific degree later, even if not essential.

I did maths, physics, chemistry alevel and German AS. A level languages are a serious step up, but so is everything else tbh. I was going to do 4 A Levels, but during the first year, it really crystallised that I needed to focus on the subjects to get into uni, and I'm glad I did. I did German as an optional module at uni and since as evening classes.

Me gusta hablar espanol, pero no es necessario.

Por favor - compar ‘Michel Thomas - Spanish’ and you’ll learn more in 3 hours than the entirety of School.

If he wants to work in pharmaceuticals or food, chemistry will be MUCH more useful to him than Spanish. I work in a pharmaceuticals and all meetings are done in English (unless for example it's only Spanish team members on a call together).

I will say though as a word of warning that Chemistry A Level is bloody hard work.

Out of those subjects chemistry A level is the most important if he wants to study chemistry related degrees. If he hasn't done any Spanish at all then is it really worth it to do an AS level where he might not achieve a good grade?

I assume you are in Wales?

Yes, he will need chemistry a level for those sort of subjects/careers at uni. Spanish is clearly the very odd one out.

I thought an AS level was just the first year of an A level? So if he does the first year of four subjects, then drops one … is it a decision that can be made at a later date?

Do you mind listing his GCSE results?

I'm a little confused about the Spanish being in there at all, so I'm just wondering whether he finds that an enjoyable and easy subject compared to the sciences?

It might just shed some light on his aptitudes and strengths?

Most schools in England have dropped AS levels, which is why I asked if the OP was in Wales, as I believe they still do AS levels there.

He will defo need the chem A level

Also, what is a full A level compared to an AS level?

A lot of the kids coming into uni WITH chemistry a level are struggling with the jump to degree. It doesn’t work like arts/humanities subjects where they cover the A level in term 1. With science and maths subjects, the full A level is essential as a starting point to study the same subject further. Even if he could find somewhere that would (irresponsibly) let him do a degree without the full A level, he will really struggle with the course material.

He would definitely need Chemistry to get on decent degree course in those subjects. He could drop the Physics to AS though.

I can understand him wanting to keep a language, and it offers some respite from the otherwise very similar subjects (and keeps another whole avenue of possibilities open).

I did Chem, Maths and German at A level and went on to study Chem at uni. I also did Physics AS in the first year of 6th form (and music AS in the second, which I probably shouldn't have as I would have got much better A levels if I had stuck to what was important and not dabbled!) But I got into my first choice uni, so it didn't matter in the end...

It would be much better for him to do Chemistry A-level, definitely.

I honestly don't think Spanish AS would be that tough to do in a year. Spanish is one of the easiest European languages to get to grips with. I would strongly suggest that he does Chemistry A-level and starts Spanish AS and then if he does struggle with the Spanish, he could always drop it as it's not essential to have.

Unless he wants to do an extra year as a year zero, which some unis offer, I should add.

As a former Head of Sixth Form and writer of many, many UCAS references... keep Chemistry all the way through to gain the full A Level if he wants to go in to pharmaceutical fields. Also, you need to talk with the Head of Sixth Form/College etc as "dropping" a subject in Year 12 isn't really a thing anymore following Government changes a few years back. First you need to find out if the school/college offers that option as it's a totally different way of registering a course and often the AS version of a course can't be taught simultaneously as the A Level one so many schools/colleges now don't offer an AS only version of a course, meaning you do the full 2 years or you don't do the course at all.

Thanks for all the replies.

It was actually me that suggested Spanish AS because he enjoys it and we have family in Spain and I thought it would be a nice counterpoint to all the science without necessarily needing a good grade. Then DD (who has done a language A Level) pitched in with this idea that AS language would be really tough in 9 months, and this has swayed DS's thinking.

I don't think it's quite as simple as starting all 4 then dropping one - he has to say from the outset which is the AS.

I guess he could do 4 but I think even for academic kids that's a lot to balance with social life, weekend job etc