What do you think about these A levels?

[PerspicaciaTick]

DD is in y10 and starting to think about A level choices.
She is toying with the idea of doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Art with a possibility of doing Further Maths as a fifth A level.
I come from a Humanities background and am struggling to give her a perspective on this combination. Is it a weird mixture? Is she doing herself a disservice by not doing an essay/humanities subject? Is the workload going to be horrific? What pitfalls or positives should she be aware of?
No real clear idea of what degree she is aiming for at the moment, although she would love to work in a way that combines Art and science (not sure what that would like in terms of a career).
I'd love your thoughts or experiences please.

I did maths, physics and chemistry. Some also did further maths. You don't need an essay subject. Doing art as well would be overload. Maths and physics a level are quite a step up from gcse so don't consider unless at least an a at gcse.

Our eldest child did a similar combination plus a vocational project award. It was far too much work even for a bright girl.

She was predicted ABBBb and only achieved BBCCa.

I would echo the posters above about Further Maths.

Do not underestimate it. It is extremely hard - not just a bit more Maths but completely different topics and difficult questions. Most schools require grade 8 or above at GCSE to even be allowed to do it.

DS has just done Further Maths AS Level. He is no slouch at Maths but it has occupied most of his home study time since January.

In addition it is the kind of exam that you can either do v well in or completely flunk. Unlike an essay subject where, as long as you know the facts you can make a reasonable stab at a question, in FM you could take a wrong turning early on in an answer and get almost no marks at all.

If you look at the complete university guide then you will find that there are several STEM courses where for a few top universities the average number of points in successfully admitted candidates is more than you get from 4 A* at A level. While there could be some music exam points In there that is the standard of competition and it is way above the three A levels that is the minimum acceptable standard for a student to achieve once the university has decided they want to make an offer. I strongly recommend doing full A level FM if you are serious about STEM at top university. A 9 or strong 8 is a must though for maths GCSE.