Do university admissions reject a native language as 3rd A level?

My daughter is taking Bio Chem and possibly German as her third A level. She is German by nationality but living in the UK and studied in the German School and now doing A levels.

Reply 1

econhelp525

Some will, some won't. You need to check each university specifically.

Reply 2

swanseajack1

Original post by kiki72

My daughter is taking Bio Chem and possibly German as her third A level. She is German by nationality but living in the UK and studied in the German School and now doing A levels.

It will depend on the university but most accept it. Anyone taking a native language is at an advantage over someone learning from scratch.

Reply 3

kiki72

Original post by swanseajack1

It will depend on the university but most accept it. Anyone taking a native language is at an advantage over someone learning from scratch.

She also could be a british passport holder by then. thanks!

Reply 4

Muttley79

Original post by kiki72

My daughter is taking Bio Chem and possibly German as her third A level. She is German by nationality but living in the UK and studied in the German School and now doing A levels.

I would advise her to chose something else or take 4.

Reply 5

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

Original post by kiki72

She also could be a british passport holder by then. thanks!

Her passport isn't the issue. Apart from English, A level languages are designed for learners who have learnt it over about 4 years, for whom it isn't a native language, or a language spoken at home.

Therefore if you are a native speaker, or your parents are so it is a language used at home, then you have a substantial advantage in the exam.

For highly competitive universities, for whom the ability to handle the workload of 3 full A levels is a significant predictor, have a 'home advantage' in one A level can be seen as a disadvantage, ie lack of evidence. Universities with less demanding academic entry requirements may be fine with it.

Reply 6

swanseajack1

Original post by kiki72

She also could be a british passport holder by then. thanks!

Having a British Passport or not makes no difference. The question is whether she has an advantage over others who cannot speak the language or not and is it fair to others. The answer to the first is yes and the second no. Many native speakers of various languages get very high grades and that isnt right. In Wales we have 2 levels in Welsh where students sit exams based on whether someone is a Welsh speaker or a learner. Maybe they need to bring that in for other languages so she could compete with others like her and not be put at an advantage over others.

Reply 7

McGinger

Why isnt your daughter asking this question - it isnt 'we' going to University, its her.

Reply 8

Admit-One

Universities Forum Helper

It used to be the case that native languages were pretty much excluded across the board, now, not so much.

Unis are discouraged from doing so because it’s actually a bit prejudice to make assumptions about someone’s language skills based on their address, nationality etc. After all, there’s nothing to stop a British national being bought up in a bilingual household having an advantage over a German national who in fact was brought up in a in English speaking one.

However, there’s nothing to stop unis excluding language qualifications in general if they don’t think it’s suitable prep for their course.

Long story short: Check before applying and assume nothing.

Reply 9

Mesopotamian…

As above, some universities may not accept it depending on the course. I know someone who did Russian A Level but it was not accepted as part of their 3 A Levels and they needed a 4th A Level to get into the degree (dentistry).

General advice for anything admissions related that you’re not sure about: check the university course webpage or contact admissions directly.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 10

McGinger

Bristol allows 'home language' A levels - because of the reasons outlined above about making assumptions about an applicant's background, because if you allow Welsh and dont allow Urdu etc its clearly unfair and potentially racist, and because the academic study of a language isn't actually the same as just being able to speak it.

Reply 11

MatureLikeManure

putting whether it is accepted or not aside, why would you study a language you are already fluent in? Seems lazy to me. Almost like you a trying to bank on your bilingualism to lesson the burden of study.