A level options

[MumOfAPreacherMan]

Hi,

My DD has just finished her GCSEs and is planning to go to sixth form for a levels in September. She knows exactly what subjects she wants to do but they're all likely to have low numbers.

She's got 2 sixth forms to choose between but neither will say what their option blocks will be so she won't know if her subjects will have a timetable clash until results day. Is this normal? My worry is that she goes to her first choice and finds they clash then has to decide whether to stay and choose something else or risk going to the second choice. What if she can't do her combo at either?

Surely it shouldn't be this stressful!!

Don't know how "normal" it is, but DS's school sixth form didn't even create the subject blocks until they'd had all the applications in and results received to confirm the student's choices. They basically did their best to fit the blocks around the student once they had a pretty good idea as to which students would be joining them and for what subjects based on the grades achieved! DS said they were told that the school would try their best to accommodate the student's wishes. As it happened, pretty sure DS said that everyone he knew got the options/choices they'd asked for! That said, they had a pretty limited range of subject options - only around 10-12 in total if I remember rightly and over half the options were in more than one block. I think some schools try to offer too broad a choice and then end up struggling with blocks when some less popular subjects can't be in more than one block as there's only one group taking it due to low numbers.

She can sign up at more than 1 6th form, then decide. Just be clear on the enrolment logistics at each.

Sort out combinations in advance so she know what she would sign up to and isn't dithering between French and History or whatever.

DDs school didn’t have defined ‘option blocks’ either. They wouldn’t run a course below some minimum number of students want to do it, though it was quite low maybe 2 or 3.

Gah, I know they both work to option blocks although I'm sure they claim to try and work it so kids can do what they want. I'm pretty confident her second choice will let her do what she wants but not so much the first choice. I thought once the exams were done we could chill a bit but now there's this stress.

Does it make much difference if she doesn’t know until results day tho? Many DC do not know tbh – if results are better or worse than expected that can mean a rethink or at least a negotiation.

It’s fine to hold both offers and then see what the first choice says on results day – and then if it’s not what she wants, she can go and see what the second choice says.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's just another niggling worry. She's very set on her combo and tbh it's really unlikely her results will change her mind. I just want some certainty for her cos she's flip flipping between the two anyway and it'd be good to decide before results day!

Is it an unusual combo then @MumOfAPreacherMan ? Can you say what it is? I mean if it's Eng lit plus any two from history, MFL, gov pol, sociology, class civ, geography I's be surprised if there were a clash. Or similarly biology and and two from PE, maths, chem, psych, geog.

It's Spanish, history and politics with either English lit or music as a fourth. Spanish, politics and music are really low numbers and even history probably only enough for one class. First choice won't even commit to running them all, just said they probably would be. Thanks for that!

Barely any providers offer Spanish round here. Seems like all the kids are doing stem now

Ah OK yes it's down to whether they run the MFL I guess as much as timetable clashes. It’s a real shame there is not more take-up. DD took French (with just one other student) and it was the only A level MFL offered by the school that year, tho it also offers German and Spanish at GCSE.

Music is also not so commonly run (tho no point taking four A levels) - Dd considered it and then changed her mind, so it was run in her year with one student – that wasn’t unusual.

Surprised at politics tho, that’s usually very popular. Are these small sixth forms? I’m surprised that the school won’t say if it is running Spanish etc or not – it must know how many have signed up but I guess they want to see how many actually go with it on results day. Not much more you can do now tbh.

Politics is dropping recently. Not sure why. Its really declined at my place. Sadly,music and MFL are under threat in nearly all state schools. I had the same and tried to get DS's school to commit but they wouldn't so he chose a back up ( my school) where MFL is a bit healthier. In the end, it ran out his own school bit he dropped it because the staffing was a shitshow.

It's depressing.