struggling with A level choices/lack of motivation

[Kfor]

My DD is struggling with her A-level options. She is in a strong grammar school, but her grades went down gradually form 7/8s , to 5s this year...she seems very unmotivated. She is naturally bright, I think she is capable to go back to 7s.. if she will find the motivation..(back days she passed 11+ w without any tutoring, speaks/reads in two languages) but lately she is not interested and reluctant to study. Does not have a subject that she enjoyed apart from Business. She has few days left to select the choices, and she has a totally different list every day, one day its chemistry and biology, the other Psychology... Any tips? (I did ask for a careers advisor meeting at school but may be too late). She does want A-levels (although she must improve the grades to stay in this school)

Sounds like she doesn’t know what she wants to do and is stressed out and panicking. Sit her down and talk to her about what she wants to do.

Go through the teaching spec for each course to see if anything is of interest to her.

If she is only getting 5s, would she be better off looking at a local college/6th form where she might get a wider range of options? Perhaps a BTEC or similar?
subjects like sciences and maths will be very difficult to get decent A level grades if she is getting 5s in GCSEs.

My youngest two are just going through a levels now and its a big step up. Dc2 got 8 and 9 in chemistry and biology and its been hard even when motivated. Got two bs in first mocks. If my dc were unmotivated even with intelligence I wouldn't be encouraging them to do alevels as at least two thirds is self directed study.
When choosing alevels we went down the root of what they definitely didn't want to do, then of what was left what they enjoyed and what they got good marks in. My dc are doing subjects they got at least an 8 in not the ones they got 6s in. Dc2 actually swapped on results day due to a change of mind. So don't rule out last minute changes.
Also dc3 had to change one as there was a timetable clash so you need a backup too.
Re a general backup plan have you looked at alternatives for if she doesn't get the grades? Has she put different combinations of alevels into a university website to see what they could lead to? Its no good for example taking one science if most universities require two sciences minimum.
Dc1 did a btec and went to uni that route because they knew what they wanted to do. Backup was level 2 btec.
Dc2 backup was a college that accepted lower gcse results for alevels,
Dc3 backup was a btec or alevels at college with lower results required.
You can apply for more than one so she needs to look at all the options and also needs everyone to be honest with her and say if you dont pull your socks up alevels will not be an option.

Yeah I'd cover your her/arse and apply to some other sixth forms/colleges too, so it doesn't all hinge on this high performance place and subjects she's not into. Years in a grammar-type environment can make a bright kid feel like their under-achieving even when in many schools they'd be top of the class. Sometimes that pressure needs releasing to see what they actually enjoy and want to focus on, rather than satisfying academic conditions just to keep up/please other people.

yes I think I must look into this, although she seems confident she will study and improve the grades "easily". I just cant predict. She was called a dark horse in primary as her grades were all over the place (they were surprised that s she passed the 11plus)

Thank you, that is really really helpful! You are right, I must draw a back up plan as at this point it is very unpredictable what she can achieve, it is random, she had some 7s, a 9 at the end of 10, now mostly 5s with a random 7, she said "because I did not study" .. (which means she finds it hard to focus, all electronics devices must be outside her room...and she still daydreaming).

Thank you! yes he is bright but "lazy" her is less academic but hard working...maybe classic combination. She used to like many subjects, now she said she does not like any..I do think the grammar school environment took her "love of education" - for now.

At the end of 10 she had 6s, some 7s and even a 9s, now mostly 5s at Mocks, so it is a strange dip, but yes will have to look BTEC, not even sure where to start with that😬

You’ve had some great advice here @ and I would second it. Some things to consider:

• She really needs to have a back-up option – am I right in thinking she has only applied to the current grammar? It is likely to demand a grade average (sometimes 6+) and possibly 7 in GCSE to continue that subject to A level. ATM she is not hitting that and while she may decide to work harder it’s not guaranteed.
• Look at local colleges that offer Btecs – go online and sit with her and see what there is. There will be a huge range of options, sometimes to be done alongside A levels; it’s not just hair and beauty or plumbing (not that there is anything wrong with those). Btec may suit better as it is ongoing work rather than an exam at the end of everything. A business Btec could be a plan for example.
• You really really need to love your A level subjects. DS took PE, bio, maths (and almost FM too); that would have been maths, maths, biology and more biology. He loved it but for some it would be a nightmare. It’s different with KS4; I disliked chemistry but did well enough, but no way for A level thanks.
• Does she know at all what she wants to do? It’s a good idea to whittle down A level subjects by “what do I hate?” but equally, if there is a desire to do xyz career, that’s worth considering too. Every year on MN there are posts from ppl whose DC want to be engineers, are in year 13 and realise they should have taken physics. Just an example but worth considering.
• If there is no firm desire to do engineering/medicine/vet med/French/economics at uni (all subjects that need certain A levels) then is there any other uni course that appeals? Try choosing a uni and browsing courses – there are so many options that don’t relate to A levels at all but may spark enthusiasm. Then work back from that.

One final thought – she seems to be struggling with revision (maybe? She is clearly able) so is that something to look at? Does she know how to revise? What methods would work best for her? There are lots of threads on here, but just as an example, my DD would make copious notes and refine and refine them to the key points; but my DS1 did much better with us going on a walk while we talked over a past paper and discussed how to improve an answer. It’s not as simple as reading through your notes. Could she teach you or a sibling, could she work with a friend, could you body double with her, could she record things nad listen to them?

Thank you for taking the time, its a great advise. You are right about the revision, she is overwhelmed ( we think she has an inattentive adhd but to late to diagnose it now) , but as soon as she is in her room in front of her work, her mind is somewhere else.. I am now doing with her maths every day for 30 min, as noticed most of her test paper mistakes are silly, not writing the working out, not writing down the last digit, not adding the units...or just a chaotic writing), so she is defo capable to get higher marks there. But I defo need to remind her not to drift off even then. For the rest I would probably need a help from outside. I like the idea of going on a walk and talk, it is defo something that would be outside her chaos in head and room. Thank you. She is great in languages but I am a translator and know that is not a job or skill needed in the future. Thank again for all the points, when she comes home I will show her this and we will go through everything by point.

If she is great at languages, I would let her do that at A level. A levels are hard and they have to pick the stuff they are naturally good at if they are not motivated by this stage.

Chemistry and Physics are some of the hardest, do not do those without motivation.
Business/Psychology and a language or two languages are perfectly acceptable choices. Biology at a stretch as it is also content heavy but can suit a verbal reasoning brain.
In Chemistry at A level you are competing with all the medics and the highest achievers, ditto in Physics.

Yes definitely, I was going to add this too.

A level MFL will always be a good thing to have and an interesting subject to take. I really rate the A level spec. There's no need for it to lead to a career in MFL of any kind, including translation.