DD wants to do languages but we worry

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My daughter wants to go to university and she is taking French, Maths and Psych A-levels. She just got a B in French in recent year 12 exams (following a grade 9 at GCSE) and she says she wants to study languages at Uni (the school will predict an A in French). However she got AA in Maths and Psychology exams (and will be predicted A stars in those two). I am worried that she is focusing in on her weakest subject (French) and it is not vocational either. Also We have been told that modern languages degrees are full of native speakers and that the year abroad is now so difficult and expensive if you don’t have an EU passport. I would like DD to take a year out to rethink languages and explore Maths/Psych/STEM but would like advice please

With that skill set she might make an excellent linguist. Look into Linguistics or maybe speech and language therapy and the various career paths it could lead to.

To have a happy and productive time at uni, you need to want to study the subject you have chosen. That said, given her predicted grade profile, it might be useful for your DD to consider joint MFL & Mathematics courses, of which there are quite a few across a variety of unis. Here is just one example from a uni with a strong MFL reputation and offering AAB with A in Maths and a minimum of a B in the language:
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/french-studies-and-mathematics-ba-hons-gr11/

Ooh ooh, as the risk of being outing I did my degree in French and mathematics! There were only 5 on my course so it’s not hugely common.

Maths was my stronger subject at A Level, but actually at Uni the French modules bolstered my marks and helped me get a higher degree classification as the Maths modules were horrendously difficult and I didn’t enjoy most of them at all. I was so glad I did French and the year abroad was a challenge that taught me a lot (although it was pre brexit, but there were loads of non-EU international students there too).

Totally anecdotal, but…

Ten years post graduating I get paid £110k in a career loosely related to maths (but I sit alongside others who have totally different and sometimes non-STEM degrees).

My friend who did psychology degree is on minimum wage 5 years after graduating as she didn’t go on to work in psychology (as extra qualifications were needed).

I would strongly recommend joint honours for anyone not 100% certain in their route forward, and I think MFL are a great choice as it’s always well respected by employers. I will say my French wasn’t good enough to take on a role where it was part of the job at the end of the degree, but that’s more of a reflection on my abilities as plenty of my cohort now live and work in France and seem very successful in doing so.

Stop worrying. Don’t write off her languages career on the basis of one bad mock exam- that’s a huge loss of perspective.

she’s clearly a bright girl, let her do what she wants to do.

I did languages and there were zero native speakers on my course, and even if there had been they wouldn’t necessarily have done any better at the essay-writing and translation side of things as these are skills that need to be learnt regardless of mother tongue.
Why is it not being vocational a problem? Maths and many STEM degrees are not vocational either. And many of my former classmates work in the same careers as our friends who did other subjects - financial services, consulting, law, civil service, tech.

@TeleTropes ooh ooh here too. I also did my degree in French and Maths. It's a fantastic combination. Maths is super hard really from the start and you really need to get your head around it. French is more of a slow build-up from what you have learned at A level. I started off being better at French but ended up getting my highest marks in all of the Maths modules.
This was many many years ago but I was very employable after graduating. Had lots of job offers, many employers actually mentioning what an unusual and interesting combination my subjects were and what different skills I had as a result. I worked in London in a high paying job and used my French from time to time with clients who had French subsidiaries and had a short spell in the Paris office. I also couldn't recommend it more if you are unsure.

The only STEM she could do would be Psych or Maths. She knows what they're like so rather than her taking a year out to consider those, do you mean taking a year out so you can persuade her?

Leave her be. She's a bright girl intending to do a very worthwhile and highly regarded degree.

European here. In terms of job prospects there a tons of native speakers in London and England and usually they get have excepted English skills too. If French speakers are needed, it’s easy enough to find a native speaker. Unless she wants to be a teacher I wouldn’t think French degree is that useful in the job market.

Out of the hundreds of people on my languages course I only know one person who became a teacher. The rest of us haven’t struggled to find employment either.

I understand you're worried that she seems to be choosing her weakest subject - I agree that is a concern. But she won't be able to do many STEM degrees if she only has maths (no other sciences), and she may struggle on a maths degree as there will be lots of students who have more complementary A Levels (eg further maths, computer science, physics).

Also remind her that most universities will give you free access to their language lab and language classes so she can keep on learning French while studying something else if she likes

If you push her into doing her not ideal degree she will really resent you

If say the opposite.

I work in higher education and graduate employability policy and languages are incredibly in demand as the U.K. has such a shortage of MFL speakers.

