Opinions on these possible A level choices please

[PikachuSayBoo]

Dd is fairly bright. Thinks that she wants to do graphic design for a degree and probable career. She is arty and also dyslexic.

She's thinking of;

Product design (predicted an a* in graphic design gcse)
Photography (predicted an a/b in gcse)
Philosophy (predicted an A in RS gcse which is the most similar subject)

I'm not sure if they can still pick a 4th subject to do in Year 12 and then I think in year 13 they decide which 3 out the 4 they will carry on with. That's what currently happens and if she can pick a 4th it would be Geography which she's predicted an A in for GCSE.

They're probably her strongest gcse subjects to be honest so it makes sense to carry them on. She had been thinking about English but her predicted grade for that is a B and she has a new teacher this year who she doesn't like and I think is turning her off the subject a bit.

What about art? Do you know what school/college are offering as ours has changed this year.

I'd be a bit concerned about the lack of a traditional facilitating subject.

Will she be doing the art & design foundation diploma beforehand?

Or she might be better doing an art/graphic design Btec instead of a levels.

She wants to stay on for sixth form rather than go to college. Local college doesn't do art or graphic design BTEC anyway, she'd have to travel 15 miles to the next town and there's no bus or train from our village so couldn't get there.

She's predicted a C at gcse art. Possibly because she only started it at Easter due to a disastrous gcse options mistake. School told her she couldn't do art as it clashed with graphics at gcse. Two terms in we find out we'd been given incorrect Information and insisted she be allowed to drop german and pick up art.

She would rather do product design over art anyway.

What counts as a facilitating subject and why does she need one?

The art foundation diploma is something we've looked at and I think she would be happy to do that prior to a degree.

Have googled facilitating subjects. Looks like she could do with doing geography instead of photography if she can only do 3 subjects.

Only other facilitating subject she could possibly do is english.

Maths she's predicted a B and I don't think would cope with the leap up to a levels. She was predicted a B, whatever that is in new money.

She doesn't do any languages (dyslexia) and doesn't do history.

She does double science and is predicted b/c. So not as strong. School science dept is in shambles and they've emailed parents of current science sixth formers saying they can't provide adequate teaching and they recommend that parents pay for external tutoring!!!! So no way is she doing science. She hasn't had a chemistry teacher since year 9!

Sounds awful. Are there no other 6th forms locally?

She won't consider other sixth forms as she adores her graphic design/product design teacher so much. Not sure her science is good enough for a levels to be honest even with a better sixth form.

She doesn't need facilitating subjects fgs. She's not a high flier academically and she wants to do something creative.

Sounds fine to me. Her portfolio will be more important and the foundation diploma will ensure that's developed if she isn't going down the extended diploma route.

I suppose the only worry is if she changes her mind during a levels about what degree she wants to do. Are her options narrowing her degree choices too much?

What she is proposing is fine. Photography A level and Art A level together are a huge amount of work so definitely continue with the Product Design because if she loves it, the volume of work will not be quite so daunting. Philosophy provides an essay subject and this will help with any subsequent course. There is no need for a fascilitating A level for art based degrees but unless she can take a lot of pressure with deadlines, do a foundation year to help with her portfolio. It can be the case that a portfolio has to be produced at around the same time as A level photography is moderated ( possibly Spring Term) so the work can really ramp up.

If she changes her mind regarding 18 plus education, so be it. Doing what you enjoy is more important. People who do arts based A levels know they cannot change their minds and are really not going to become historians or scientists or even geographers. It is just not on the agenda.

Surely she'll need Art a level?

I've been told she won't need art a level for a graphic design degree as long as she has product design instead. In product design a level she can concentrate on the graphics side of product design.

She's good at deadlines. Currently doing art, photography and graphics and is way ahead of others in all classes with regards to how much work she's done.

Good point about doing what she enjoys. She's not going to be a scientist.

What if her teacher leaves? What if there is a better teacher elsewhere? I would look at all options.

I strongly suggest you look at universities such as Kingston, Brighton, Portsmouth, Middlesex and Falmouth to get an informed idea of what is required. Kingston even give you a guide to what a portfolio should look like. Not one says you must have Art A level and if you look at the portfolio advice you can see that art is only a small part of what graphic design is about, but she may need to consider how she will cover this element if a university wants to see art sketch books and drawing ability , for example. Brighton and Kingston do prefer students to come from a foundation course and you should give consideration to this because the A level grades can be quite high, especially at Brighton. If you look at the portfolio requirements, and not everywhere requires a portfolio, you may think that not every base will be covered by her A levels and the foundation course would fill the gaps.

It seems a bit odd that if she wants to do a graphics degree, she's not doing either graphics or art at A level.

Product design counts as a tech subject, doesn't it?

Graphics is a tech subject. She's doing it at gcse and it's taught by a DT teacher. It will be the same teacher teaching the a-level and she has said that dd can do her projects on the graphic side of things. There isn't a school in the town which offers a graphic design a-level. Teacher reckons it's not a problem and that it will basically be a continuation of gcse.

I would prefer she did art over photography at a level as I think it's a bit broader.

It's "art graphics" at ds's school, not a tech subject. He's currently deciding between art or graphics for A level. Two of his mates are going with art, graphics and photography!