Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns and so we've agreed to take this down.

FacebookFun · 23/05/2023 19:27

This reply has been withdrawn

The OP has privacy concerns and so we've agreed to take this down.

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?