Should I deter my DD from a language at A Level?

[UnsureColeslaw]

DD loves the language, expecting an 8 or 9 at GCSE and wants to do it at ALevel. Doesn’t want to do it at degree level, no interest in being a translator, teacher of the language, or living abroad (happy to holiday!)

Is she reducing her chances of a degree course afterwards? She is interested in neuroscience or psychology at degree level.

She’s thinking psychology, Spanish, Chemistry. Im wondering whether psychology, biology, chemistry would be better.

are there benefits to doing a language at A level that I can’t see?

The benefit is that she enjoys it.

I think it's a brilliant A level but does she understand everything it involves? It's not just the language element, it's writing about a book/play in Spanish (how is she at English literature) and also about a Spanish film, analysing its imagery and script and so on. She will also need to keep up with some news in Spanish language as she'll have an independent research project.

I think it's really sad that there are declining numbers studying language A levels but also we used to see native speakers who were academically not the strongest be pushed to do the A level as people didn't understand it's not just the language itself. It's a very respected and fascinating course if she wants to do it though.

Has she checked the A level requirements on any degree courses she's interested in though? Out of those I'd probably drop psychology over biology, especially if she's interested in neuroscience.

Thank you and I take the point about her enjoyment too.
she understands about the requirements- school have recently explained about the book/film/project and she’s ok with this. She’s strong with English/writing/poetry/being reflective so has some good transferable skills.

perhaps having a look through degree entry requirements is the way forward. I just don’t want her to make a choice out of enjoyment only if it leaves her with fewer options afterwards

MFL is my subject and it sounds as tho she knows what the A level would involve and would do well, which is great. I think the course is great and offers huge elements of history/politics/social details/cultural understanding as well as the language.

If she wants to take neuroscience at uni I think she might need biology over chemistry though. Psych would count as a second science for most unis so bio/psych/Spanish would fit the bill for that and a psychology degree. You don't need psych A level for the degree but if you are interested then it always seems to me a good plan to take it.

Spanish as the third won't damage her chances of being accepted on to a science course. Even medicine is fine with any third subject.

My daughter did a language for A level and also added it to her STEM degree :)

I wouldn’t deter her from it but I would get her to look at uni entry emrrquirements.

she’s better off choosing a levels in full knowledge of what her chosen degrees want (and maths or biology might be on the list)

I would think biology/chemistry/Spanish would be my choice of 3 from the 4 you've mentioned. I think doing a language a level would be a great idea from the point of view that proficiency is useful forever and 2 sciences will get her through a neuroscience degree. I do agree about the person above saying biology will probably be more useful a level will for neuroscience than a chemistry a level.

Both of mine did French and Spanish Alevel. Both did Biology as well.

I would do Spanish proficiency tests rsther tgan wasting an A level on it. Proficiency tests are much more highly regarded.
Her A level choices are pretty eclectic!

Thank you.
I’m going to check some entry requirements out later today.
Very hard for a 16 year old to “know” what career she wants! But she does have These two ideas (although they are quite different).

Biology, chemistry, Spanish might be a good option too but I’d also prefer she take psychology a-level if she is thinking about this as a degree rather than heading to uni and discovering it isn’t what she thought it was going to be. She’s quite a good all-rounder at school so it’s hard for her to know what direction she might want to go in.

I wouldn’t deter her if she really wants to do it, but I would want her to have a proper think about it. It shouldn’t stand in her way of getting degree places but there are better choices for her preferred degrees.
She should have a look at some degree courses and their requirements just to make sure they don’t specify biology as a requirement.
Maths would also be a better option for neuroscience/psychology than a language A level.
I agree about the psychology A level, it’s not essential for a psychology degree but it is a good option if they know they would potentially like to do psychology degree, better to find out it’s not for them at A level than degree.

A-level is a massive step up from GCSE. I think languages are great A-levels to have but it’s a big risk if she’s hoping for top grades. Is there a possibility of starting with four and then dropping one later?

So I’ve done some research today and many courses (not all) say two sciences including psychology so it looks like it’ll be ok. I’ve half explained to her that Spanish instead in biology (for either course) means there will be some courses that are ruled out. She’s more likely to get a higher grade in Spanish than biology though - so this could be the trade off. I’ve left it as let’s have a look at specific unis and double check their requirements before deciding.

