Why are lower grades so much more common at A Level

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Reply 20

banterboy

Original post by Zacken

Fail analogy.

fail argument

Reply 21

Ayman!

Original post by Zacken

Especially when M + FM = pretty much 1 subject.

Yep, which is why I said 3 for me. :yep:

To this day I still find GCSE Economics harder than something like M3 or FP3. :afraid:

Besides, maths is probably the easiest to revise for seeing as it's rote learning by practising past papers most of the time.

Original post by Student403

I guess for people who have niche strengths A Levels are a lot easier :smile:

What GCSEs did you do and with which board? Biology was hell for me, especially because my teacher was so mean. :cry:

Reply 22

Student403

Original post by aymanzayedmannan

Yep, which is why I said 3 for me. :yep:

To this day I still find GCSE Economics harder than something like M3 or FP3. :afraid:

Besides, maths is probably the easiest to revise for seeing as it's rote learning by practising past papers most of the time.

What GCSEs did you do and with which board? Biology was hell for me, especially because my teacher was so mean. :cry:

I did M, Eng Lit/Lang, Bio, Chem, Phy, Business, German and ICT (and FSMQ). Bio with Edexcel which was annoying af :colonhash:

Reply 23

thefatone

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?

isn;t it obvious that work is more difficult and people don't realise the amount of work needed to be done to get the same grades as the did at GCSE?

Reply 24

ImagineCats

Also lets not forget grade boundaries. At GCSE science, 27/60 is an A, and 40/60 an A*. Anyone used to getting around the 27 mark is a D in AS. I keep getting 21/60, which would be a B at gcse but now a U- I'm panicking :frown:

Reply 25

banterboy

Original post by Student403

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.

So did I, what's your point? Obviously people who excel at given subjects will not struggle when they can focus on just them at a level. Doesn't change the fact that for the average intellect the complexity of a levels compared to gcse's will make it more difficult for them and this will be reflected in grades.

The fact you think that "X person found A levels easier than gcses" is a proof or even good evidence that "a levels are not harder than gcses" is shocking.

I mean given people obviously find a levels harder, what other answer to the thread be accepted in place of that a levels are harder for most people?

Reply 26

Student403

Original post by banterboy

What? I never said this/meant this. You're completely missing my point.

My point was solely about your comparison which I did not see as fitting to this question

Reply 27

MezmorisedPotato

Because some people's revision techniques involves at gcse to memorise content and this can work at subjects in gcse (some subjects). But what's more important is understanding concepts so you can apply your skills. A level is so applied that memorising alone won't do. It's a lot of work to revise and understand the sheer content. With the reforms, it's going to be even harder!

Reply 28

NekoAngel13

The exams are much harder. Essays are longer and have stricter marking points. GCSE exams have multiple choice options and a lot of short pretty easy answer questions. A-levels have much more specific mark schemes even short answers. You have to learn a lot more content to a higher degree than at GCSE where being in the right direction usually gets you the mark.
It might be easier to revise at a-level with less subjects to worry about however the content level and difficulty is higher.
The difficulty depends on the person in question.

Reply 29

Blackstarr

They are called Advanced levels for a reason.

Exams are not meant to be easy.

Reply 30

Lawliettt

Original post by Zacken

I thought A-Level was about as tough as GCSE. *shrugs* Dunno what the above are saying.

Good lord. What subjects did you take for your a levels to be as easy as GCSE's? Construction and ICT?

Reply 31

TheonlyMrsHolmes

GCSE's content is far less than A-levels and application is far more straight forward than it is for A-levels, it takes awhile to get a hang of the correct formula to hit all the marks in A-level exams in my opinion.

Reply 32

Zacken

Original post by Lawliettt

Good lord. What subjects did you take for your a levels to be as easy as GCSE's? Construction and ICT?

Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Economics, English Lit/Lang, French (first language) Lit/Lang, Business, IT.

Reply 33

dmy15

Original post by Kevin:)

Is this not just a 'NO SHlT Sherlock' kind of statement lol :/

Reply 34

Zacken

Those were my GCSE's not my A-Levels. :tongue:

Reply 35

Zacken

The thing is (with maths) at least, you can do pretty much the same thing at A-Level. You can factorise a quadratic at A-Level but not know what it means for the real number field to be algebraically closed under the algebraic extension or closure called the complex number field.

An A-Level student could sum evaluate an integral without for one second thinking about the result or how integration links in with riemann sums etc...

example: Give this:

\int_{-1}^{1} \frac{\mathrm{d}x}{x^2}

to any A-Level student and see what they give you.

Reply 36

Kevin:)

Original post by dmy15

Is this not just a 'NO SHlT Sherlock' kind of statement lol :/

Well.. no.. As you can see from many of the previous responses, it's not immediately obvious to me as a Year 11 the exact difficulties that arise at A Level?

Reply 37

dmy15

Original post by Kevin:)

Well.. no.. As you can see from many of the previous responses, it's not immediately obvious to me as a Year 11 the exact difficulties that arise at A Level?