A Levels combination for languages at university?

[Whathappenedtothelego]

(Not my DC but my opinion has been sought.)

Teen thinks they almost certainly want to study languages (quite possibly 2+ languages at university).

Choice will affect whether they move schools for 6th form.

School A (current school) you have to do 3 A levels +either EPQ or core maths or work experience or sports leadership or 4th A level/As level.

School B you can do 3 A levels plus various enrichment modules and some of these can be learning a new language from scratch.

School A is obviously familiar which is a big plus.
DC would study 2 languages A levels and history A Level. History syllabus looks v interesting.
Then stuck on 4th option.
Doesn't want to do EPQ or leadership.
Not good at maths.
Might like teaching work experience or Psychology AS or English Lit AS. Seems a lot of work. Also psychology might be too mathematical.
School A gets better A level results.

School B harder to get to by public transport.
2 languages and history A level (syllabus a bit war-heavy, definitely not as interesting).
Could then do short modules in other languages and maybe some teaching work experience too.
Learning new languages would definitely be right up their street.
Wouldn't know anyone there.

Basically is it worth moving schools for the "enrichment" part of the curriculum?
Or should that be a lesser consideration than the history A level syllabus?
Also any thoughts on English Lit or Psychology AS?

Is it a disadvantage to just do 3 A levels nowadays?
I only did 3 - parents asking my advice didn't do any. I'm worried I will give outdated advice.

I would strongly recommend English lit. My course was heavily lit focused and county be avoided. Some of my friends that hated it or had chosen not to do English lit at a-level struggled. I tried to tilt my modules more towards history but I still found I had to do some very chunky modules on literature. It wasn’t enough to be good at languages. Looking back I think a max of 1/3 of my marks were linked to language skill. The rest was history or literature.

Couldn’t be not county be

That’s what I’ve been trying to advise. You need an essay subject and be comfortable with literature. DD did other modules such as art and medieval French but that was literature based too. The core of the better MFL degrees will have a high proportion of literature. As I’ve said, it’s not about doing more, and even more, languages, translation or speaking. People think it is and that’s why they assume you will want this type of work after graduating. The degrees are more about breadth of learning in the two Languages you have chosen. The year abroad is the only time when literature isn’t to the fore.

And I’d completely agree with PresentingPercy re breadth of careers. From
My cohort, I think at least 1/3 went into law or the city, a big chunk into charities or civil service. There were very few I can think of that went into teaching or translation. I have never used my languages professionally.

I had someone in my year that (despite being a native speaker in one of her languages) got a 2:2 and nearly got a third. It is essentially an essay based subject with language work on top.

DD went into law. One of her friends is teaching. No one else she knows is using their languages in their work. Our friends’ DS did go and work in the French office for his company with his ability in French but you won’t necessarily get a job with a French or Spanish office. He is a lawyer for a Magic Circle firm.

Might be worth looking at linguistics as well, if the DC is interested in lots of languages and how they fit together.

Linguistics is an interesting idea.

One of the problems with Eng Lit is that they won't run the AS course unless there is enough people for a full class and a fourth full A Level would definitely be too much work.

There is Eng Lang and Lit AS though, maybe that's a good compromise.

I personally feel AS Level is more appropriate for this DC than work experience, but both parents are definitely in favour of work experience, and are pushing that.

So what’s now favourite for the 3rd A level. I agree that 4 is too many and not at all necessary. Did she decide on History? If so, that’s perfectly fine with 2 languages. You don’t need Eng Lit. It’s just a way to read and interpret literature. Eng Lang isn’t really any great use with 2 other languages. Neither is work experience. DD didn’t do any until she was at university. Employers won’t care that much about what you did at 16. Doing something useful towards your career aims has much more resonance post 18. At the moment, get the A levels and do as much as possible to improve MFL skills that are required at university. Working can come after that. It will make no difference regarding getting into university and being successful.

Why do the parents think working now is important for languages? Having a successful career won’t depend upon it!

@PresentingPercy

No History syllabus is boring. English Language won’t matter but it’s not best prep. You need reading, research and essay writing skills. Oxford highly recommends English Lit for this reason. The best prep for MFL is not another “language”.

Agreed. My dd is at Cambridge doing one post A level language and another ab-initio (you cannot do single honours language at Cambridge, not sure about Ox). She did Language/History/Eng Lit A levels plus Latin AS.

The school requires a 4th activity in first year of 6th form.
EPQ/AS/work experience, it's timetabled in.

Parents think work experience - not particularly because of A level choices, they just think work experience is a good idea in general.

I think from the options available an AS level makes most sense as it has the most structure - (but obviously it is not up to me at all!)

DC is boomeranging round struggling to decide.

3 A level choices are almost definitely French, Spanish, and History.

I think the EPQ is the best prep from what’s offered. What value is work experience at this stage? What could it be? She’s not going to get any advantage in any job from this. She will when she’s an undergrad. A plumber might so I guess that’s why the school has it.

She should think about academic enhancement and, in my view, the AS might be ok in English Lit or an EPQ in something related to MFL.