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First of all: to all the people that are saying foreign languages should be compulsory up to A-level...erm...no. If I'd been made to do a language for GCSE I would have got much worse grades than I did. I'm bad at languages, I'll happily admit it, and had I been made to do one at GCSE, there is no doubt all my effort would have gone into that, and I'd have failed miserably anyway. I sucked at French after doing it for 3 years, why should I get any better doing it for another two? I know someone that knows...er...*counts* 5 languages (French, Latin, Ancient Greek (I know, not a proper language, but he's fluent in it), Czech (which he taught himself), and Spanish) to a standard where he can hold a relatively intelligent conversation in them, and he's my age. He says he just sees little coloured diagrams in his head. Whereas I can just about understand someone speaking basic Spanish, couldn't understand a word of French, and find learning new languages stupidly hard.
I don't think having a wider range of A-levels should be FORCED. Encouraged, yes, but not forced. Being an IB student, I think it's better, but then I am pretty good at most things (bar languages, but it was a beginner course so it didn't bother me, and I know I can pass it). I didn't get below a C for GCSE, and I know I could have done better either way. I love the range of things I do in IB, and it means I can see how things fit together (e.g. we did the dopamine hypothesis in both Psychology and Chemistry (back before I dropped them ;p)). I love how we HAVE to do CAS and the Extended Essay and things. I think the IB should be more recognised and acknowledged, and it should be encouraged as an option. I don't think it should replace A-levels, but I know a lot of people that would love to do IB, but didn't know it existed, or they don't have a college/sixth form near them that does it, which is a shame.
I do think A-level students should be forced to do something like IBers have to do for CAS, though.
No most people do degrees where the vast majority of their modules will be in one topic, in my experience.
Most people will do some modules in other stuff and a fair few do joint honours.
I did 18 modules at undergrad, my degree was economics, I did 15 economics modules, 2 philosophy and one history module.
As far as I know most people do the same, university is about specialisation and immersing yourself in your chosen subject to get a really good understanding of it.
Hence i cannot see the logic of doing a broader range of A-level subjects in less depth. Just means people will be less prepared for university..........
thats why undergraduate degrees in England are3 years not 4 years, and masters are 4+ years not 5/6+ years overall like the rest of the world, which means people can get into full time work quicker
technically we're made to learn specifics quicker which makes us more flexible intellectually