English, History and PE A levels, potentially for Oxbridge

[Drangea]

DS is considering the above combination. Aiming to read English or History. Teachers are recommending he applies to Oxbridge. High achieving kid at a super selective boys grammar that send lots to Oxbridge to give context.
We have not discussed with teachers yet, wanted to get a feel first.
Thanks in advance
(also posted in further education, but was advised to move to here)

I was 110% wrong. I retract my statement and apologise for my inaccuracy and smugness.

Also have a Cambs vet who did bio chem and drama. Got 4 offers.

@Words - could you also read @SarahAndQuack's contribution to this thread, and also the OP's contributions where she says her DC isn't a language taker, either MFL or Latin.

'Football or whatnot' says all it needs to say, really.

Lots more replies thank you!
The other two subjects in the mix are either RP (one of his top subjects, top performer at this) or Politics (untested obvs as they don’t politics as a subject at GCSE)
He/we were just thinking eng/hist/RP was too narrow really and maybe PE might be more “fun” and offer a change in how he studies

At HM presentation last week he said actually the school got 54 Oxbridge offers. I am sure they will guide us (but might play it a bit safe?)

English Literature, History and RP isn’t too “narrow”, it’s focused on skills and knowledge that are relevant to the degree he wants to take.

If he is a top performer in RP and enjoys the subject, it would be foolish not to take the subject. If you are aiming for an A* and Oxbridge, pick a third A level that you find easy.

For me, the big risk of PE is that he ought score good marks in the academic side of the A level (if he is a bright student of Oxbridge calibre) but there is always the risk of injury or an unexpected poor performance in the practical side. If he wants to study an academic degree at Oxbridge it would be awful to drop a grade because his football skills weren’t up to scratch that season…

I would also consider that if he is attracted to PE because it is more fun and he doesn’t enjoy the other subjects as much, maybe he needs to rethink what he wants to study at university?

Simply not true for Oxford, see above. Once you have the essential and/or recommended A level/s for your course any other A level/s with the exception of General Studies are admissable.

I retracted

I agree that if RP is a really good subject for him then he certainly should consider it.

Other things being equal, it's a good idea to take the subjects you will get best grades in, especially if applying to Cambridge, especially if it is the third subject and thus not going to be the degree choice (and thus really it is only the grade that matters if that makes sense).

If he will do better in RP than PE then it is a good plan. I don't think PE will be helpful to him as such – it is basically a science subject. Would he feel the same way about biology – that it’s fun and a change? Does he want a change? Surely if he wants to study Eng or history then a subject like them would be what he would enjoy? DD would have done Eng lit Eng lit + and Further Eng lit if she could have. And DS actually did do biology and biology + (= PE haha).

I think the PE issue could be around injury, fair enough (DS2 has not played his sport for almost 12 months due to injury, tho not an educational issue any more). I doubt that a student's football skills would not be up to scratch tho (unless through injury which might be what the PP meant). Any more than his Eng lit essay skills might not be very good one summer. If you’re good at running fast then you get better as you work at it.

@claryPE isn’t on the list as a good third option either! For medicine yes. For History or Eng Lit, other choices make more sense.

Cancel the cheque 😁

@Piggywaspushed Just because you know the odd one getting in, that’s not the best advice is it? It’s anecdotal and probably misleading If you look at subjects taken for top academic courses at elite universities, the majority will follow the Cambridge advice. Mainly because these are hard academic subjects with a tried and tested background. Occasionally they might not follow their own advice! That doesn’t mean that’s available to every applicant for every course and is probably only available to state school dc. You do know they have a supplementary list don’t you? I think advice should be tailored to what the majority do who are successful. What you can do is very different.