Should my daughter be thinking about jobs?

[swee'pea99]

My parents put so much pressure on me to go to Middlesex as 'it is closer to home and you won't need to live in halls and waste your time with students!'

I've already forbidden our kid from going to any London University, on the grounds that 'the whole point is to get rid of you'.

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm with the vast majority on this one, but I'd offer two small caveats. First - the two 'A' level years are not fun - they work the poor little horrors far harder than they did in my day. She shouldn't expect to enjoy herself at any subject. And second - if she's halfway good at it she should give some consideration to doing Maths. If you've got Maths 'A'-level people think you're clever - often for long enough to convince them to give you a job. 40 years after I'm still coasting on it.

 

[Night Train]

Maths and English Language were compulsory at school in my day and anyone who was any good at it was actively encouraged to do one or the other at A' level.
I did Pure and Applied Maths. I understood applied maths but the pure maths was

Maths has always been useful, in and out of work, and the ability to be confident with numbers will, IMO, always be important at any level.

 

[swansonj]

I'm with the vast majority on this one, but I'd offer two small caveats. First - the two 'A' level years are not fun - they work the poor little horrors far harder than they did in my day. She shouldn't expect to enjoy herself at any subject. And second - if she's halfway good at it she should give some consideration to doing Maths. If you've got Maths 'A'-level people think you're clever - often for long enough to convince them to give you a job. 40 years after I'm still coasting on it.

Perceptive comment DZ - because maths is one of the specific issues. She'll probably get an A at GCSE in it because she's basically a bright kid, but she has no natural aptitude for it, something that has been borne in on me through helping her revise. In terms of utility, I (who accumulated more than one maths A level and work in a numerical scientific discipline) would push her to do maths A level because I know how integral to so much of life maths is. In terms of pleasure, I would tell her not to, having seen how painful maths is for her.

I didn't name subjects in the OP because I was more interested in the principle of education-for-jobs versus education-for-its-own-sake. But as it happens, the specifics are that she will almost certainly do English, History and Biology. The question is what the fourth should be - maths for utility? chemistry so that with biology it keeps some scientific/biological/medical options open? Or French or music as her strongest subjects on the "do what you enjoy" principle?

 

[Yellow Fang]

Perceptive comment DZ - because maths is one of the specific issues. She'll probably get an A at GCSE in it because she's basically a bright kid, but she has no natural aptitude for it, something that has been borne in on me through helping her revise. In terms of utility, I (who accumulated more than one maths A level and work in a numerical scientific discipline) would push her to do maths A level because I know how integral to so much of life maths is. In terms of pleasure, I would tell her not to, having seen how painful maths is for her.

I didn't name subjects in the OP because I was more interested in the principle of education-for-jobs versus education-for-its-own-sake. But as it happens, the specifics are that she will almost certainly do English, History and Biology. The question is what the fourth should be - maths for utility? chemistry so that with biology it keeps some scientific/biological/medical options open? Or French or music as her strongest subjects on the "do what you enjoy" principle?

Sounds like she would be better off studying an International Baccalaureat. Isn't that an option, either at her school or at another sixth form college?

 

[srw]

I didn't name subjects in the OP because I was more interested in the principle of education-for-jobs versus education-for-its-own-sake. But as it happens, the specifics are that she will almost certainly do English, History and Biology. The question is what the fourth should be - maths for utility? chemistry so that with biology it keeps some scientific/biological/medical options open? Or French or music as her strongest subjects on the "do what you enjoy" principle?

Maths gets a bad press precisely because people without a real aptitude for it are made to do it longer than they should. For real life (i.e. excluding those handful of us who have mathematical jobs) GCSE-level maths is perfectly adequate. A good GCSE pass is still a better qualification than most people get. A reasonably well-understood GCSE maths pass and good teaching is enough to be able to tackle the sort of basic statistics that some social science degrees required, and is more than enough for numerate jobs in accountancy and allied fields.

Bearing in mind that future university and career recruiters will have come from a generation where 4 A-levels was rare, I'd say go for something fun. She's more likely to get 4 good grades if she enjoys them all. And I say that with my A-level memory of flogging through one subject because I hated the teacher who was foisted on me when my favourite teacher left the school.

 

[Archie_tect]

swansonj, do not let your daughter choose any subject where she'll need your help... if that's what she's had to do with her Maths GCSE then let her drop it now.

 

[Arch]

A friend on mine's son did a degree Ancient History and Classical Civilisation and has been working for the past three years as a lab technician in a high school having failed to find employment elsewhere. He's still living at home as he can not afford to live in a flat or bedsit.

Where does he live? I manage a bedsit in central York on a four day a week wage as a binman....

 

[vernon]

Where does he live? I manage a bedsit in central York on a four day a week wage as a binman....

I think he gets paid for 25 hours per week term time only i.e. 39 weeks pay. I think that he beats you in the poverty stakes.

 

[swee'pea99]

Just mentioned this thread to my eldest, who said the thing to do is to decide what degree you're going to be wanting to take, then work back from that to the A levels you'll need in order to get onto it.