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Original poster

Italian A level from scratch?

32 replies

Completelyforgot · 23/05/2023 18:32

DD is considering this as it’s offered at the local sixth form college. She’d like to take a language and is attracted by Italian and the joys of all things Italy! They study and take the GCSE in lower sixth and have to get at least a 6 to proceed to the A level in the upper sixth.

I’m hoping she could stay with a friend’s family next summer to really get to grips with it.

The results are very good - possibly because of the students it attracts - and the class is small so more opportunities for speaking and general learning.

Interested to hear if anyone’s DC has done this and how they found it.

OP posts:
TeenDivided · 23/05/2023 18:37

What is the entry requirement?
When we were looking for DD1 a few years back you had to have a high grade in your GCSE language to be allowed to do Italian ab initio.

There will be a lot of grammar & vocab, but also literature etc, it is quite different from GCSE I believe.

Leggingslife · 23/05/2023 18:39

A whole GCSE from scratch in lower 6th, then a whole Alevel in upper 6th? Gosh. I don't know for sure but doesn't sound doable.

TeenDivided · 23/05/2023 18:43

https://www.psc.ac.uk/courses/2023/abinitio/

My local 6th form college still does this - requires a 7 at existing language.

You run the risk of not being allowed to proceed to A level, and then being an A level short.

Dontsaymyname · 23/05/2023 18:47

As an adult, i did GCSE Spanish in a year, the the A level but that was over 2 years IIRC. However that was on just 1 x 2 hour lesson/week.

Does she have any experience of learning any of the other Romance languages?

Gingerwriggle · 23/05/2023 18:50

Slightly different, but I did a Higher in a new language in one year. Scottish Highers are between AS Level and A Level.
I already had a Higher in a different modern language though, so I knew how to pass language Highers iyswim? Just a case of replacing the actual words! I think it would be much harder if your dd doesn't already have skills in another language. For info, I was good at languages, but not by any means a genius 😆 It wasn't considered weird that I asked to do this, so I imagine quite a few people do crash Highers in certain subjects.
You are talking about two years for A Level. I did one year for 'nearly' A Level. So yes, if your dd is good at languages generally and prepared to work hard, it's definitely doable.

Original poster
Completelyforgot · 23/05/2023 18:57

TeenDivided · 23/05/2023 18:43

https://www.psc.ac.uk/courses/2023/abinitio/

My local 6th form college still does this - requires a 7 at existing language.

You run the risk of not being allowed to proceed to A level, and then being an A level short.

This - being an A level short - is what I’m worried about!

OP posts:
Chchchanges23 · 23/05/2023 18:58

I did a scratch RSA exam in Italian in lower 6th, which was probably similar to GCSE. I was already very proficient in French and Latin, so that made Italian very easy to pick up. There wasn’t an option to do A level, so I can’t comment on that but if your DD has French or Spanish and a strong understanding of grammar, she’ll be fine 👍

Original poster
Completelyforgot · 23/05/2023 19:00

TeenDivided · 23/05/2023 18:37

What is the entry requirement?
When we were looking for DD1 a few years back you had to have a high grade in your GCSE language to be allowed to do Italian ab initio.

There will be a lot of grammar & vocab, but also literature etc, it is quite different from GCSE I believe.

It’s a 7. Which she should get.

OP posts:
Original poster
Completelyforgot · 23/05/2023 19:02

DD is aiming for post compulsory sixth form and looking forward to art foundation and so choosing A levels - even only 3 - is hard.

OP posts:
Lemonsole · 23/05/2023 19:03

Back in the day, it was the standard route for Spanish. It's perfectly do-able. They'll be taken beyond GCSE in yr 12; the GCSE is more of a staging post, and then cover the rest in yr 13. It's hard work, and it would be a good idea for a least one of the other subjects to be one that they're really comfortable with.

TeenDivided · 23/05/2023 19:03

I think if I were considering that, I'd look to kick start it with an Italian summer school in Italy between GCSEs and A levels.

