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Why are lower grades so much more common at A Level

I'm in Year 11 and I'm looking through the AS grades in my school for current Year 13s and I'm fairly startled by the amount of D and U grades, these being achieved by people who would be quite comfortable B/A/A* grade students at GCSE.

Why does it seem to be so much easier to get low grades at A Level?

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In my opinion, people underestimate the amount of work required to get good grades at A-level.
Original post by Kevin:)
I'm in Year 11 and I'm looking through the AS grades in my school for current Year 13s and I'm fairly startled by the amount of D and U grades, these being achieved by people who would be quite comfortable B/A/A* grade students at GCSE.

Why does it seem to be so much easier to get low grades at A Level?


It's a very big jump and a lot of people work in the same way they do at GCSE. You really need to step up the work and those people probably didn't do as much as they should have done

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In GCSE you can go into an exam knowing almost nothing about a subject and still get a B or an A. You can't do this in A Level
Original post by Kevin:)
I'm in Year 11 and I'm looking through the AS grades in my school for current Year 13s and I'm fairly startled by the amount of D and U grades, these being achieved by people who would be quite comfortable B/A/A* grade students at GCSE.

Why does it seem to be so much easier to get low grades at A Level?


Because the people who just memorized stuff for gcse fail. /thread
Original post by Kevin:)
I'm in Year 11 and I'm looking through the AS grades in my school for current Year 13s and I'm fairly startled by the amount of D and U grades, these being achieved by people who would be quite comfortable B/A/A* grade students at GCSE.

Why does it seem to be so much easier to get low grades at A Level?


Because the subjects are so difficult, well it does depend on what subjects you take but most of them are difficult for most students. I know people who got full A/A*'s at GCSE who couldn't handle the jump to A level and are now getting low grades. And on the other hand, some B/C grade students are getting the highest grades. I do the sciences, I find chemistry easy but A level biology is the most frustrating & difficult subject I do even though at GCSE it was my easiest :s-smilie:
Reply 6
I thought A-Level was about as tough as GCSE. *shrugs* Dunno what the above are saying.
Original post by Zacken
I thought A-Level was about as tough as GCSE. *shrugs* Dunno what the above are saying.


I found revising for GCSEs tougher lol
Reply 8
Original post by Student403
I found revising for GCSEs tougher lol


All those irrelevant subjects, yeah? Whereas at A-Level you can focus on what you're good at.
Original post by Zacken
All those irrelevant subjects, yeah? Whereas at A-Level you can focus on what you're good at.


Exactly :yep:

Bio and English Lit killed me inside
Obviously because a levels are harder than gcse's. What kind of a question is this
Reply 11
Original post by banterboy
Obviously because a levels are harder than gcse's. What kind of a question is this


How is that obvious?
Reply 12
Original post by Student403
You reminded me of that cute French Rolex advertisement you did for IB :teehee:


Kill me now :rofl:
Reply 13
Original post by Zacken
I thought A-Level was about as tough as GCSE. *shrugs* Dunno what the above are saying.


Original post by Student403
I found revising for GCSEs tougher lol


Y'all are geniuses, although I do agree that doing 3 subjects is a lot easier than 8.
Reply 14
Original post by aymanzayedmannan
Y'all are geniuses, although I do agree that doing 3 subjects is a lot easier than 8.


Especially when M + FM = pretty much 1 subject.
Original post by Zacken
How is that obvious?


I dunno, how is it obvious that phd physics is harder than playing with magnets
Original post by Zacken
Kill me now :rofl:


SO sweet :kiss:


Original post by aymanzayedmannan
Y'all are geniuses, although I do agree that doing 3 subjects is a lot easier than 8.


I guess for people who have niche strengths A Levels are a lot easier :smile:
Reply 17
Original post by banterboy
I dunno, how is it obvious that phd physics is harder than playing with magnets


Fail analogy.
Original post by banterboy
I dunno, how is it obvious that phd physics is harder than playing with magnets


Invalid comparison.

A-Levels aren't that much more advanced than GCSEs. And also noone is saying A Level Physics isn't harder than GCSE Physics. We're saying we found A Level revision as a whole (doesn't usually include subjects you're not very good at) a lot easier than GCSE revision (much more likely to contain subjects you're weak at) as a whole.
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 19
Original post by Student403
Invalid comparison.

A-Levels aren't that much more advanced than GCSEs. And also noone is saying A Level Physics is harder than GCSE Physics. We're saying we found A Level revision as a whole (doesn't usually include subjects you're not very good at) a lot easier than GCSE revision (much more likely to contain subjects you're weak at) as a whole.


PRSOM damn

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