Are these post-16 options ok for getting into a "top" uni?

[stoopedey]

DC is thinking of doing Maths, Further Maths, Physics, BTEC Computer Science and possibly an EPQ. Are these a reasonable combo for a maths or engineering course at Oxbridge, Kings, Imperial, UCL?

I am unsure about the BTEC in particular, because I don't know much about them, but he really likes the look of the course.

As a pp said earlier, it's better to look at quality of courses and unis definitely look at outside interests and work experience as they are looking for well-rounded individuals to differentiate between students with similar grades (had a Cambridge interview). I went to Imperial and there were people on my course with B and C grades at A level and in subjects not directly related to the course. It depends on how popular a course is. Also as a pp said, a qualification in a language is pretty useful to have when job searching after uni.

Joint Maths and Computer Science (JMC) is one of the most popular and difficult courses at Imperial. Candidates need to take the MAT and/or STEP. I went to Imperial back in the day with ABC at A -Level. DS almost lost his Imperial Maths place on results day this year when his Physics result was 1 mark off the A star, despite getting A stars in Maths, FM and a 1 in STEP 3. His Physics re-mark came back as an A Star thankfully.

It would be best to focus on the MAT/STEP and do an EPQ or Comp Sci AS rather than the BTEC in terms of Cambridge and Imperial.

If he is very academic then avoid the BTEC and concentrate on the A levels

Many “top” universities won’t accept maths and further maths as separate subjects- my dc’s school view them as only one A level.

Not true. My dd did Maths/FM and 1 other (plus EPQ) and it wasn't an issue at any of the ones she's applied for. She's now at Durham.
She specifically checked that would be fine for Oxbridge too, and was told it wasn't a problem (and knows people who got in with Maths/FM and one other)

Schools often don't want you to start with only 3 including FM as some students who look excellent at GCSE will struggle with FM and then if they haven't a fourth option then they can't drop it.

Why don't you contact the universities and ask?

Universities tend not to accept Maths and Further Maths as two A'levels if they are sat in separate years, but if sat at the same time it is okay.

But yes if the OPs son is interested in specific courses then I would talk to the universities.

But a Computer Science course without programming seems, pretty useless for top universities. Maybe he'd do a lot better doing some Code Academy courses in his spare time?

That surely isn’t true re further maths not being counted as an a level on its own. Going by their website as regards engineering Cambridge highly recommend further maths as the third A level with maths and physics being the obligatory first two.

Hope so as one of my dc not wanting to do engineering is struggling to choose a third after maths and further maths. If he has to choose two more it will be v tricky to find something he likes.😩

That surely isn’t true re further maths not being counted as an a level on its own.

Only for medicine at some universities, and only if there isn't a fourth A level.

Maths/Further Maths are not considered separate subjects is stated at several medical schools listed on The Medic Portal here

For engineering/maths related courses having maths, further maths and one other subject is absolutely fine.

So only medicine?

Maths and Computer Science at Imperial College and it explicitly says the BTEC Extended Diploma isn't accepted

But he isn't planning on doing that That's the three A level equivalent and of course the elite unis won't accept that. M/FM and P plus the BTEC you propose should be ok though. Imperial's offer would be based on the three A levels though.

As far as I know, yes Du2stbunny. Medical schools like to see a breadth of education, and they regard having 2 maths subjects as too narrow if they aren't supported by tw other A levels.

At one of the subject talks we attended the univesity told us that they wanted chemistry and biology with the third subject being an arts or humanities as it demonstrated a more rounded education.

I should have said that they preferred the third subject to be arts or humanities.

Surely you wouldn't encourage a child considering medicine to take maths, further maths and physics (with no 4th A Level) anyway? To me, that's not really any different from not encouraging them to do French, Spanish and History - which are all 3 perfectly good A Levels, but not really appropriate for medicine.

Absolutely Redsky, but not everyone knows this when choosing A levels. Or, possibly a student decides that they want to do medicine when they are well into their A level courses.

For Engineering (MEng) when DC doesn’t know exactly what area of Engineering, Physics is the safe third choice. For Chemical Engineering it should be Chemistry. Most universities offering Engineering will be happy with M, FM snd the required science.

I don’t see Kings as a top destination for Engineering. Bristol, Warwick, Manchester and Sheffield should be considered but that depends on which branch of engineering but the choices the OP mentions are just Oxbridge and London without understanding the quality of other universities in this field. You will also find many Engineering grads from the universities mentioned by the OP go into the City. They don’t stay in Engineering. So that might colour choice of university too.

www.clare.cam.ac.uk/subjectchoice-alevelchoice/ remains good advice in terms of the subjects that top universities will be interested in. I would advise my own child against the BTEC option.

A friend's DD has just started at maths at Oxford with Maths, FM & Business Studies. They focus on the personal statement, admission tests & interview rather than the quantity of subjects taken.

Taking BTEC will not close doors as he is doing 3 A Levels alongside. The 'do not accept BTEC' means they won't count it in an offer.

I'm not saying don't do a fourth A Level or do BTEC there are merits to both, however as the BTEC is mostly coursework it will finish before his actual exams so he will only be revising for the three A Levels. That might be useful.

As for the different titles, yep it used to be so much easier when there was just a cert and a diploma.

@stoopedey, you seem to have been given some very bad advice and some of the schools you seem to be looking at do not seem to have their ducks in a row either. Top unis look for 3 cracking good A-levels and I challenge anyone to search the UCAS website and find a Uni that specifies 4 A-levels. The "edge" that you mention is not necessarily a 4th A-level. The "edge" comes from other directions. As I said, I wrote the book on this so I will pm you about it. Some of the OPs on this thread have come across me on another extremely similar thread about whether you need to do 4 A-levels to do medicine, so they will be familiar with my arguments, proven through years of tutoring students into RG universities from a state school. And yes, to do Maths at Imperial, you do only need three A-levels as I have had exactly that work for one of my last students before I retired.

Just reread the thread, and thought I saw you mention Medicine, am I right?
If so dc will require Chemistry and most likely Biology.

Not just some Medical schools don't accept Maths, FM plus one other subject at A level. This is from the LSE website:

Some degree programmes at the School are highly mathematical in content and therefore Mathematics A-level or equivalent is a requirement. A number of programmes also require a qualification in Further Mathematics (where available), or consider one helpful. However, the combination of Mathematics, Further Mathematics plus one other subject is considered insufficiently broad for many of our programmes. Please refer to the degree programme pages and/or the table below for details on Further Mathematics and its acceptability for each programme.
www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Admissions-Information

Irrelevant for someone looking to study Engineering, of course.

StanleySteamer, I'm perfectly capable of filtering good advice from bad without buying your tedious-looking book. Spamming is against the rules around here so don't be surprised if MNHQ kick you off for it.

And it wasn't me that brought up medicine - that was someone else. I answered my own question about the CS BTEC early on in the thread.

The following have all said what I said and some have added other very good stuff.

@RedskyLastNight, @TreePeepingWatcher @milienhaus, @Ginfordinner, @minesagin37, @Benes, @BubblesBuddy, @Parsimon, @Hoghgyni so if I was you I would go along with what they say.

My unwanted advice still remains to get the best 3 A-levels possible and to ensure the personal statement contains evidence of a well-rounded individual with a passion for the subject. Sorry you have taken against me, I do want to help and I DO know what I am talking about. Best of luck to you if you cannot take the advice of those on here who really do know what they are talking about. And as for spamming, I am still here.