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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

Help with 6th form

24 replies

ohnoimnot · 20/10/2013 09:50

DD cant decide on A level options.

Shes A*in all subjects and doesn't know what she wants to do at Uni or after Uni. She would like to do something arty but not art, would photography be a good outlet for creative talents?
Also would Eng lit, Maths and Economics be a good choice for someone who cant decide what to do at Uni?

OP posts:

sashh · 20/10/2013 17:22

Could she do IB?

If she is looking towards art then a BTEC at an FE college to get a portfolio would be better, but it does limit things because of cutting off any science/maths

Talkinpeace · 20/10/2013 17:25

What advice have the school given her?
Will she stay at the same school for 6th or go to a college?
Have you been to any of the college open evenings?

TeenAndTween · 20/10/2013 18:22

Which subjects does she enjoy most?
What are her hobbies/interests out of school?

curlew · 20/10/2013 18:25

She should choose her absolute favourite subjects. Unless you have a very specific career path in mind, you're far more likely to do well in subjects that you enjoy.

englishteacher78 · 20/10/2013 18:28

Those choices would be lovely and leave her options quite open. Had she considered a science or a language.

Original poster

ohnoimnot · 20/10/2013 19:13

I just lost my really long reply.

We have looked at other schools for 6th form but I am not sure its a good idea to move.
IB would be great but there are not many schools that offer IB in my area.
She loves all her subjects hence why she is finding choosing four subjects hard. Her favorites are probably Biology, History, English Lit, maths but she wants to do Economics and a creative subject so that just leaves two choices.
Its so hard to decide.

OP posts:

Original poster

ohnoimnot · 20/10/2013 19:15

She loves science (she got 100% in all 3 science GCSEs) but her teacher said there is no point doing just one science its better to have two.

OP posts:

Talkinpeace · 20/10/2013 19:19

Why on earth does her teacher say that?
One science at A level in the right combination is fine?

friday16 · 20/10/2013 19:33

would Eng lit, Maths and Economics be a good choice for someone who cant decide what to do at Uni?

Yes. With good grades in those you could do a huge range of possible subjects.

Original poster

ohnoimnot · 20/10/2013 19:39

I think the physics teacher was offended she only wanted to do biology rather than physics so she said that there was no point just doing one.

Would photography be a waste of an A level? Or would it be a release from the other more intense subjects?

OP posts:

Talkinpeace · 20/10/2013 19:41

At A level do enabling subjects
Photography can be done as a hobby or at the weekend or once at the Uni
Eng lit , Maths, Economics is a lovely wide set of choices

friday16 · 20/10/2013 19:41

I think the physics teacher was offended she only wanted to do biology rather than physics so she said that there was no point just doing one.

If you're only going to do one science, the science to do would be physics: it keeps all of engineering open. After than, chemistry (and do AS biology): it keeps all the biomedical subjects open.

Would photography be a waste of an A level?

If she's an A* pupil looking to do to RG universities, yes.

englishteacher78 · 20/10/2013 19:41

1 science plus maths would be fab. Photography would be a bit of waste if it was one of three. One of four? I'd probably advise no, but that's just me.

Original poster

ohnoimnot · 20/10/2013 19:56

She wanted to do government and politics do you think having a science is better? Sorry for the 100 questions

OP posts:

englishteacher78 · 20/10/2013 19:58

A language might be better then in case she wants to do International Relations type courses.

Talkinpeace · 20/10/2013 20:00

Sciences are useful for teaching analytical skills - and if she went into Government and Politics, having an understanding of evidence based decision making would put you one up on the whole of the current Cabinet

Original poster

ohnoimnot · 20/10/2013 20:01

Thank you so much.

I tried to look at informed choices but its not working.
I will have a chat with her tomorrow and show her the comments here.
Thank you

OP posts:

TheWave · 21/10/2013 09:14

I think she is absolutely right to prioritise Maths and Economics for her interest in Politics. I don't think English lit goes so well with these though. History and Gov&Politics itself perhaps. I wouldn't choose a language unless she's really good at it.

I am a great believer in making the four A level choices "go together" to some extent so that the Uni can "read" who you are. And I think either English or Maths not both. I know others think differently though.

MLP · 21/10/2013 14:47

I would agree with those who are suggesting maths as one of the A-Levels and I would avoid photography as well. I did Maths, Economics and History at A Level then Economics at uni many years ago (LSE). I would say that the Maths A Level was the most helpful - Economics is fairly easy to pick up later.

I would be tempted to do something like Maths, a science like Chemistry, and then a modern language or history for the third.

friday16 · 21/10/2013 14:52

I would say that the Maths A Level was the most helpful - Economics is fairly easy to pick up later.

I think I'm right in saying that most economics degrees do require A Level maths, but don't require A Level economics. In part that's a response to the fact that economics is not commonly available, but it's also probably a realistic view of which is harder to pick up in the first term.

Original poster

ohnoimnot · 21/10/2013 18:08

I think she is pretty much set on English Lit, Maths and economics its the 4th she cant decide on. She could take a science or language and drop it after a year or she could take photography and continue it for 2 years not sure which is better.Why do they drop a subject after a year?
She seems to think that she would like to study economics at Uni but without ever having done the subject before she might not like it. I think maths and English are a good pair for someone who is uncertain of career path.
I wish children studied all subjects up to 18, personally I think 16 is just to young to stop core subjects ad narrow yourself to 3 or 4 choices.

OP posts:

Talkinpeace · 21/10/2013 18:47

ohno
at the college DD will go to, some of them do an extra subject to AS level and then concentrate on their core ones to A2

Original poster

ohnoimnot · 21/10/2013 18:54

That sounds good. Did you decide to move your DD for 6th form?
What subjects will she be studying?

OP posts:

Talkinpeace · 21/10/2013 20:05

here in Hampshire almost no schools have 6th forms - they all move to the colleges

The plan at the moment is Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Further Maths and French

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