What do you wish you'd known before your child started A-levels?

[ainawatson]

My child is starting A-levels soon, and I'm starting to realise how different it all seems from GCSEs.
For those who have been through it with their children, what do you wish you'd known beforehand?
Was the workload more of a shock than expected? Did they need to become much more independent? Were there particular subjects that turned out to be far harder than they expected?
Or is there something you wish you'd done differently as a parent at the start?
Would love to hear what surprised you most.

My DS doesn't find A level Maths or Further Maths particularly hard. He is just starting Y13 and is predicted A* in both. I think the reason it can feel hard for some is that if you can't "get into" the question you can become really unstuck. Also, it builds on concepts so if you haven't nailed something it can be hard to progress in the next section of the syllabus.

I’ve worked in further education and sixth forms for 20 years. I say the same things on repeat, including with my kids and step
kids

Alevels are brutal. Don’t do it if you don’t love it. The step up in difficulty is wild. The workload is wild. You should spend as much time out of the classroom studying as in it.

it’s about remembering stuff. So your time spent revising is important. It’s not just about understanding, but about regurgitating. Learn it. Know it. Use it. There are no short cuts.

Do the work.

Look at universities and courses early.

Get work experience in year 12. In year 13 you are too late for it to be impactful.

Plan your time and your fun. It will feel controlled but you need to learn the control.

• That they are over in a flash, two years sounds a long time but it isn't, and all too soon they are off to uni (if they choose).

• That it was a sweet spot - my DS was studying what interested him and he enjoyed it without the complexities a degree brings

• That my son would grow up so much in such a short time, he was suddenly an adult!

• that sixth form college was such a better environment than school was.

• That I would have to adjust myself and become much more hands off with helping - only when he asked, not what I wanted to know!

• that extra expenses were there at sixth form, but these turned out to be miniscule compared to uni ones!

• That its my son's life for him to make his own decisions, even if that him means failing. But he knows I'm always there if he needs me.

Just enjoy the next 2 years, even if they appear hard as its the last real time you may have them for!

The main thing is get going at the start of Yr12. It goes by FAST.

Probably not! If she's naturally good at Maths she'll be fine. Dd1, dd2 and ds all took maths and further maths and they all got A* in both. They found it the most easy of their choices. Dd3 has just got a very comfortable 7 in her IB Maths HL and again it caused her no stress.

Only at the start of Y13 here.
Im very glad we went to a local ish uni open day towards the end of the autumn term Y12 (i think we were lucky, and caught a very late one).
We went and looked, talked to several different departments, looked at a library, accomadation etc. Just to show him what uni was like.

Then summer term y12 we looked at places he actually might be interested in the course.

School want UCAS stuff in in a draft form for End September - even tho the deadline in Jan. I think this us partly to ensure the kids do it, and partly to allow schoo to do their part. Uni stuff happens quite early!!

Maths and FM is being enjoyed here.

One thing a lot of kids get wrong is just choosing random a level subjects they enjoy and then realise they don't have the right combination of subjects that they need to apply to uni with. If your child has a particular uni subject in mind, make sure you've checked the subject requirements. It was completely obvious to me to do this but many of my son's friends were in this position as some bright spark told them just to choose subjects they enjoyed!

Oh and go to open days in Y12, it feels less time pressured to make a choice quickly. We went to our first one October in y12.

DS who did not nearly enough work and I left to his own devices got an A in maths. He enjoys it though!

Biology is a tough a-level, the mark scheme is very precise and you can understand the subject but get barely any marks until you crack the exam technique.

oh- and uni open days really add up! I spent a fortune on trains and travel. Uni itself is extremely expensive, so I guess this was a not so subtle foreshadowing!!

That they had dyslexia and ADHD. Diagnosed with both after A-Levels. I didn’t have a clue until they randomly announced that A-Level maths was very annoying because there are a lot of questions that contain the word ‘pebbles’ and ‘everyone knows it’s such a hard word to read’. Good grades but they would almost certainly have been better with support and treatment in place.

Agreed on both points. Book the trains to the open days as early as possible to save ££s and get your DC a discount card. Oh and no need to go with them - it just doubles the cost.

Your DC were clearly more emotionally mature than their peers. I'm also on higher education forums and there are university students who seem to be unable to step up to the workload.

Not all 16 - 18 year olds are the same.

For the record I didn't need to push DD at that age, but there were others in her year who didn't have the same work ethic.

I would also recommend starting to think about uni options early and try to spread out open days rather than attending all of them in the summer of yr12. The dates often clash, meaning you have to choose between them.

Keeping on top of homework and revision is important. Grades from mock exams are used for predicted grades if your YP applies to UCAS (and can also be used towards final grades if your YP has to miss a final exam due to illness). So mocks are more important than at GCSE.

