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Secondary education

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Original poster

Dropping 4th A'level - stress!

66 replies

ActingTheMaggot · 31/01/2023 16:52

DS is in lower 6th studying for 4 A levels. I did express concern over this and thought it was a bit much, as he has a lot of other things going on in his life. Up until a week ago, he was fine with it.

Now he is saying he wants to drop one as it is too much. He spoke to the school and they said it is too late to pick up the EPQ.

I am now concerned that he is going to go from 4 A'levels to 3 and no EPQ and come up against other students with 3 and an EPQ which is going to put him at a disadvantage for Uni.

Any suggestions as to what to do? He is pretty stressed out now.

OP posts:
pointythings · 31/01/2023 17:09

My DD2 did 3 A levels and dropped the EPQ due to deteriorating health. She still got the UCAS points she needed to get into her first choice university. Unless your DS is going for somewhere massively competitive, he may well be better off just focusing on the 3 A levels.

That said, DD1 did an EPQ and after changing topic 18 million times, finally settled on one in January of Yr 13, bashed it out in a couple of months and got a solid B for it. So the school isn't necessarily being reasonable about this either.

Original poster
ActingTheMaggot · 31/01/2023 17:22

Not sure if this is relevant, but it is a fee-paying school with very small class sizes so if it is the case that they cannot support him after 1 term of year 12, I am not going to be very impressed. He says they said the deadline has passed, but I will triple-check it.

OP posts:
User76765 · 31/01/2023 17:33

No university requires EPQ

Onnabugeisha · 31/01/2023 17:36

It’s not a disadvantage to have 3 A levels and no EPQ. The EPQ is just something you can mention in your personal statement.

Sarahcoggles · 31/01/2023 17:39

It depends what he wants to do at university I guess.

DS1 dropped his EPQ as his school didn't even start it till year 13 and he realised he wouldn't manage it, as he had lots of coursework too. He had offers from all 5 of his university choices, 4 of which are RG ones. (Still got to get the grades but that's another story!!)

dizzydizzydizzy · 31/01/2023 17:40

Don't worry, OP. Universities pretty much only ever give offers based on 3 A Leveld.

DD did 4. It didn't help her get a uni place but she is glad she did the 4 because they have all helped with her chosen degree.

sailingsunshine · 31/01/2023 17:40

Lots of top performing private schools including the 1 my ds attends don't offer EPQ's, the focus is on getting the best possible grades in 3 A levels.

mumonthehill · 31/01/2023 17:42

Ds started with 4 and dropped to 3 just after Christmas, honestly 3 is fine and what most universities ask for. He will be fine snd better to get 3 good ones than 4 not so good.

Original poster
ActingTheMaggot · 31/01/2023 17:50

He is stressing out because they recently did some tests and one of his main subjects (a science) didn't go well. In the other 3 subjects, he did excellently. The thing is, this Science is what he wants to do at Uni so he wants to focus on sureing this up. He will be dropping a subject he is doing really well in, to focus on this science. Sounds mad, but he thinks this is the way to go.

OP posts:
Original poster
ActingTheMaggot · 31/01/2023 17:50

He's stressing me out.

OP posts:
Phos · 31/01/2023 17:53

The EPQ is a nice to have but rapidly losing its appeal it seems. Universities are far more interested in your three a-levels and suitability for the course. It won’t put him at a disadvantage. Some universities don’t consider it at all, at best it might get an alternative offer so rather than AAB, ABB plus an A in the EPQ but that doesn’t sound like a great trade off to me. Better a thousand times he focus on his core subjects and do well in those.

Original poster
ActingTheMaggot · 31/01/2023 18:05

OK, thanks I feel better now.

OP posts:
Blessedwithsunshine · 31/01/2023 18:24

3 A levels will be absolutely fine wherever he chooses.
It’s far better to get excellent grades in three, than mediocre grades in four. The work load increases in the second year too.
Drop the A level and give him a fighting chance.
my friends dd is doing 5 A levels - not sure how it helps, she never leaves her house.

EyesOnThePies · 31/01/2023 18:28

Dc is at a hugely competitive Uni doing a science degree, with 3 A levels. Not one Uni / course admissions pages we looked at asked for more. I sat through 2 Cambridge admissions talks and they were clear: grades of 3 A levels and their own test (if any) and interview. Not interested in extra curricular (unless directly relevant to course), Cambridge not even interested in personal statement in general terms. Mostly an icebreaker for interview.

