How important is a modern foreign language?

[MotherOfGirls]

Dd takes her GCSEs this summer. We felt she was overloaded and so she has recently dropped Drama. She is keen to drop French as she hates it and doesn't think she will do well . She is predicted an A in Latin and Bs in most other subjects. I will be talking to her school today but I would be interested to hear any thoights.

Not sure if it's still the same, but when I applied to university it was a pre-requisite.

My view in MFL is if you can get a B or above it's probably worth keeping.

If like DD1 and me you'd be lucky to scrap a C and the work needed would effect your other subjects - bin.

DDs DF only did Latin, because she much preferred it to French or German. (It's not taught at DDs state school).

A few universities require a MFL but most don't, and you need one to achieve the E Bacc but not having one isn't disastrous.
However I would be very surprised if the school would let her drop two GCSEs, most don't let you drop any, unless she has other issues you haven't mentioned - such as ongoing health issues that make it harder for her to manage the workload than other children.

MFL wasn't a university prerequisite when I went, we had awful French teaching and we all checked are subject areas really carefully, because we all wanted to give it up.

It's not a prerequisite in general now unless a course needs A level MFL.

Thanks all. Really helpful. Yes, there are other issues and she also started off taking a lot of GCSEs which was a mistake which we, and the school, should have identified sooner. I am still in two minds about it but will see what they advise.

Thanks all. Really helpful. Yes, there are other issues and she also started off taking a lot of GCSEs which was a mistake which we, and the school, should have identified sooner. I am still in two minds about it but will see what they advise.

Thanks all. Really helpful. Yes, there are other issues and she also started off taking a lot of GCSEs which was a mistake which we, and the school, should have identified sooner. I am still in two minds about it but will see what they advise.

On track for grade C or above - stick with it. Grade D or below - get rid. Any employer or educational institution that values a modern language would be looking for a decent ability in it.

On track for grade C or above - stick with it. Grade D or below - get rid. Any employer or educational institution that values a modern language would be looking for a decent ability in it.

As far as the ebac is concerned, its classical as well as modern languages, so Latin would count.

I thought UCL were the only University that required an MFL GCSE (or short MFL course, say in summer school, prior to commencing degree study) for all degree courses.

So few people do an MFL but most privately educated children will be expected to do one. It is worth more than a lot of the fringe subjects IMO but no, you do not need it. Anything worth having is hard work though and lots of GCSEs at B grade is not as good as 9 with some at A grade so your school advice is poor so far. Quality, not quantity, is what counts.