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?

We talked a bit about maybe psychology with a year or semester abroad last night which seemed very appealing to her. Some courses also offer a placement to work in the uk between second and third year and get work experience too. Both of these options feel better than a straight 3 year degree and she liked the time abroad option. This would make a lot of sense if she had a language so perhaps is a good route to explore.

To respond to timing comments - I agree it’s quite early in the year to be deciding. School have said some swaps are possible down the line but not guaranteed. They need to plan class sizes etc. It must hard to juggle it all I suppose.

thank you for thoughts and comments it’s been very helpful!

DD changed from chemistry, biology and maths in Jan of Y11 to history, English lit and psychology by the time she got her results! Hey school were quite flexible with changes from the subjects you applied to sixth form with. So yes, things can change.

DS has done language A level and regrets it a bit. He doesn't like the literature/ film/ essay aside if things, which wasn't really required at GCSE. It was his favourite subject at GCSE next to Maths. He took Maths, Spanish, geography A level - and chemistry as a 4th. He dropped Geog after a term. He's now looking at a Chem degree even though he didn't like it much at GCSE. He regrets not doing Further maths or physics or both. However, he has applied to do Chemistry with a year abroad. He loves speaking languages so I think he'll really enjoy this, and it may make him stand out a bit as a candidate for a very competitive uni as not many are doing Spanish and Chemistry.

For your DD I would wait a bit. Does she live English lit and essays in general? If not, then I would not recommend the lang A level.

@PrincessOfPreschool I’m sorry he's not enjoying MFL A level – but remember the essay content (as in the points made about the book and film, as opposed to the quality of the writing in Spanish for the essays) only counts for 40 marks in total (20 for each essay) out of 400 marks for the A level (this is AQA but I think Exexcel is similar) so it’s a really small element (10% in fact), and a lot less important that the skills in writing and speaking the language.

Exciting time in your daughter's life! Having a language opens hundreds of doors, even if she doesn't speak it like a native. She will be able to apply for so many more internships, placements, Masters courses. Why stick to a much smaller pool of only English language opportunities down the road?

I'm speaking as someone who did French and Spanish at A Level (nothing sciencey or impressive), purely for enjoyment, and I've been round the world with the United Nations and all kinds. Not even as an interpreter or a translator but in a non-language based industry.

On the A-level syllabus, embrace the opportunity to read books and watch movies in another language.....and get graded for it! The requirement is NOT to be responding to literature like an actual Spanish person.

Final comment I grew up very much in a single language home in a village in England, so it's not like I had a headstart.

Good luck!!

@claryI don't think he likes writing at all really 😔, not just the content. Listening, speaking etc is better.

Ah OK. Well yes there is quite a bit of writing (summaries, translation both ways) and that does score highly. (In fact the two summaries are worth more marks than the content of the essays.) It’s a shame he wasn’t advised better that the writing (in fact all of it) ramps up so much from GCSE. Hopefully he will get a good mark for speaking and the reading and listening non-writing tasks.

I did 2 language A levels and my daughter took French alongside Biology and Psychology, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with it all but has gone into teaching now and achieved a first degree in special education disability and inclusion and PGCE. She was encouraged to pick a language at A level.

I always thought languages were very well thought off. I think they’re quite impressive. Both mine have done a language a level and one is doing joint Honors with the language so will have a year in Spain. My view FWIW!

Modern foreign languages are highly regarded for university admissions in other subjects, including STEM. They provide a nice bit of variety compared with choosing 3 sciences or 2 sciences and maths that might make her application more interesting. Some universities (including top universities) offer languages in STEM to their STEM undergraduates. The language will open up work experience and employment opportunities. I can see no down sides to choosing a MFL A level.

Only downside is if going for a very competitive course that will need A and Astar it can be hard to achieve a top grade in a language especially if a language lots of native speakers take (high A boundary)

My dd did biology, psychology and maths and studies psychology at uni. You don’t need A-level psychology to do it at uni but dd had done it at GCSE so was pretty confident in her choice. a-level biology includes a topic on DNA which dd loved but apart from that the topics are not really relevant to psychology apart from some statistics they learned. If she prefers chemistry then absolutely fine to pick chemistry over biology but there’s overlap between chemistry and biology so picked them both might be the smart choice. (Biochemistry is a topic iirc in A-level bio)

As a Pp said taking a language proficiency test will be better than A-level imo as it will mean more if she decides to live overseas as it’s an international qualification. She could even do something like study Spanish during a gap year between school and uni. I’d be most nervous about staffing and lack of demand for MFL so I’d look into that. I know that teachers can’t promise to stay 2 years but in my child’s school, the MFL substitutes were often non-native speakers who had the kids do “work” rather the teach.

I think the strongest benefit is in doing the subjects she loves.

Your DD should pick what she wants to do and she will do better studying something she enjoys.