Look at web pages for the admissions criteria for some courses he is interested in, at Unis he is interested in, and see what they require as ‘facilitating subjects’.

It will be fine.

Moonlaserbearwolf · 31/01/2023 18:30

As other have said, 3 a-levels is absolutely fine. Far better to get hugger grades in 3 subjects than lower in 4.
I would be slightly concerned about struggling in the subject he wants to do for degree. Is it chemistry? Does he have a good understanding of where is is struggling and how he can make progress? I’m sure the teacher can advise. It would be a shame if he keeps struggling and ends up wishing he’d stuck with the other subject.

marly24 · 31/01/2023 18:58

There's rarely much sense in doing 4. Lots of able students feel they want to do that and think it will be impressive... or do it because they can't choose between two subjects. They tend to drop the fourth at some stage. Even those applying to the top unis have no need of that fourth one - it doesn't give them an advantage. But the only thing I would say is that on the basis of one test it may not be sensible to drop the subject he wants to pursue in later life... though he may have just found that the A level isn't what he expected it to be and he is actually more interested in the other 3. Lots of students change allegiances from one subject to another despite what they 'expected' they would love. It's also worth checking what the test was on and how accurately it might have been marked - plus whether it is a result the teacher is concerned about or whether it's just your sons first knock back that he should bounce back from. In my subject, marks often compare badly with other subjects on the first year and a half... with teachers often being over generous in other subjects and is being correct and marking all work against the 'final' standard. Plus it's a skills based subject so progress tends to be more gradual whereas with some subjects students start early in gaining high marks... it's a different trajectory. Hope that makes sense.

titchy · 31/01/2023 19:03

He's being very sensible imo.

RampantIvy · 31/01/2023 19:07

Three excellent A level grades trump 4 good A levels or 3 good A levels and an EPQ.

All universities want three excellent A levels grades, even Oxbridge and vet med/medical school.

Your son is doing the right thing by dropping down to three.

Ireallydohope · 31/01/2023 19:12

No one is interested in EPQ's much these days I'm surprised his school are still doing it.

I was advised it was aimed more at BTEC pupils to help get them into Uni

My DS is only taking 4 A Levels because he is taking further maths so it's all the same according to him.

He's actually taking 5 as its a MFL but he's not taking the classes he's just asked that teacher about the specifications etc which she's advised him on and he'll just take the exam and see how it goes. I do not have high expectations of that one but it'll be interesting to see how he gets on and it was something he organised himself.

Ireallydohope · 31/01/2023 19:14

I mean I'm surprised they're still pushing it. I think they all must give DC access to it though

Ireallydohope · 31/01/2023 19:17

My DS did drop his further maths GCSE because he didn't want to do the extra hours

I was a bit annoyed with him for that

But as it turns out it's not made the slightest difference to anything as he's taking FM at A Level anyway

Ireallydohope · 31/01/2023 19:18

It's good that he knows what works for him and his limitations etc

That in itself is a great quality

Original poster
ActingTheMaggot · 31/01/2023 20:33

Yes, chemistry. He is spooked because this is his favourite and best subject so far and he didn't do great in the first test (no one did TBH). He knows exactly where he went wrong and said they were silly mistakes and he does know how to answer these Q's.

I just think he is overwhelmed. He has 4 A levels, a job, a GF, and is learning to drive. He is overloaded. I want him to drop the 4th. I want him to work hard, but not at the cost of his MH.

OP posts:
RampantIvy · 31/01/2023 20:40

DD's weakest subject in year 12 was chemistry. She was achieving C grades at this stage, then B grades by the end of year 12, then an A at A level. Both she, and my niece who also took chemistry, said everything began to click in year 13.

Dropping an A level now is absolutely the right thing to do. AABB is nothing like as good as AAA or higher.

Livinghappy · 31/01/2023 20:40

@ActingTheMaggot What A levels is he taking? Have you checked the Uni entry for possible courses?

3 Alevels is fine my dd is having to do an EPQ and I really wish she didn't have to. I can't see much benefit. I have older dc at Uni and it didn't makes a difference.