How hard will my A levels be?
Discussion for A-Level students and for those choosing their A-Level subjects.
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Let me tell you now it's gonna be freaking hard unless your naturally smart. I do chemistry now and that involves a lot of work, and biology isn't that hard. All in all you should keep on top of your game, read ahead, do all homework (actually do it!) because, it helps in the long run and revise from the start.
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Re: How hard will my A levels be?Thank you!(Original post by HalleStar)
Let me tell you now it's gonna be freaking hard unless your naturally smart. I do chemistry now and that involves a lot of work, and biology isn't that hard. All in all you should keep on top of your game, read ahead, do all homework (actually do it!) because, it helps in the long run and revise from the start.
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I know mate, Chemistry right now is a big work load and it's only GCSE.
I do all of my work and stuff anyway so I should be fine as long as I keep going over everything. -
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Re: How hard will my A levels be?I totally agree with you.(Original post by Selym95)
Bio, chem and history require a huge amount of effort to excel in. I do not do Law, but i know it's viewed as a soft subject, so this should mean it requires less effort and is easier to score higher in
The sciences require effort to excel in.
It really depends with history though, I find that I have a very good brain for history, I tend to remember everything because I find it incredibly interesting (just like with the sciences)
I have never taken law, my dad studied it at University, so I read over his work and his books but it looks like something that would be so much easier when somebody is teaching you rather than looking through masses of text. -
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Re: How hard will my A levels be?Unfortunately you don't have the luxury to remember everything because you enjoy it like you currently do with GCSE History. I find all of my subjects incredibly interesting at AS level, but still have to put huge emphasis on them compared to GCSE level. Also, the History syllabus at AS level is more monotonous than at GCSE a lot of my peers feel.(Original post by scottkincaid)
I totally agree with you.
The sciences require effort to excel in.
It really depends with history though, I find that I have a very good brain for history, I tend to remember everything because I find it incredibly interesting (just like with the sciences)
I have never taken law, my dad studied it at University, so I read over his work and his books but it looks like something that would be so much easier when somebody is teaching you rather than looking through masses of text. -
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Re: How hard will my A levels be?Biology has a lot of content. It's not terribly hard if you have a good memory/actually work hard, but the amount can scare people sometimes, so just don't panic if you find it to be a big jump. I found it really useful to review my notes after every lesson, so that I'm revising and memorizing the content as I go along, as there's too much to memorize if you leave it all for the month or so before the exam. I usually took notes from the textbook after the lesson to go with the notes taken in the lesson, and every week or 2 I'd condense all my notes in a poster.
Chemistry is a big jump - you can't rely on just memorizing information like GCSE, you have to actually understand it. Just make sure that you understand the GCSE content and was not just memorizing it mindlessly for the exam. -
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Re: How hard will my A levels be?I haven't even had folders for all of these subjects this year (AS) and I haven't put that much effort in, except from 2 weeks before the exams, and I'm expecting AAA-ABB in them. The most important thing is doin' past papers and making sure that you know every area of a subject.(Original post by Selym95)
Bio, chem and history require a huge amount of effort to excel in. I do not do Law, but i know it's viewed as a soft subject, so this should mean it requires less effort and is easier to score higher in
Last edited by aWildPidgey; 08-06-2012 at 20:09. -
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Re: How hard will my A levels be?I commend your talent, but unfortunately not many people can leave the work to the last 2 weeks and achieve ABB-AAA (assuming you only take 3 subjects). However, i think you missed the key word excel. ABB may be seen as very good by some, but when you are trying to compete for places at university who ask for A*AA minimum there is no comparison. I do agree with your advice on past papers and knowing every area on the syllabus, but I think leaving this to the last few weeks will almost ensure missing out on 90+ UMS which is required.(Original post by aWildPidgey)
I haven't even had folders for all of these subjects this year (AS) and I haven't put that much effort in, except from 2 weeks before the exams, and I'm expecting AAA-ABB in them. The most important thing is doin' past papers and making sure that you know every area of a subject.
The best advice possible is to work consistently all year. This will ensure a solid memory of the syllabus and reduces stress massively compared to only having "2 weeks" of revision time available. -
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Re: How hard will my A levels be?I'm talking about AS, not A2. I do 4 subjects, and expect AAAB...(Original post by Selym95)
I commend your talent, but unfortunately not many people can leave the work to the last 2 weeks and achieve ABB-AAA (assuming you only take 3 subjects). However, i think you missed the key word excel. ABB may be seen as very good by some, but when you are trying to compete for places at university who ask for A*AA minimum there is no comparison. I do agree with your advice on past papers and knowing every area on the syllabus, but I think leaving this to the last few weeks will almost ensure missing out on 90+ UMS which is required.
The best advice possible is to work consistently all year. This will ensure a solid memory of the syllabus and reduces stress massively compared to only having "2 weeks" of revision time available.
