Child's weird choice of A-level subject switch

[JudithS]

Hi, seeking advice on how not to be one of those interfering parents! My child recently started sixth form college, choosing digital media production, history and Classical Civilisations, but always said she wasn't sure if she would like Classical Civilisations and might switch, which they can do in the first few weeks. I was quite happy with that.

At the weekend, she said she definitely wanted to drop Classical Civilisations and she and I discussed whether she might do music, which was her official back-up subject, or drama & theatre studies. She went to talk to her personal tutor today and now she is doing.... English literature!

I just don't get it: two days ago she was saying she didn't like studying literature or writing too many essays and that she doesn't read much and rarely finishes a book. I don't know if she was flattered/coerced into it because Eng.Lit. was her top GCSE grade? She had a discussion yesterday with her personal tutor, the English tutor and the careers advisor and I fear she might have been given the same kind of misinformation that I was when I was that age (long story, ancient history and I shouldn’t project).

It seems she has been told that English Literature is a good subject for getting a place at a top university, which is not something she has ever mentioned before. I told her my brother had gone to Cambridge without English Literature and she said 'But it's a traditional subject for getting into a good university', whatever that means.

This is completely out of the blue two days after she said she wanted to do something creative. English Literature just seems such a boring, bland, nothing subject – though perhaps someone here has done it for A-level and can convince me otherwise? She got decent GCSE results all round, nothing stunning but there were only two subjects on the sixth form college prospectus she was excluded from so why on earth pick this.

Obviously I am trying to tread carefully and not nag or be annoying and counterproductive but I don't think it is going to challenge or stimulate her (and she especially dislikes poetry). Any advice or should I just back the F off?

Thanks

My daughter has no difficulty with writing history essays because she loves the subject so she's motivated. She considered it her best subject and got an 8 at GCSE but was one single mark away from the grade 9 boundary, which annoyed her. She was surprised to get a 9 in English literature -- she did work at it but I had to chivvy her a lot, especially the poetry, which she finds very hard.

The drama is a drama & theatre studies course rather than straight acting: she isn't eligible for the performing arts course (even though she does musical theatre as a hobby) because she hasn't danced since age 7 (she hated it). She can act but what attracted us to drama & theatre was that you study stage design and directing as well text analysis and critiquing acting. She loves that. We recently forked out zillions of quids to see the Stranger Things stage play in London and she found the staging and effects really thought provoking.

"English Literature just seems such a boring, bland, nothing subject"
This is truly hilarious- how can potentially every play, poem and novel ever written in English, covering multiple genres, historical periods and writers' individual styles be described as boring or bland!!

So @JudithS I think you need to discuss with her a few things:

• Why she wants to drop class civ - if history is her passion I would think that links in well; has a teacher told her class civ is not accepted by unis? bc if so that's not true, as noted
• Why she might want to take Eng lit - and some possible issues for her - but it might be that a sixth-form teacher has talked to her enthusiastically and ignited a passion for it in her? If she got a 9 that's excellent, she must have aptitude
• If she actually is interested in uni - you can frame this really positively - as in, lets start having a look at possible unis. possible courses. Is there a uni local to you? That might be a good place to go for an initial open day just to get the idea of what uni involves (if she has never mentioned it). If the uni is a lower-ranked one then it may have open days into January (ours does)
• Edit to add: I meant to say you could still talk about her taking drama A level if she has gone off class civ. Perfectly acceptable A level again, and perhaps more engaging for her? unlikely on its own to lead to a career tho.

Best of luck to her

If she was so enthused by theatre studies why was it not her reserve choice instead of music? Or were you more enthused than her? Basically she can go or not go to university with any of these subject combinations but she has to make a positive choice for her third subject or default to her strongest subject.

No. I was not 'more enthused' about theatre studies than her as I didn't know that course existed! She had to chose her courses including the reserve months ago when she was still 15. We hadn't done our eye-opening London theatre trip then, either.

Usually a sixth form will have a prospectus or equivalent on available A level choices so it is a bit surprising that neither your DD nor you looked through all the courses at college before she selected options. Anyway that is in the past but in the present she has chosen English Lit and not theatre studies. Presumably you have queried this with her. “Eye opening theatre trip” was apparently not sufficient incentive for her to change to theatre studies.

Consulting a parenting forum for advice is like asking an 8 ball or paper fortune teller: it's not their answers that help you decide, it's your visceral response to those answers. Some of the replies here have been absolutely wild!

I think it’s a good choice. Doing 2 traditional subjects opens up a wider choice of options for the future.

Agree she needs to find out what the books are. It doesn't bode well that she never finishes a book.

Which replies have been wild @JudithS ?

I think your OP was extraordinary in its dismissal of Eng lit but maybe that was to get a reaction.

Like clary I'm not sure what answers have been wild.
Not what you want to hear, maybe, but none that are wild.

People can only go by what you tell them.

To get a reaction? Maybe that's something you do.

Well there was one that said I should stop my daughter doing the subjects she was already perfectly happy with and one said I should direct her towards STEM instead!

Ok well a poster did ask if she had considered STEM which is not the same as saying you should direct her towards that. Others suggested (I think) that the media A level was one that she might reconsider. I don't think that's a wild suggestion myself. If she is happy with it tho then great. It's just that some of the things you say don;t really fit together - she loves history but is not enjoying class civ; she doesn't like writing essays but likes writing history essays - so I guess people are trying to suggest some avenues you (and she more importantly) may not have thought of.

People are trying to be helpful; IME there is a lot of misinformation around A level choices (for example - students who want to do engineering but were not advised to take physics or maths - not your DD obvs) and I think posters here, who include a good number of teachers and former teachers as well as parents whose DC have gone through this, are trying to give some ideas using their own experience.

Again, I suggest you have a positive open discussion with your DD. There's still time to switch A level choices but it needs to be soon.