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Has anybody done 6 A-levels?

I was thinking of doing six A levels; Further maths, Maths, Physics, Biology, chemistry and Economics. Would this be too much of a workload? I have already studied Further maths and Math, so i was thinking of doing six so when universities look at my record it doesn't look like I've coasted. Any ideas

(edited 11 years ago)

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Reply 1

AverageExcellence

You only need to do 4 AS levels and 3A levels, your just putting yourself under so much unnecessary strain. If it seriously gave you a massive advantage in applying to unis then dont you think Oxbridge would put it down as a requirement? just be a normal person.

Reply 2

Giant

Original post by Butdidudie

I was thinking of doing six A levels; Further maths, Maths, Physics, Biology and Economics. Would this be too much of a workload? I have already studied Further maths and Math, so i was thinking of doing six so when universities look at my record it doesn't look like I've coasted. Any ideas

For someone who plans to do Maths and Further Maths, I would suggest brushing up on your counting skills :wink:

Reply 3

richiemayne

Well, technically General Studies is an A-level so yes, I have...

Reply 4

Butdidudie

Original post by Giant

For someone who plans to do Maths and Further Maths, I would suggest brushing up on your counting skills :wink:

Sorry I forgot to mention chemistry as well :colondollar:

Reply 5

johnnyavfc

Say goodbye to any form of social life you have, good luck...

Reply 6

Xarren

Bad idea. Unless you are extremely talented at all those, you will struggle. Badly.

Reply 7

WillowSummers

I did 6AS's: French Spanish English lit. Anthropology Maths and Physics, but couldn't be bothered to carry the last two to A2, I'm not overly fond of sciences.

So no, the works not so bad. You could do it.

Reply 8

username937760

Universities only look at 3 full A Levels and an AS. Taking six full A Levels will give you such of a high workload that it is likely to impact upon the grades of your other subjects, which will in turn actually disadvantage your application.

My advice: Take 4 A Levels, 5 at most and that's only considering some schools force Further Maths to be done in the same block as Maths. 6 A Levels will never be necessary; if I remember correctly the person who got in the news for doing approximately 20 different A Levels did not get into Oxbridge because they all came out at about A grades or B grades instead of the A* grades top universities require (which he'd probably get if he only took 3 or 4). In A Levels it really is quality over quantity.

Reply 9

stephwearne

Probably best to do three or four and get A*'s and A's than do six and get B's or C's :smile:

Good luck however :biggrin:

Reply 10

loveheartsandall

This year I did 4 AS's and 2 A2's this year (I'm in year 12). I didn't find the workload too unmanageable but I definitely found myself under a lot of pressure, time restrained. If you're going to do 6 A-levels, I really recommend you pick 4 A-levels to prioritise so you make sure you get the grades you want in those subjects, and the other 2 A-levels, spend less time on it if you don't have the time. Basically you want to make sure you're not compromising the your grades. For example, my AS's were definitely my priority. I wanted to make sure I was on target for AS before I spent time on A2s. I guess I will see at results day whether this was a good plan or not!

Reply 11

TheDustyKid

Well, chemistry is as much as 3 A-levels in itself.

Reply 12

AverageExcellence

The thing is you dont understand the jump between GCSEs and A level, its not just a case of doing the odd sprinkling of revision and getting an A* which most people can do. You'd be compromising higher grades and you wont be credited for taking more. Id strongly advice you DONT do it.

Reply 13

HypeGirl94

I do three, and one is a BTEC, and the workload is hard enough for me. In my first year, I did five, but, along with getting 'average' grades, I had no social life/life outside of college. I wouldn't recommend it on any accounts, and with regard to getting recognition from universities, they are much more likely to recognise 3/4 outstanding A level grades then 6 average grades. You have to put in a lot of work as it is, even universities like Oxford only ask for 3 A levels. Give yourself at least a little time for 'you', and dont cause unessesary stess, unless it's vital you do them all.

Reply 14

Theflyingbarney

I took 6, but one of those was General studies (it's compulsory at my college) and one I started a year early. Trying to do the 6 you've mentioned is bordering on insane, and not that useful given that most unis only consider 3 anyway

Reply 15

pop101

Only do it IF your capable to score well in all of them. It's better to have 4As at AS, then 3A*s at A2, rather than possible struggling to get good grades in 6 (I'm not saying you can't, but you seem quite unsure on the task that's why I'm assuming, but of course, you may in fact be able to do it).
There have been some people in my school who have done 6 A-levels, but only around 2-3 people - these people being the ones who achieve 8A*s + in GCSE. Ask your parents and your teachers (you may have already).
On the positive side, you are intending to FM, which clearly shows your an A* student for Maths (GCSE), as well as the fact your doing all 3 science, so you shouldn't really struggle.

Reply 16

lordharvey

I think the above posters have misunderstood - OP has already done Maths and Further Maths, he isn't proposing to do six at once. Presuming he's just about to start sixth form, if he follows the advice given here he will only study one or two full A Levels in the next two years. He would have six in total but would only be doing the normal four/three in two years. So OP, although in terms of university admissions you don't have to, you might as well press ahead and do four and get six A Levels (or drop one and get 5 A Levels + 1 AS), or else you're going to have more study periods than you know what to do with.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 17

Butdidudie

Original post by lordharvey

No, I'm going to repeat the maths and further maths (By the way In my school they do Maths in one year, further maths the next if that helps)

Reply 18

TwilightKnight

I did 4 in one year and 3 in another. It's a lot of work but it's doable if you're willing to put the work in. I did it AS+A2 in one year rather than across two years which in some ways can make it harder (if you're doing a subject with a lot of content like Chemistry) or it can make it easier (if it's a subject like Maths with a lot of continuity between modules), but that was more because I needed to have A Levels that year in order to apply in the next cycle and I was impatient.

As others have said, the real question is why you want to do it - it won't give you a competitive edge when applying to Uni's - they're mandated only to look at 3 A Levels (i.e, something like 70% of people at Oxbridge did 4+ A Levels, but all of their offers are made on 3 A Levels). If you're doing it because you have a genuine interest in the subject, then more power to you, but don't do it simply for the sake of doing it, it's not worth it.