Yr13 was pretty relentless with mocks, personal statement, NEA work and open days, so we tried not to schedule in too much else (eg. we didn’t book in any family holidays before the summer).

It is oniy around 18 months to learn the material - September of y12 to about February of y13. 6th formers need to knuckle down immediately and not waste time settling in because there is a lot to cover.

So it is roughly 55 school term weeks to learn all the content, plus an additional few weeks devoted to revision. That means that by the October half term in y12, around 10% through your A-Level content learning time window.

Be wary of untried subjects. Psychology A level was a popular choice at DD's school to start with, but also had the highest drop out rate.

It is very content heavy and in DD's words - boring and unchallenging. DD dropped it after AS level as it was a fourth subject.

Also, unless further maths is the fourth subject then stick with three A levels. Universities want three excellent grades rather than 4 not so good grades.

I echo this and what a pp said earlier about how a lot of parents are massively involved, especially in the university application journey. I see a lot of posters on the HE forum (especially the medicine threads, which I've followed because my niece starts medical school this month) using "We..." rather than "My DC..." with regards to every aspect of applications, etc.

Encourage your almost adult child to be as independent as possible. Back in the aeons of time (1976!) when I was in the upper sixth, visits to universities were done solo (as we're most journeys to and from once we were undergraduates, but we had FAR less stuff to transport) - try to let them fly, but encourage and support if they ask or seem to need it.

Same with my son. Got an 8 at GCSE Maths. Thought he'd sail through A Level Maths but in the end got a C. one mark off a B so he gad it re-marked and just got a B. His sister got A 4 years ago at Maths so I think he assumed he'd do much better. His Uni let him in automatically anyway despite asking for BBB (Reading, Economics). He thought he'd get As in at least one subject. In his school no one got A in Economics. Most of his friends doing Maths had dropped it by October half term year 12 as they found it so hard. My DS dropped Physics but not until May year 12 then he did Business Studues. So he was racing to catch up in that subject really & did well to get a B. The step up to A Level standard is really tough. For context my DD did get 3 x A 4 years ago but she was sitting them 2022 and covid meant all she did was revise. She went our rarely and didn't have a part time job & her grades were probably increasedslightly due to covid. My DS has a massive group of friends, a part time job, football etc. He revised a lo but I don't think his revision technique was as effective as my DD. A Levels are bloody hard work especially if they also have a hectic social life.⁸

no idea how I managed to put some in bold 🤣

Unfortunately, Northern Rail decided to go on strike nearly every Saturday between August bank holiday and Christmas when DD was looking at universities, plus being rural it wasn't very practical and too time consuming to get three trains and a bus to some universities for a day visit.

I would drive then have a coffee while DD went on tours and attended subject talks.

Being summer born DD didn't turn 18 until after she left school and wouldn't have been allowed to stay in a hotel on her own when she visited universities that were too far for a day trip, so we went together.

None of her friends were interested in the same universities as her so she didn't have anyone else to go with.

York took me by surprise as there were whole families there treating it like a day out.

It’s because you typed A* twice - asterisk is the markup for bolding so everything between them got bolded. It’s a common occurrence on HE threads! So here’s another ‘what I wish I’d known’ - you can use A 😂

There’s no right and wrong way of doing open days, do what suits your DC, your logistics/finances and your own schedule. Some kids like having a second pair of ears and a sounding board to discuss things with. Except obviously don’t be the parent who talks for their child, if you’re there it’s for background support.

I wish I’d known that she had ADHD and an eating disorder. 😕 It was a difficult two years but she managed to pass them, by some miracle. Much happier and more settled now at nearly 21. (Sorry, this won’t be relevant to most people, I realise).

from My limited experience I saw kids who attend schools with really little homework and less academic pressure really struggling with A level, even if they did well in GSCE. Friends kid going to comprehensive or independent with not much homework, loads of sports, drama and ballet, really really struggled and needed lot of parent support. Friends who’s kids attend at Westminster, Kings, Allleyn’s have had loads of work to do during all years. Westminster starts classes on Saturdays in y6, already assigns homework, then kids work hard over summer, they all don’t even realise A level is a step up. parents need to ask schools to be more academic, increasing from y6 onwards so the two years of A level are just not so hard. Unfortunately for teachers is easier to assign nothing as they don’t need to mark, kids are happier and no one complains. British kids would also learn more, as the level of maths, physics, grammar let alone languages with respect to their European peers is just scandalous. I know the government discussed several times to abolish GSCE and move A level to all subjects as IB so can study everything at least till 18 to be in par with other countries but they never acted on it which is a shame.

I booked my summer born DC into youth hostels. They take under 18s.