Six subjects in S4 the norm?

[DeathStarCanteenGal]

DD is about to pick her subjects for S4 and can only pick 6 subjects - which she will then do at anything from Nat 3 to Nat 5 level, depending in what the school think she will pass. Although she seems quite bright and quite conscious, so au hope Nat 5s are doable
But given I did eight subjects at S4 this just doesn't seem like a lot - however I fully accept I was at high school back in the 80s and thing have changed since then, so wondered if this is the norm?
school say they do this because it is what 'most students' can cope with

not a town beginning with P
we're in West Lothian

@DeathStarCanteenGal if it's definitely 6 in total then maybe:
S4:
English N5
Maths or Applications of Maths N5
One language N5
One science N5
History or Geography N5
Art Nat 5
S5:
English H
Maths N5 if Apps in S4/Maths H if N5 in S4/no H if decent Nat 5 pass and H not needed
2 Highers from N5s she enjoyed/did best in
1 Nat 5 in second science or language or social subject which she still would like to have
S6:
Adv Higher x 1/2
Highers x 1/2/3 (1 could potentially be 'crash')
Nat 5 x 1 if looking to fill gap in timetable

If she's bright then she can still potentially do some of the Highers as 'crash' even if not completed Nat 5 level.

Good luck whatever she does.

Mine is doing

English
Maths
Application of maths
German
HFT
Business science
Computing science
RME
biology

My son's school doesn't put pupils forward for both Nat 5 Maths and Apps of Maths. It's one or the other in S4. DS did Nat 5 Maths in S4, but lots of his friends did Apps in S4 and Nat 5 Maths in S5. RME was on the curriculum but not at exam level. Never heard of Business Science but they do Business Management.
It's good to keep it broad, regardless the total number.

My dd did:

• Maths, English, Chemistry, Physics, Art, Computer Science, Modern Studies at Nat5 in S4
• Maths, English, Art, Computer Science and Chemistry at Higher in S5
• English and Computer Science at Advanced Higher in S6

Ds did:

• Maths, English, French, Modern Studies, Computer Science, PE, Physics at Nat5 in S4
• Maths, English, Computer Science, Physics and Chemistry at Higher (crashed Chemistry) in S5
• Maths, Computer Science and Chemistry at Advanced Higher and Accounting at Higher (crashed accounting) in S6

Yes, crashing is definitely possible for many subjects, if you're bright and motivated.

I think- from what she's said - she will do Nat 5s in English and Maths (and our school is either maths or application of maths, not both) Italian, Spanish and art. which leaves a choice between history and a science subject
my thinking is it would probably be better do to science in S4 then she can pick up history later - and possibly do a crash Higher...
but we will see what parents week this week throws up

That's probably makes sense, or the option that I suggested. I'm sure it'll work out ok.

What about the many university courses that require five Highers in one sitting? What about the courses that require two sciences , two foreign languages?
Seems the vast majority think six N5s is too limiting.

My suggestion was for someone who DIDN'T know what they wanted to do.
For someone who DOES know then take the appropriate subjects at the appropriate level at each stage.
It's entirely possible to do 6 Nat5s, 5 Highers and 2 or 3 Advanced Highers/other qualifications in S4, 5 and 6 respectively, to gain specific entry qualifications.
My son kept his as broad as possible as he wasn't sure what he wanted to do, others went down a science based path or a business based path from day 1 and others adapted their path at each stage.

Minimum of 8 and maximum of 10 Nat 5's at the schools around me - the extra 2 are PE and RMPS which you can take as core or Nat 5.

I think 6 to 8 is a good amount, all Nat5s or a mix of Nat5/4 if more appropriate. 10 seems overly excessive imho, especially if it's just in random subjects to bulk it out. There are already discussion threads about the pros and cons or more or taking less Nat5s at once, there is no absolute right or wrong and each child will differ.

Ours used to be 6 which was incredibly limiting, especially for young people who were aiming for HE. They've moved to 7 this year, with English and either Maths or Maths Apps being compulsory.

DS sat 8. English, Maths, History, Chemistry, Physics, Music, Computing Science and Spanish.

Why was/is it limiting?
Several pupils at my son's school who did 6 Nat5s in S4 went on to get 5 excellent Highers in S5, 2-3 excellent Adv Higher passes in S6, plus maybe another extra Higher/Nat 5 along the way to fill gaps in their timetable, and then went/will go on to a respected university.
It seems that many of the schools doing more are actually doing filler subjects to make the total.

It's limiting for pupils who want to study subjects at HE level which require H or AH study. If pupils have to choose from specified columns in S2/3 they may have to exclude subjects they'd want to take, or crash them later.

But I do think 10 is excessive! I did 8 standard grades and none were fillers.

If you want to do medicine then all 3 sciences are recommended. How many S2s know exactly what they want to study? And how are youngsters not managing to study 8 subjects to a mediocre level? It’s worrying that educational standards annd anims are so low.

I don't understand why you think it's so limiting, I've explained how students sitting six Nat5s in S4 can progress perfectly well already.

7 at our school. 8 for some as the most able sit Maths and Applications of Maths exams.

I know other local schools do 8 but can drop some after s3. Ours are the exact same s3 and s4.

Guess will also depend on timetabling as to what she can choose from. In our school would be difficult to do 2 languages. Also they cancelled one language as an option as the teacher left and we don't have another able to teach German.

It's nothing to do with not managing to study 8 subjects, it's that they choose 6 in S4. I think it's worrying how people are more focused on number of Nat 5s in S4 than overall achievement. Do you actually think a pupils with Nat 5 (AAAAAAAB), Higher (AAAABB) and Adv Higher (AB), over S4-6, is achieving mediocre results? Many pupils sitting six Nat5s in S4 will end up with a results profile like this. NB These aren't any specific person's results but people are achieving this or similar profile.

Our school was 7 standard/ordinary grades (was at changeover time) in S4. I did 5 Highers in S5 and didn't do S6 as got into Uni.
I didn't do any filler subjects either but some of the Nat5 example lists appear to have fillers.

I work in careers so have seen a variety of ways of doing it across Edinburgh and the Lothians.
I totally agree it's about overall achievement but I've seen it narrow down a breadth of subjects for students.

If you're capable of Nat5 Maths then why also do Apps, when the Nat5 result will always be seen as superior?