Opposing views on A-Level choices

[lyraa]

My DS is making his A-Level choices and has provisionally picked Business, Geography and Psychology.

He doesn't have a strong interest in any of his GCSE subjects and doesn't work hard. He also has mild ADHD and has difficulty focusing and applying himself.

His school have given him target grades of 8/9 across the board, but he says they're unachievable and he'd be happy with 7/8s. He does want to go to uni and likes the idea of a degree apprenticeship, but doesn't have much idea about what he'd like to study. In the nicest possible way, he's quite immature.

My DH thinks his chosen subjects are too soft and won't be respected by unis or potential, future employers. He thinks the "pick what you're good at and will enjoy" advice from schools is intended to boost the schools results, rather than being in the interest of the student's long term outcomes.

I've bought into the school advice, and think pushing DS down a more difficult path that he's not interested in will result in an unhappy 6th form experience (for us all!) and poor grades. I'm not convinced that they will limit his future opportunities, but I'm not sure on this

DH and I need to align our views before we speak to DS. Any thoughts or advice from anyone who's been in a similar situation??

Psychology is not a soft option - it's tough, needs good maths, is a science. Many take it as it sounds novel and interesting (it is). It is the a level most often swapped in the first few weeks as students realise it's not an easy option.

Maybe beside the point, but if he doesn’t work hard, enjoy studying, focus or apply himself, then I wouldn’t be considering university, and I’d question why he even wants to do A levels. University is often a waste of time and money for even the most academically gifted these days. I’d be looking more closely into apprenticeships that don’t require a degree, rather than just blindly following the crowd and potentially getting into a lot of debt for nothing.

A Levels is a step up, so he'll need to be interested to do his best.
It would be really helpful if he could spend some time thinking about his future after A levels, if he does want to go to uni. Just because you often have to have certain A Levels for certain courses. My son must have maths and further maths, for instance, otherwise doors are closed to him unless he takes a different path.
If your son really doesn't know and during the first year realises he has chosen the wrong subjects then he could change easily within the first two weeks. Or he could change later but will likely have to do an extra year in sixth form. There is nothing wrong with this - my eldest did it and was actually more prepared and sure of what he wanted by then.

They don't repay you. You take a loan towards the college fees - the loan may or may not cover the entire fees. It is not for living costs. You start repaying when income exceeds a certain amount. If you have any debt outstanding when you finish your degree then debt is wiped. No repayments. If you don't finish a degree, you carry on with the repayments to wipe out the debt.

He would be under 21. Most people are financing their kids long past 18. It does cover the fees. Colleges set it that way. It's unlikely he would earn enough to start repayments while at full time uni. I've known lots of people do this from 19-50 something.

Ultimately, it has to be the DC's choice. My DD is also young and not sure what she wants to do for the rest of her life - all she knew was that she wanted to stay in her current school. We helped her by attending the 6th form open evening with her, and I ordered a prospect from our nearest university (A RG one) for her to have a look at the courses and see if anything interested her. She then picked her A-levels based on that - our local one doesn't specify subjects but once we had a course, we had a look around to see if there were requirements.

We discussed her choices up until she started this September, as she wasn't sure whether to take Maths or not - she really doesn't like but is really good at it, and she knows it is a useful subject. She didn't do it in the end, and picked a science instead. As much as I would've liked her to take Maths, I think picking subjects that they enjoy is more important for fostering the love of learning, which I think is really important if they go on to higher education.

My DD is doing psychology and I agree with what other posters have said - some pupils pick it because it sounds appealing (how the mind works etc) and then find it harder than expected. DD is enjoying it but she likes science and has a pretty good memory for all the content.

I also agree with the posters suggesting that you consider alternate post-16 provision. He can apply for lots of different things at this stage and then see how he feels when the GCSE results come out. It's good to have options.

Dk to him / get him to talk to his teachers about what the subject involves.

I had a student who wanted to be a vet and picked two sciences and then Business Studies, her reasoning was that she wanted her own vet's practice and would need to know how to run a small business.

I also agree with exploring other options such as BTEC.

No idea about business but Georgraphy and Psychology are certainly not “soft” subjects. Has your husband studied either at degree level?

I don't think they're soft subjects but I would worry whether he really wants to do them (given that he hasn't studied them at GCSE for 2 of the 3).

I think this thread is actually highlighting the issues with GCSEs - there seem to be a lot of subjects introduced at A level that most children haven’t previously been exposed to. New subjects are always a risk, but if someone doesn’t like the existing subjects they aren’t going to do well in those either.

There almost needs to be a “gap year” between GCSEs and A levels where people can try out the new stuff before deciding,

Yes, you are right. DD hummed and hah'ed over A level choices right up until her GCSE results. The only one she was absolutely sure she wanted to do was psychology, and it was the one she hated. Luckily, the school had insisted she took four subjects so she could drop it, but students taking three subjects had to stick with it, and none of them did well.

I think expecting 15 year olds to know what they want to do is a big ask. DD is a summer born and didn't turn 16 until after GCSEs, so I completely understand why the @lyraa 's DS is unsure.

I think the father needs to keep his views to himself, and totally agree with the point that making someone do A level subjects they aren't interested in is setting them up to do badly, or even fail.

I'd like to recommend the Dorling Kindersley "Big Ideas Explained Simply" books for those with DC thinking of Economics, Psychology, Business, Law etc. They give a good flavour of what might be involved. Waterstone's generally have the lot.