Would you let your child choose “easier” A-levels to get better grades?

[ainawatson]

My child is about to start sixth form and we're having a bit of a disagreement about subject choices.
They're considering subjects they genuinely enjoy and feel confident they can get good grades in, but I'm wondering whether they should choose more traditionally academic or “useful” subjects instead to keep more university and career options open.
Would you prioritise enjoyment and the chance of higher grades, or choose subjects based more on future career prospects?
Interested to hear what other parents and students would do!

Haven’t they looked at the uni requirements for the degree they want to do? Dd1 wants to do marine biology at uni so she worked back from their entry requirements so she picked chemistry biology psychology and art. Art is the enjoyment choice though she’s very good at it.

That’s terrible advice from the school!
Hopefully it worked out well for your DC but how on earth is History A level meant to give someone’s brain a rest?!!

Have you looked at the grade distributions and overall pass rates for maths and PE. Maths gets far more high grades and the overall pass rates is almost the same. A slightly weaker cohort overall take PE but thats reflected in the lower grade profile. If it was easy they'd be getting the higher grades at the same rate despite being a weaker cohort.

My son did both and found PE harder than maths. He got the same grade in both in the end but really had to work at that PE one.

history would have been far more taxing on my brain or my DD’s than any STEM subject! Sounds like it was ok for the OPs DC, but I think sometimes perceptions of which subjects are ‘harder’ is skewed by what a parent or teacher found harder or was told in the past was harder. There’s probably still a ripple down the years caused by previous generations of girls being told (explicitly or implicitly) that STEM subjects would be too hard for them.

Tbh he did 2 Stem which got him onto the uni course he wanted and the history did give his brain a break because he also really enjoyed it and still did well in it. Still listens to history podcasts etc. Had he chosen to do history at degree level he would have been able to, so it gave him options.

You can offer advice and discuss pros/cons based on type of work they fancy doing but the choice is their's to make.

My parents were always banging on about "oh, but your sister did Higher English" when I refused to do that as I hated 'school' English. Used to really annoy me, as I was much more into computer science and maths etc but they seemed obsessed by it.

It needs to be the young persons choice, but it needs to be an informed choice. When thinking about next steps it is important to consider both subjects and likely grade outcomes. An honest consideration of attainment and aptitudes is needed. I would really encourage my DD to think about what she might want to do next and if this was uni to consider possible degree courses at a range of unis.

Are there required or preferred subjects? Do they accept BTECs or other vocational qualifications. Some courses have very specific requirements others are much more open to different subjects. Look at what the unis say on the course pages. Psychology for example mentioned above is accepted as a science, science-related or second science for multiple biological and allied healthcare degrees. A student aiming for these areas might be better taking bio, psych + a third choice such as PE rather than bio, chem & maths if these are likely to result in higher grades. Some degrees may require chemistry and/or maths, but others won’t. It is always best to research carefully and think about aspirations.
What is easy for one student would be hard for another. I would definitely have got a worse grade in PE than chemistry for example.

You can check grade distributions for each subject here if you’re interested.

https://analytics.ofqual.gov.uk/apps/Alevel/Outcomes/

DH and I are both teachers in ‘hard subjects’ (physics and MFL)
We wish parents would atop shoving their kids into what they ‘should do’ rather than encourage what they are good at and enjoy. Then squark when the results aren’t good in August.

It sounds like you're trying to control your child's future. It's up to them what they commit to, it will be their career after all, their CV, their uni degree etc. I'd be encouraging them to go for what they enjoy.

You let them pick what they enjoy and what's best for them. Easy is entirely dependent on the person. I found Maths hard. My DD thinks it's by far the easiest subject and wants to do both that and further maths at a level. I really struggle with languages, she finds them easy and is top of her class. She is freaking out about English literature GCSE and is convinced she's going to fail ( she's not). I find English literature easy peasy got too marks and didn't really have to try. It's all subjective.

They should be allowed to choose their own A level subjects. They will be talking them so ultimately the decision is theirs not yours.
You can talk to them and advice but it should never be about you allowing or not allowing them to take certain subjects

You can do history at many RG unis (Leeds for example) without having history A level.

I was surprised but it's true. Many don't ask for "an essay subject" either.

No! As an A-level teacher, please let them choose subjects they're genuinely interested in. It's so awful teaching students with no interest in a subject.

There are no "easy" A-levels (they're called Advanced courses for a reason) but it's more motivating to have an interest.

I agree. Enjoyment and genuine interest matter a lot, especially at A-level. Hopefully their subject choices give them a good balance between what they enjoy now and keeping future options open.

That’s a really good point. There really aren’t any “easy” A-levels, and I can see why genuine interest makes such a difference to motivation and engagement.

That’s fair. I can advise and raise concerns, but ultimately they’re the one who will be studying the subjects and doing the work. Interest and motivation probably count for far more than parents sometimes realise.

It depends on the discrepancy between the subjects they want to study and what they want to do I guess. Generally though I don't think there's many A-level combinations that prohibit certain degrees or career choices, unless they are looking at medicine.

Exactly, what feels “easy” is completely subjective. One person’s nightmare subject can be another person’s strongest! That’s why interest and individual strengths should probably play a big part in choosing A-levels.

Yes, comparisons with siblings can be so frustrating! What suits one child really doesn't mean it will suit another. It sounds like you knew where your strengths and interests were, even if your parents didn't quite see it at the time.

They should do the ones they enjoy. I picked a subject my mum insisted on me taking - I got an A at GCSE - and I failed it completely. It was a science and I was simply not interested enough to fully engage and take in the info.

I otherwise did arts and did an arts degree. Now in my early 30s I did a career pivot and went back to university to do a science. They didn’t require me to have science A levels (a general requirement for entry) because I had a Level 7 qualification in something else (My BA degree). So my lack of science a levels didn’t ever stop me from doing anything I wanted to.

I work in a school where lots of parents insist their child does STEM A-levels even if they get for example 7s or above in English, RS, MFL. They then struggle to get decent enough A-Levels in the subject to go into Medicine & would likely have got higher A-Level grades if they had studied something they were already better at. I believe they should do something they are interested in.

I’m interested to know which subjects you think are easy and which are more valuable.

I'm not sure if it's still the case but when my Dsis did her PGCE she had to choose her degree subject as a main subject to teach ( secondary) and an A Level subject as a second subject. So I wonder if , if you want to be an English teacher for eg it's better to do at least 2 National Curriculum subjects? (although she has been asked to teach Psychology A Level and doesn't have a psychology degree or A Level 20 years later!)

I don't think it's as simple as just choosing the A level subjects they enjoy the most.
You aren't getting onto an engineering degree with English, Sociology and History for example.
So it can be tricky if the teen doesn't have a career in mind at 16 ( which many don't ). So in this instance, I'd encourage a combination of A levels that leave the most doors open. It is the teens decision in the end but a bit of guidance isn't always a bad thing.
Having said that, doing subjects they hated at gcse should never be encouraged.

‘Let’ your child?! This is their first big step towards adulthood, their adulthood, their life, their future.

a choice between studies they enjoy and are good at and confident in as opposed to what? Subjects they don’t enjoy, aren’t confident in and don’t feel so good at?

it’s not like they’re asking to choose between college and a life of crime.

you’re en route to damaging your relationship and negatively impacting their future grades.
how can you even ask such a question?