Fairislefandango · 23/05/2023 19:08

I'm an MFL teacher. The jump from GCSE to A Level in languages is pretty tough for most people even if they've done the language since year 7. Students who got a 6 often really struggle to make the jump. I taught myself Spanish from scratch up to A Level standard in 3 years, but I already spoke fluent French (which helped massively) and...well... I'm a language teacher!

If she's going to do it, she should get ahead as much as possible over the summer, and accept that she will have to do a LOT of extra practice outside of class time.

Nowfeeltheneedtopost · 23/05/2023 19:09

I think the entry requirement is key. If your DD has an 8 or 9 in GCSE Spanish or French at y11, I think getting a 6 in Italian GCSE in one year at y12 is eminently doable.

However, that still leaves quite a mountain to climb to achieve a good A level. My DD wants to do Spanish A level and all the 6th forms/colleges want at least a 7 at GCSE. And that is to then spend 2 yrs doing the A level course, which has elements of studying a book and a film and so condensing into 1 yr would be challenging.

CraftyGin · 23/05/2023 19:25

My DD got A* in French and Spanish, and then went on to do AS Spanish and crash GCSE Italian.

The GSCE Italian in two 35-minute lessons per week was not a problem - she got a 9. As has been mentioned, once you know the structure of the GSCE, you are basically substituting vocabulary (particularly in the romance languages).

The jump to A-level for Spanish was huge. It's not just about language and vocabulary - it's also about culture and issues. My DD's oral was about tattoos, a subject she knew absolutely nothing about. The A2 is heavy on literature.

FacebookFun · 23/05/2023 19:26

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FacebookFun · 23/05/2023 19:27

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musicmum75 · 23/05/2023 19:29

I don't have an A level in Italian but I did do the GCSE from scratch in Lower sixth. I did have GCSEs in French and Spanish though and was doing A level Spanish.

Colinfromaccounts · 23/05/2023 19:29

Can’t it be something she can pursue outside of school? Send her to your family friends for the summer, send her to Italy for a language school next summer, let her do evening classes. But I wouldn’t gamble the a level choice on it. It’s great that she’s keen though and that should be nurtured

musicmum75 · 23/05/2023 19:31

I should have said I got an A (this was before they changed to numbers) so the GCSE is totally doable but I the jump to A Level is big. I had to read several books in Spanish and know them inside out. That sounds like a lot of work for one academic year.

LillethCrane · 23/05/2023 19:39

I did exactly this at sixth form back when GCSEs were grades not numbers!

I got an A* in GCSE at the end of year 1, and an A in A level at the end of year 2 so it’s perfectly doable. I then went on to do a 4 year Italian degree and studied there for my third year.

It was my favourite A level so I would recommend it if your dd loves languages (I did two other languages and something else at A level).

AnnaBegins · 23/05/2023 19:40

Same as musicmum75 I did the GCSE in one year in lower sixth, did very well, as it wasn't hard to use knowledge from French and the GCSE requirements are a bit formulaic. Not sure I'd have been able to do A level in a year, but I'd certainly have tried!

Lovetotravel123 · 23/05/2023 19:44

I did this many years ago and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I loved it and then later continued it at uni, enjoying a year in Tuscany in year 3.

troppibambini6 · 23/05/2023 19:47

I did Italian alevel. My family is Italian and although I wasn't fluent I understood a lot and I'd got an a at gcse.
Gcse was Ordering food and discussing what you did last summer.
Alevel was a whole different ball game I studied La strada che va in cita which is possible the most boring book ever written in English or Italian.
Needless to say I failed miserably much to the disappointed of my family.

troppibambini6 · 23/05/2023 19:47

Disappointment

clary · 23/05/2023 20:25

musicmum75 · 23/05/2023 19:31

I should have said I got an A (this was before they changed to numbers) so the GCSE is totally doable but I the jump to A Level is big. I had to read several books in Spanish and know them inside out. That sounds like a lot of work for one academic year.

Only one book (and a film, but that's a lot easier) for A level MFL now.

Op I agree with others, it's a challenge, but doable. I took O level Spanish in a year in sixth form (for fun! Haha) and it was fine. We had all done French abd lots of us got A (top grade obvs).

Jump to A level is sugnificant tho. Could she not do GCSE Italian and A Level in her current language? Or is she doing that one as well?