Taking English Lang and English Lit A Levels

[UserAtLargeAgain]

DD is considering A Levels (currently in Year 11).

She in interested in taking both English Language and English Literature (offered as 2 separate A Levels at her school). Is this an OK combination, or would they be considered to be too similar? Have looked at a few university entry requirements and none of them seem to say (other than mostly requiring English Lit for an English degree)
She would probably take History as her 3rd A Level.

Also interested in any insight into the English Language A Level? DD is mostly interested in creative writing, and I suspect the English Lang A Level may not be what she thinks it is ...

English lit A level is very much what you might imagine.

Pal of dd's did Eng lang and didn't enjoy it. I gather it is not much like the GCSE, more about how language comes about and the study of it.

I would consider what else is a possible tbh - could she take an MFL? Or a new subject like gov/pol or sociology?

Creative writing isn't really a key component of the English language A level. It's centred around a few topics including language development and change ( through the centuries), language and power/ influences ( eg how language is used in politics, business, the media), language acquisition and of course theory.

You also need to understand grammar to a degree.

Does the school offer lang/lit (it is a combined subject)? That includes a fair amount of creative writing.

I wouldn't advise combined lang/lit, even if it is offered (unlikely if both are offered singly). It is neither one thing nor t'other and not particularly favoured by unis (whereas Eng Lit is needed to study English at uni)

DD has just gone into year 13 taking Lit and Lang A levels. She did struggle with Lang a bit at the beginning because it is so completely different to the GCSE - her teacher described it as the science of English language. She enjoys both and wants to do an English degree that combines both subjects.

Her school does AS levels so she was doing French and Psychology alongside them but has dropped French this year.

Combined Lang/Lit is not offered. I was wondering if it might be worth her looking at other sixth form options as I think that might suit her better. But possibly not, if limits future options.

I think DD needs to have a long conversation with her English teacher about what's included in the English Lang to make sure she fully understands what she is getting into. I'm wondering if taking English Lit plus something that involves writing as an enrichment activity (maybe start a school newspaper?) might be a better option for her.

She was considering sociology but, in what I consider to be an odd timetabling decision, she can't take both sociology and English Lit.

That's a LOT of essay writing... A LOT... 2× English and History... if the mocks are stuffed into a couple of weeks, very intensive...

Yes, I admit the volume of essay writing bothers me. However, DD seems to thrive on it ...

As I understand it (happy, as ever, to be corrected) combined lit/lang won't work for English at many/some unis, so it potentially does close that door (may not be a door your dd is interested in tho).

Odd about sociology and Eng lit clash. What other options is she looking at?

If she does want to do Lang and Lit then that would be perfectly fine with History - History and Lit being two 'solid' choices in themselves. Our school (and the local Grammar) allow you to take both. It is definitely worth a proper discussion with the teacher though, it seems to be one of the most misunderstood A Levels which is not surprising given how different it is from GCSE.

Lang and lit are not remotely similar. The OCR Lang spec has some vaguely creative writing on paper 1 and the NEA. The OCR lit spec has an option of a bit of creative writing in the NEA.
Lang is very much a science and nothing like the gcse. We start with a grammar unit and they're often surprised to discover the complexity of it.