Engineering - 4 A levels

[Flatmeringues]

I have a ds yr12, he’s studying Maths, Fm, Physics and French. I think it’s likely he will go for engineering or physics at university. I’m wondering if he’d be better dropping French and concentrating on the other 3 or would the universities not look favorably at that as 2 of them are maths and FM.
His school (local comp) only allow you to take FM as a fourth but seem happy to discuss dropping an A level now they’ve started the course. He’s had a couple of assessments in each subject and done ok but we haven’t had a grade collection yet so not sure of what predictions etc we’re looking at.
I feel he suffered a little grades wise at gcse by studying too many, he did 12, 999988887765, I don’t want to make the same mistake again but he does really enjoy French.

I suppose my questions are would he be limiting his choices if he dropped French? Or alternatively is dropping FM very silly for someone hoping to do engineering?

In my opinion I would keep all 4 unless his grades are really suffering by doing 4. There will be A LOT of kids with maths, fm and physics. Having French will be another feather in his cap and add a bit of something different to talk about if he applies to a Uni that does interviews.

Don't drop FM! If he's enjoying French perhaps keep it for year 12, take the AS, then drop to concentrate on the others. If he finds the workload ok (and there is a fair bit of overlap with M, FM and P) then consider keeping F (maybe use as an opportunity to do a degree with a year abroad?).

Maths, Further Maths and Physics are standard for Engineering or Physics.

Does he know what A2 MFL is like?

Ds1 did maths, further maths and physics for engineering. He applied to Oxford, Warwick, Durham, Bristol and Sheffield iirc and is now in his first year at Oxford. He got offers from all of them.

I don’t think anyone would advise your DS to drop further maths, French would make more sense and based on my (limited) experience, doing only 3 a levels certainly didn’t hold ds1 back.

4 a levels is a lot of work, ds2 started with 4 but dropped further maths as he really struggled with the additional workload. I don’t think it’s so common to do 4 these days. 3 strong results probably means much more.

Those are not bad grades at GCSE! He's probably the best judge, if he is really enjoying French and he doesn't think it's too much work, then keep on with it. There's no harm asking here for advice, but I'd wait until he asks for it!

Thanks all.

@TheSmallAssassin I haven’t really discussed with him yet, was hoping to canvass a few opinions first. He’s not the best at prioritizing work but doesn’t seem too overloaded at the moment.

@titchy he would love to do a year abroad

@DontKeepTheFaith your DS’ experience gives me something to consider. not sure if we’ll be looking at those sort of grades but I think I’ll keep asking around and wait for his first grade collection before any serious discussion.

Thanks all. It’s so useful to get others opinions. I know nothing about engineering or physics.

@CraftyGin. Now I’m a bit worried is the yr 13 of French much harder than y12? he’s in a small class of 8 but 5 of them have French parents.

I would keep all 4. My dc is doing the same four (although another modern language) and is currently applying for Engineering.
Maths and Further Maths are often regarded as one subject anyway and if your ds is good at Maths those 4 subjects should be very doable.

[quote Flatmeringues]@CraftyGin. Now I’m a bit worried is the yr 13 of French much harder than y12? he’s in a small class of 8 but 5 of them have French parents.[/quote]
Maybe a MFL teacher can comment.

My experience, from DD who did Spanish, is that the A2 year is very much about literature (some of it very old).

In fact at our school Maths is covered in year 12 and Further Maths in year 13, so even in terms of timetabling these are seen as one subject, Maths.

@Gardenia22 thx. He’s strongest at maths/physics but I’m not sure we’re looking at top grades and the stem grade requirements seem very high at good Unis. But then I’m told as a non native speaker ml is very hard to get a top grade in too.

It depends on how much he enjoys French and how he's doing this year. Perhaps ask his French teacher for advice? Having language skills is very useful imo.

But I definitely wouldn't drop Further Maths if he's looking at competitive courses for Engineering.

There are universities that used to maintain strong links with very good French universes for engineering. My DDs former boyfriend did engineering for a year at a Grand Ecole. That was part of his MEng at Bristol. He didn’t have A level French. He had to work hard at his French in order to go. Going with A level would be easier. Former boyfriend now working in France I believe. This was 9 years ago at uni so I hope they have been able to maintain links post Brexit. I would keep the French as it’s a bonus, but he doesn’t need it.