Need to pick 3 from FM, Maths, Biology and Computer Science for A-level

[lalasmith10]

DS was supposed to study 4 subjects at a-level but had to make it 3 as he got 8 for one of his a-level subjects. He had to have 9 for all his A-level choices to be qualified to study 4.

Now he needs to rethink the combination of his A-level. His choices are;

1. FM, Maths and Biology
2. FM, Maths and Computer Science
3. Maths, Computer Science and Biology

He picked Option 2, but I feel it's quite narrow.

He could do Option 1 and coding as a non-a-level topic to make his a-level choices broader.

Or, he could keep Option 2 and then do a language A-level privately to make his choices more balanced. He is bilingual and I am a teacher so no problem with preparing for the A-level privately. He is also doing a music diploma this winter, so Option 2 plus a language as the 4th subject and a music diploma sound broad enough??

Currently, he says he wants to do maths at a good university. He is good at maths but I am not sure if he is good enough to do a math degree as I hear it's a place for a real maths genius. He got 9 for maths but 7 for FM for GCSE so he is very good at maths but not a genius.

I am also wondering if he can cope with FM a-level as his FM gcse was 7 not 8 or 9. Perhaps he should drop FM and do the rest of the three?

Any thoughts from knowledgeable people would be very much appreciated.

He got a 9 in maths, and the extra info that he was essentially self-taught for the fm he got the 7 in does alter the picture!

If he got 7 in FM from self teaching, I'd say he was more than capable!

DS said the first two weeks are kind of tasting time so subjects can still be changed after trying a few lessons. CS is apparently incredibly popular so switching from Biology to CS is almost impossible, whereas from CS to Biology is quite possible. So he will make a decision between Option 1 or 2 then. Dropping FM isn't happening so no Option 3 will be considered...

Meanwhile, he is going to request a remark on his Biology - if he manages to get 9 then he can take 4 subjects as planned. If he can't get 9, then he said he will consider taking Language A-level outside the school.

He'll be fine with fm if he got a 7 from a few extra materials in normal maths lesson plus a 9 in maths!

Honestly, I would investigate different 6th forms.

I've started feeling less panicky. Thank you...

I am not sure if we can find other good 6th forms with space at this time... The school may sound shocking (I was shocked) but has really strong Maths/Science departments which attracted DS in the first place.

I don't think it's 'shocking', it's probably not unusual in its approach. Schools are of course under budgetary and staffing constraints. If the teaching in his subjects is good then changing could well be a mistake.

I think you need to advocate him here. He. Given he self taught FM and got a 7, that would indicate he is a strong mathematician perfectly capable of taking M, FM and his chosen two others.

Please argue his case - at the very least they should agree a trial period of doing 4 till say Christmas and then making a judgement.

Why not physics is place of biology? That would open up engineering and other physical science degrees if maths or computing don't work out. Physics is much easier if you take maths alongside. If he's keen on biology, maths, computing and biology open up a lot of computational bio-med options, which are like bio-engineering, but then FM won't add much.

What did he get the 8 in?
Can you look at another sixth form school/college?
There are not many places that would stop you from doing 4 A levels because you had an 8 instead of a 9.

A maths degree is very very different to GCSE
I would suggest watching some first year lectures on youtube.

The op said it was the biology and it's being remarked.

My DS did Maths, Further Maths and Spanish and he applied to 5 top uni’s including Oxford / Imperial / St Andrews and they all accepted FM as a 3rd A level. My DS is doing a maths based course but a bit wider, it’s called MORSE and he’s doing it at Warwick. Got a bit of maths, stats, economics. To be fair he is a maths wizz and you needed high grades to do it there (2 x A*, 1 x A) but it’s a good course

Yes DS applied to Imperial and 3 with FM was fine. Every Uni open day said 3 A levels was the preferred rather than 4 and offers are based on 3

He self taught his FM GCSE and still got a 7? And he got a 9 in his taught Maths?

Yes, he’s a good candidate for Further Maths A level. No question.

Only for medicine in my experience

Cambridge, Imperial and Warwick will and yiu can't get more mathsy than them.

Even Oxbridge don't insist on FM because not all schools offer it, but it would be helpful to have it

A lot say they don't insist on FM, including Oxbridge, but the numbers of those who get in without it is very low. And even among those that say that, if the school offers it, they may well expect it; it's more for those whose schools don't offer it.

Oxford puts out a report each year with stats of who got in. In 2022 they say:
"95% were taking Further Mathematics as a full A-level. Of the 74 applicants studying A-levels in the UK who weren’t taking Further Maths as a full A-level, 6 were shortlisted for interview, and fewer than 3 were offered a place."
If you assume 2 (as the maximum number) were offered a place that's 2.7% max as opposed to about 20% of people who were doing FM, so a big difference in the offer rate.

If he definitely is planning on maths, I would say option 2 is the best.

If you are considering language A-Level, how was he at English Literature GCSE? There is quite a jump from language GCSE which is focused on basic conversation and comprehension (so being bilingual at home will carry you through) to A-level where you study texts (so they are looking for analysis skills etc to get the higher marks and just knowing how to speak fluently isn't enough).

Very controlling of the school. Can he do 3 at school and study the 4th independently at one of the many online options?

Sticking my oar in here! If he wants to do maths at uni then he should take maths and further maths (and that whichever he prefers of the other two). At Cambridge the requirement is Maths, Further Maths and one other (which can be pretty much anything)

I wouldn't worry too much about the grade 7 in FM "GCSE" (my understanding was that it wasn't a GCSE, rather a free standing maths qualification) - many schools don't offer this anyway.

Though the best course of action is to start with 4 and drop one at some point throughout Year 12 if it gets too much.

Thank you for your advice, everyone. I noticed a few new posts so quick update from me.

In the end, DS swapped biology with chemistry, so he started the sixth form with MF, maths and chemistry. He found maths easy and has been enjoying his rediscovered passion for chemistry. He got AAA* predicted. Also, he did Dip-ABRSM last December and got a high distinction.

This summer he went on traveling abroad for 6 weeks. There, he visited the professor whose reports DS read and wanted to talk to which led to DS studying in his lab for a few days. DS enjoyed it very much. He got back a few days ago and returned to school this week.

By looking at how he has been coping, he could have managed 4 subjects. But DS decided to do 3 and seems happy with it.

The school could have had more flexibility but it turned out alright in our case.

I meant Astar Astar Astar😅

I think a few posters didn't notice the thread was started a year ago!

Glad his choices are working out well. Is he still thinking of maths for uni or is he now looking at chemistry? - there's branches of that which need good mathematicians.

Oops! Sorry about that. Math, FM and Chem is a fab combination.

Hope year 13 goes well!!