School doesn’t allow 4 unfortunately, it’s 3 max (plus EPQ/core maths). I read today that some unis will only count your top three grades anyway. Quite a change from my day.

A language is a good choice - it gives you a whole second job market, and top tier employers often require one.

I studied a European language then lived in the country. I got career options (entry into business journalism and later big-corporate PR) that I would not have got in this country.

I now work in international PR and Conmunications.

Biology is a better bet than chemistry for Psychology.

This!

Let her do what she wants, you only need to step in if she is making a choice that would prevent her getting into the course she wants at uni. As long as she is taking the required courses she should be left to take whatever she wants.

Also she has months to decide

Will she do better in chemistry than biology tho? If she wants to take psych at uni them chemistry is fine; but if she does want to (or may want to) take neuroscience as you said in your OP then biology is a better bet. Yes some courses are happy with bio or chem (Leeds and Nottingham for example) but more specify biology (Birmingham and Warwick for example). Psych is accepted by most unis as a second science.

She could do with looking now (or over the next few months) to think about whether she is ruling out some options she would like. Now is the time, rather than once she has started the A level course. I agree the grade level is important but the subject choice is too. I suggest you get her to research it rather than you doing it, as she will also get a flavour of the courses on offer which may give her a steer.

My daughter is at Durham doing Sociology (and was interviewed for Cambridge but did not get an offer for HSPS) with Psychology, History and Art A levels. She got offers from Bath and Glasgow too. So I don’t think a language will hurt - it’s her predicted grades and if she’ll get higher, and is more interested in, Spanish she should do it. Having a second language can be very helpful for a variety of things (my DD spent six weeks on an internship in Columbia this summer and Spanish would have been extremely helpful - she had to do her final presentation in it without ever having studied it formally).

Deadline to choose is under two weeks away so I am feeling the pressure a bit! I will encourage her to look as well but I think i just wanted to have eyes on the situation too.

DC doing MFL. Really going well. Interesting, varied, learn a lot of skills. Well regarded by unis and increasingly unusual. Go for it!

My experience was that there were quite a lot of “native” speakers on the course so it made it VERY difficult to be in the top part of the class.
largely kids with one parent or those who had lived in the country.

This is astonishing to me - feels very very early to be choosing your a level subjects! Does the school allow for any flexibility / swapping later?
Mine didn’t need to choose for certain until enrolling at sixth form college, a day or so after gcse results came out. I guess large colleges can be more flexible with their a level options but even the school sixth forms we looked at said it was fine to stay flexible till later on than this at least!

Back on topic - it’s worth her considering possible degree options bearing in mind what she likes at this stage - if she’s not keen on biology, would she like neuroscience? What do her subject preferences lead to for degree options that fit the things that make her tick?

FWIW my DS is doing a right mix at a level - maths, Spanish and philosophy. He is likely to apply for law undergrad - the idea is that philosophy helps with the essays, constructing arguments / debate etc, maths keeps him numerate and thus useful in those areas, and Spanish he loves, it’s quite hard, and stretches his brain! Law doesn’t mind what you’ve studied it seems, as long as you get good grades in it, though essay based can help when you’re doing it. He tried to get a balance that wouldn’t close any doors he was interested in - definitely didn’t want to go STEM, loved languages and nearly took Eng lang but didn’t want to head in a fully linguistics direction. He’s only half a term in but loving the balance at the moment.

And in his Spanish class of about 15, there are only 3 who speak the language at home. He’s getting top marks so far.

If she prefers chemistry to biology and is likely to do better in it I’d be concerned whether neuroscience was for her really.
She’d be better doing psychology and looking for a less biology heavy course.
She should also look at chemistry courses.

You can change even on enrolling in September usually. It’s more just an indication at this stage.
Check if there’s min number for course to run and what will happen if teacher not available eg long term sick. My friend’s dd ended up with a private tutor yr13 as school stopped offering German mid A level (no teacher)
A language may open up subject and a language options at university or make her a good candidate for year abroad.
I do think in job market a language stands out positively.

Stick with the language it s great to have and she can look at ways to spend time in latin america or spain. And it s pretty much a second language in USA if she ever works or studies there