More than 3 A Levels?

[abbadabby]

I'm wondering how common it is to do more than 3 A Levels, and what factors should influence the decision?

DS is in Y10 so starting to think about 6th form, and said the other day that he might do 4. He's a bright kid, predicted to get 8+ for most of his GCSEs, though to me he seems pretty laid back when it comes to revision, and A Level will undoubtedly be a step up.

Subjects he's expressed an interested in studying are Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Economics and Computer Science. I'm guessing some combinations (e.g. Maths & Further Maths) will prop each other up because they'll have some common content.

He'd be happy to stay at his current (good state) school, but we're also looking around at some other options locally, including a super-selective grammar and an outstanding 6th-form college.

Thoughts?

My ds1 is starting sixth form college in September and has been told he can do 4 (Maths, Physics, History and English) if he gets "a profile of 7s and 8s" in his GCSEs.

I believe universities only ask for 3 A-levels and the UCAS points are for 3 A levels (I don’t think you can add a fourth to boost your points). I could be wrong on this point.

I did 5 A levels and honestly, it was a waste of time because the other two didn’t get taken into consideration. I got 4As and a B but the extra 2 did nothing for my university offers and it caused me so much stress doing all of the extra work.

“It’s important to appreciate as well that the system has changed. The new Linear A levels are less suited to doing 4 and in my experience the only ones doing 4 are either taking maths and FM or are taking a language as a native speaker”

I agree with this ^^
Ignore the posters who took A levels 15 years ago when they were modular. They took AS exams and A2 exams, basically half an A level at each level, so anyone taking 4 A levels sat 4 half A levels at the end of year 12. And 4 half A levels at the end of year 13. Students taking 3 A levels now sit .the equivalent of 6 half A levels or 8 if taking 4 subjects.

I don’t understand why anyone would want to take more than 4. DD started with 4, but was on her knees by the end of year 12 so dropped a subject after AS levels.

Leftie - yes, standard uni offers are three A level grades and there aren't many of the top unis which accept the UCAS tariff rather than grades, so you can't aggregate the points, as it were.

I suppose one argument would be that if, for some reason, one of the A levels had a problem which affected all the grade boundaries (leak of papers perhaps ?) then potentially you'd have another A level to 'fall back on'.

Dd took 4 this year but it's quite unusual now. Everyone at her school took 4 as levels but just a few took 4

I suppose one argument would be that if, for some reason, one of the A levels had a problem which affected all the grade boundaries (leak of papers perhaps hmm?) then potentially you'd have another A level to 'fall back on'.

Friend of DS's affected by the Maths leak is reassured by exactly this.

FM is considered a whole and independent a-level as it has just as much content as the maths a-level, so it's not really a matter of overlap and less work to do maths and FM vs maths and a different a-level. You just have to have maths to be able to do FM so can't do it by itself.

Hi, I'm currently at the end of Y12 (Grade 11) and am taking 4 A-levels, coincidentally the first 4 you mentioned (Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry).

From your description, I think I am an accurate representation of your son as well. I got 4A*2A2B at GCSE and am just as lax about revision (obviously not for the real A-levels though).

What you say about common content is overwhelmingly true. A1-Further Maths will teach almost all of AS-Maths indirectly, and Physics, Mechanics and Further Mechanics will all be basically the same things with different terminologies (Further Mechanics goes more in depth though).

I don't feel anywhere near overworked, and as my form tutor said just 2 days ago: "I think I'd be too boring for [me] if [I] took just 3." The only warning I'll give is for Chemistry/Economics. If your son is anything like me, he'll be great at logic and reason, but not so great at memory (e.g. test tube reaction colors). I chose Chemistry over Computer Science for a few reasons, but it was a close choice. I think I chose correctly, but the same may not be true in your case. Have him consider which 4 to pick carefully, based on both his Uni choices and his own ability, but don't be afraid for him to go with 4.

questions while FM is a separate A level medical schools won't accept it as a separate A level unless it is a fourth subject. They consider maths and FM as one subject as they are too similar.

My dd is in y12. She is doing maths, computer science and geography. She's also done further maths to AS. It's the only subject her college still offers at AS.

She's not a straight 9/8 student. She got a range of grades 9-5 (9 in maths).

She's found the further maths has been fantastic in helping her with the maths content of all 3 of her subjects. It's been like 4.5 hours of free tutoring a week.

She's hoping for an A or B in August but isn't too worried because she's aware it's the 3 A levels that matter for uni. She's just enjoyed pushing herself after years of being bored at a failing comp.

My DD is in year 12. The only ones still taking 4 are taking FM. Several took 4 for the first term and dropped one after getting to grips with the subjects. Her college will only let you take maths if you have a grade 7 and FM preferably with a grade 9.

My understanding is that universities only ever give 3 grade offers.

No, if you're doing them, they can - and some do - offer on any or all of them.

Unless it has changed for 2020 entry, for some courses, LSE also doesn't recognise FM as a separate A level if only offering 3. My recollection from looking for someone else is that it was some of the courses for which might expect a more narrow, maths-y, emphasis to be okay.

Some Universities make offers on four subjects if you are doing four, such as Imperial London.
Medicine courses don't make offers on four, only three.
If they want to do something maths / science based then I'd suggest doing four (do further maths) if they want to go to a top university but they can still get in with three.
Also everyone who's been saying they did 4/5 when they were at school, the courses have changed now to be more challenging so most people only do three.

DD1 is in Y12 at a N. London Girls' SS grammar (yeah, that one) and everyone begins with 4 A levels. A lot drop one at the end of Y12 however, including my dd who is finding the workload pretty tough. She's doing 2 languages and 2 humanities and got A A A A in her end of Y12 exams. She doesn't want to drop but for the sake of being able to have a bit more downtime (plus she has a part time job she likes) she might abandon one. It's a tough decision as she loves all four of her subjects.

In terms of CV high grades are far more important than doing four subjects.

It is also helpful to do plenty of extra-curricular activities, which he will find easier to fit in with three A Levels rather than four.

Some Universities make offers on four subjects if you are doing four, such as Imperial London.

And Cambridge.
DD did maths, FM and physics, and is doing engineering at Cambridge. Many of her coursemates did 4 and their offer was based on 4. She dropped comp sci after AS (pre reform) to focus on good grades and also did an EPQ. Someone said upthread that maybe CS was an easier option than some, her perception was that the project work element in yr 13 made that untrue.

Courses for which FM is highly desirable will generally be fine with it as one of 3. However, it may be the case that on very competitive courses you're more likely to get an offer if you're doing 4.

And it's a really good idea surely to start with 4 (or 5 if allowed) and drop back, in case you don't like a subject at A level (esp if it's one not done at gcse) or you change your mind about what you want to do. Maths, further maths and physics is perfect if you're absolutely sure you want to go onto maths, physics or most engineering... could be very limiting otherwise. One of DDs friends did maths, FM, physics and French, so was able to swap to MML when she decided she wasn't a mathmo after all.

It is also helpful to do plenty of extra-curricular activities, which he will find easier to fit in with three A Levels rather than four.

Helpfu

Sorry, fat thumb... helpful to (non medic/vet) uni applications only really if they're related to your subject area.

Our highly successful school says 3, only 4 if it includes FM and only selected students can take the EPQ, need to have an 8 in English GCSE to do it