A level choices - are these good?

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Ds has had some of his choices thrown into question by yesterday's results and now has quite a mixed bag, so I'm interested to see what people think of them. He has to take 4 initially but will almost certainly drop one by Christmas. He was always intending to do maths, FM (maybe), biology, history (maybe) and chemistry, but over the last year it became clear he wasn't as strong on science as he thought and this was confirmed yesterday with 6 in chem. He got 8 in maths, and solid 7s in history and biology, but has gone off history. He also scraped a pass in FM (it's barely taught).

He has put down maths, biology, psychology (will be new to him) and German (got 8). I think it's an interesting mix but I'm a bit worried about the three he might be left with as it might be too much of a spread. German is the one he's least keen on and it's the high grade plus his love for the teacher that have made him put it. I think a language is fab to have, but what does it actually lead to?

Can anyone comment on what would be an ideal three to be left with, or any potential no-nos? He has no clue what he wants to do at uni (definitely wants to go though) or beyond. I'm working on that... He did say last time we looked that economics sounded good, but it's by no means something he definitely wants to do. I think lots of stem courses would still be open to him with two stem A levels, and I know psych is counted as stem sometimes, but is there a benefit to having a language as well or is that confusing things? What if he ended up with maths, psych, German?

Thank you for any advice!

Edit: I know not having chem does rule out a lot of the microbiology/biomedical courses he was vaguely looking at last year but biology is the lowest grade he has for the A levels he's taking so may be the one he will drop, which would definitely rule anything like that out anyway.

You keep saying unis love and want linguists - we don’t want linguists any more than any other student. The reality is that language depts are closing, and the opportunity to pick an ab initio language is shrinking. Which is dire.

If we’re blunt, we want students in classroom based courses that we can squeeze hundreds into a lecture theatre! Language teaching requires labs - limited room in a lab!

@titchy Well yes but they haven’t all closed yet! I have a suspicion that they won’t all go! My point is that rather than do the second most popular subject, psychology, why not carry on with German as he likes the teaching and it was highest grade A level? Very good universities open up if he wants a MFL because tariffs are lower.

Also MN loves “do what you are good at” and in this case it’s German. Yet people think it should be ditched. Makes no sense. It’s perfectly sensible to look at, say, a management course with a MFL. It adds to the cv and hopefully year abroad becomes easier in the next few years.

Glad to read your post clary Dd doing a level German and some of the other comments dispiriting!

Due to so few people doing MFL & also harsh marking he could probably get onto a joint honours with German more easily than if he did just the one subject. So economics and German for example. Due to harsh marking a grade 8 in German is an excellent grade. I don’t believe the jump from GCSE to A level is ridiculous as some of the topics are touched on again.

He should do the subjects he likes best and finds interesting. Choosing subjects to impress potential universities leads to choosing a degree to impress a potential employer leading to choosing a life to impress imaginary others and bumbling along in life not ever really knowing himself but always feeling sad and dissatisfied.

As someone who took an A-level language and then went on to do a languages degree, I would say twenty years later that it's the best decision I ever made. To start with, the A-level was the most interesting, purely because of the amount of literature and culture we learnt. I'm not saying it wasn't tough, but it's an enjoyable type of learning because you can see the progress and put it into practice. Now years later, it has opened doors, improved my career and even helped me meet my partner. I have no doubt that my life would not be as full as it is today without learning languages. As a side note, my a-levels aside from langs were not amazing and I got into a very good university because they were under-subscribed for my course, if anything that trend has only increased. Very best of luck to your son in whatever he decides to do.

I think Maths, Biology and German - I guess his school doesn't do economics A-level? Choosing that could help him decide if he wants to do it at uni. What did he get in physics? Is that a possibility for his 4th? It goes well with maths and there's some overlap. If not then I'd say psychology as his 4th but drop it when he can.

@spoonbillstretford Too many young people want to aim high but cannot because they have chosen random subjects. My gardeners DD wanted to be a vet but didn’t do chemistry A level. She got onto a foundation course but look at the extra study and length of course! It was an avoidable.

@converseandjeans Yes, my point exactly. MFL departments want students and it’s easier to get on the courses.

Why not continue with your best subject?

I’d suggest Maths Biology and German. But what about economics? Goes well with maths. And as you say he can drop one (Econ or German?) idc.

im a big fan of MFL. DS just did French A level (doing geography at uni). Older DS is abroad at uni this year and intending to revisit his gcse french for one module. He ultimately wants to do law. I’ve worked in law/compliance for years and speaking French and a bit of German has been an advantage.

Is she going into year 12 or year 13? If year 13 hope she is enjoying it.

It’s a great A level with a really interesting and engaging syllabus I think.

You need to enjoy it of course but I don’t think having an A level in an MFL will ever be a bad thing.

BTW my MFL degree did not involve any labs! Plenty of lecture theatres tho @titchy but I am sure things have changed. (hope so in some ways anyway – German dept was exclusively men).

True, but many are not so clear on what they want to do. I was at least sure what I didn't want to do, which was a start.

She’s will be starting year 12 in sept just got the gcse results - she actually did German privately out of school 2 hours a week online and got a 6 (few marks off a 7) plus 9s for English lit and lang so hope she will be ok doing the german a level.

@spoonbillstretford Cambridge has great advice on that. For arts and humanities they suggest 2 from MFLs, History, English lit or Maths. Then a third which interests dc such as politics, economics, etc. Lots on the list. They do suggest sciences are kept for science courses though.

I think German GCSE was early in the exam run – so has she done any German in the three months since then? If yes esp if set by the school then great. Or Duolingo or similar.

If not I would advise in the next week to have a really good look at and learn

• Verbs esp past tense, haben and sein, irregular past participles
• Subordinating and coordinating clauses (weil/obwohl and aber/und/denn)
• Prepositions that take dative, those that take accusative and those that take either and why
• Genders of nouns and adjective endings

I wouldn’t expect to teach that level of grammar to A level candidates so if any is not secure for her, it would be worth a look. Hope it goes really well.