As an aside, maths really isn't vocational (though of course excellent foundation for many vocational training routes) and the proportion is psychology students who become psychologists is tiny!

The gov has a lot to answer for for pushing this 'vocational' and 'value' arguments about degrees - the employment and salary data doesn't play out for them at all.

French degree is pretty pointless these days unless she wants to be a French teacher. So many native French people who can speak English. It's almost like taking a music degree.

I'm British and only did French at school - got a B at A level. Studied 2 languages at uni (one from scratch) and when I was there did 3 others part time and now speak 4 languages fluently. Helped get me my first job even though it wasn't a requirement and has helped evermore, since people are usually see it as an added bonus against other candidates. 10 years later I've had a really good career so far in the tech sector and have never struggled to get a job. You really stand out against other British applicants who rarely speak 2nd languages well. Another option is to do a maths and French or something like that as another poster said. Think something like that would be an excellent choice, but employers aren't super picky about which degree you do in the UK.

How about a course like International Business with French? That would use French, Maths and Psychology because it requires good numeracy and involves psychology in relation to HR and Marketing.

she says she wants to study languages at Uni
It doesn't have to be French; she could do something else ab initio.

A lot of state schools are a bit lacking in MFL (and ancient foreign languages, come to that) at the moment so I believe that Universities cannot be as choosy as they can for, say, medicine. MFL can be a good way to get into a 'good'
University, although with A-star / A-star / A she shouldn't be struggling for offers. However, she might struggle to get into a good place for Maths if she only has Maths and not Further Maths.

I suggest that she thinks a bit more about her degree subject i.e. beyond just the three subjects she is taking for A Level - there are a host of options out there! If she does go for a subject that you think has suspect employability outcomes then look at the University generally to see what they do to help careers, because they (Uni) vary greatly.

I would echo advice above to do joint honours, and also look into career path.

I did French single honours. After a 4 year course I was sick of it, and had no clear advice from uni about where I could take it. What I did learn is that to fully work as things like interpreters or teachers, you often need to do/know 2 foreign languages. So your DD would definitely have more prospect doing joint honours.

I have not used my French at all since I left uni, and now work in utilties.

There were no native speakers on my course, but there were a lot of students better than me as they had spent a lot more time in France than I had.

Sorry I also want to add that when I was applying for uni, not THAT many unis offered single honours French, so it may also restrict her choice.

There's nothing wrong with doing MFL, as opposed to any other 'generic humanities' degree. Many graduate schemes hire regardless of degree subject.

However STEM at university is very different from A-Levels and there is a high change of failing if you're not so inclined. You cannot just memorise formulas there's much more theory and intuition required.

Better MFL than a generic 'business' degree, unless the latter allows a wide choice of modules

A friend of mine is a professor in French. Naturally she says it's an excellent and sought after degree.
My DSD is pursuing a career in Psychology. I'd only recommend that path if you are an exceptional student, prepared to work hard and accumulate a lot of student debt. She's almost a decade post graduation now, studying for a PhD and seeing a chunk of her salary paying off debt every month.

A MFL degree from a good university is very valuable. I'm surprised how many posts here are only able to see degrees in terms of their vocational value (becoming a French teacher etc). Many degrees (perhaps most) are less about providing you with specific skills relevant to a job and more about teaching you to think, argue etc, as well as evidencing your ability to think, argue etc. MFL will do that perfectly well. MFL degrees are also increasingly rare due to the underfunding of language teaching in schools, so as well as having rarity value she's likely to get lower offers than she would in other subjects (especially psychology which is very popular- nb also despite being potentially a vocational degree the majority of psychology grads don't work in the field).

It's so important to study something you love. I'd encourage her to talk to her teachers about her grade in French, what her UCAS prediction will be and whether she can bring it up. It would be good to know whether French is genuinely her weakest subject or whether the exam was a blip- quite possible if she has 9 at GCSE.

I wouldn't recommend a year out if she then decides to do maths. Unis hate maths students taking a year off as ability can drop quite steeply if you don't apply it daily.

It's her choice. She will do much better at something she enjoys. And the year abroad will be brilliant for her confidence, resilience and employability.
There are an awful lot of unemployed psych graduates out there!

Also ask her what she actually likes about French currently. A French degree is less about language and more about really specific modules such as ‘chivalry in France in X century’ or ‘poetry in France in 1900s’.

Dd is going to Aberystwyth and they do the French/Mathematics combo degree.