11 Plus Exams Forum

Re declaring qualifications, have a look here :

https://www.ucas.com/connect/videos/app ... ation-page

I have taken your advice on board KB. I agree with you about the pressure and in no way feel you are questioning her talent or commitment.

We were discussing it again this evening, and we are now thinking of seeing if she can do an AS-level in Japanese instead of an A-level. I may be wrong, but I should think this may involve a similar amount of work as doing the EPQ and the Japanese will benefit her more than an EPQ. This way she could take the AS exam in year 12, so there would be no clash of dates and year 13 would be free for the rest of her A-levels.

The original problem of finding a test centre and a good tutor still stands though!

Great link Toadmum, I have bookmarked it to refer back to later, thanks : )

Chococat wrote: The original problem of finding [...] a good tutor still stands though!

If your DD thinks she could be taught via skype I could ask some Japanese tutors at the University of Warwick and they might be interested themselves or they could put me in the right direction to find someone.

Many of these tutors have two jobs so maybe some of them has a deep knowledge of the A level syllabus as they might be teaching at a sixth form besides their teaching at University.

All are natives, so they might also know Japanese teachers in London.

Pm me if you are interested in me asking.

Hi JaneEyre, I will Pm you.

Hi Chococat,
I don’t have a solution for the ALevel Japanese question that you have.
However, instead of going to Japan for a year abroad the other option your DD would have is post her BA to apply to the JET programme. I did it and lived in Japan for 2 years back in the dinosaur age.. afterwards I did a degree in Japanese.
The JET programme is a great way to experience Japan and get paid at the same time. Knowing some Japanese is important in order to get on to the programme which is highly selective. Japanese can be learned ab initio at uni however rather than at A Level.

My other point would be that it is important to remember that there is a huge jump in level between a language at GCSE versus A Level, so it is important that she is really committed to the language and the time investment that it will require (I would recommend also thinking about some holiday language courses as well).

It will certainly set her apart from other applicants when the times comes to apply to university though.

If she does decide to do a Japanese exam of some sort there is info here -http://he-exams.wikia.com/wiki/Japanese This is a helpful website for info about taking exams as a private candidate, aimed mainly at the home ed community. If you scroll down the page there is brief info re A level Japanese, and also some suggestions for other options
You might be able to find a centre here - http://he-exams.wikia.com/wiki/Finding_an_exam_centre" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


My son is reading physics at Durham, where it is possible to take a module in a different subject during the first year. There is the possibility of studying Japanese - the stage one module requires no previous experience. There is a list here -https://www.dur.ac.uk/faculty.handbook/ ... h_modcode=

It is possible to do a physics degree at Durham with a year abroad at partner universities 'in the Far East' so I assume Japan might be included. I would think other unis would do this too.

The problem with trying to do a joint degree with physics is that the degree isn't likely to be registered with the Institute of Physics as it won't contain enough physics.

DS found having Further Maths an advantage in his first year - he felt those without it were playing catch up all year.

Hi avidskier,

The JET programme could be something worth looking into later on. She did speak to somebody about this, or something similar, when we went to Hyper Japan last year.

As for commitment to learning the language, she really is extremely self motivated and she loves the subject so much I really don't think she will struggle to keep up the pace. Whichever path she takes, I can definitely see her living/studying in Japan at some point in the future!

Many thanks for your input, really appreciate it.

Hi 2childmum,

Thank you so much for the links, I will look after I've finished on here!

I don't think she wants to do a joint degree, she would just like to continue learning Japanese past A-level whilst studying for a physics degree, perhaps aiming for the JLPT.

Thank you too for your response, it is also much appreciated.