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Doing 5 a-levels

Okay, so when I applied for the sixth form I want to go to, they asked for four a-level choices. I accidentally put down 5 thinking one was a reserve. I put down:

- Combined english lit/lang
- English Lit
- Sociology
- Politics
- Economics

I think I might be able to manage this. They are all similar A-Levels (all essay based) and I took sociology at GCSE and the course is similar for A-Level, focussing on the same concepts.

Anyone taken 5 A-levels? Any advice?
Original post by epage
Okay, so when I applied for the sixth form I want to go to, they asked for four a-level choices. I accidentally put down 5 thinking one was a reserve. I put down:

- Combined english lit/lang
- English Lit
- Sociology
- Politics
- Economics

I think I might be able to manage this. They are all similar A-Levels (all essay based) and I took sociology at GCSE and the course is similar for A-Level, focussing on the same concepts.

Anyone taken 5 A-levels? Any advice?

Usually people take 5 at AS Level then at A2 they drop 1 or 2 when they realise how hard it gets. That's all up to you, you might carry on all of them at A2 Level.
Reply 2
Avatar for Rosiex179
Rosiex179
Definitely doable if you are a top grade, hard-working, and self-motivated student. Students in my sixth form were only allowed to take five AS subjects if they had achieved 5 or more A* and the rest As at GCSE, so i'd say you should only consider continuing five for the whole year if you are around this mark or better. That being said, I'd advise you to start off with five as you are likely able to drop down to four (or even three) at any time. This gives you the opportunity to try the new courses and be sure of where your interest is.
Original post by epage


Anyone taken 5 A-levels? Any advice?


stay at home every day,revising everyday for 2 years, even in the summer
(edited 7 years ago)
Reply 4
Avatar for fefssdf
fefssdf
20
Original post by epage
Okay, so when I applied for the sixth form I want to go to, they asked for four a-level choices. I accidentally put down 5 thinking one was a reserve. I put down:

- Combined english lit/lang
- English Lit
- Sociology
- Politics
- Economics

I think I might be able to manage this. They are all similar A-Levels (all essay based) and I took sociology at GCSE and the course is similar for A-Level, focussing on the same concepts.

Anyone taken 5 A-levels? Any advice?


dont underestimate how much time is needed for each subject to do well. I started off doing 5 subjects and then after the january mocks I had to drop one ( biology ) so was doing 4 subjects and i basically wasted a lot of time in attending lessons for a subject i never really liked anyway...go to the lessons for all 5 and find the one you like the least and drop it... there's no point doing 5 when unis only want 3....
Pointless to do combined English Lang and lit
And then do English lit again. Might only be treated as one subject really.

Also it's pointless to do 5, there's no extra advantage. You're just adding extra pressure to yourself during exam season and there are many people who think they can cope with it and just don't lol.

Best not to do 5, as your other subjects might suffer and you must want some time to have fun lol
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Rosiex179
Definitely doable if you are a top grade, hard-working, and self-motivated student. Students in my sixth form were only allowed to take five AS subjects if they had achieved 5 or more A* and the rest As at GCSE, so i'd say you should only consider continuing five for the whole year if you are around this mark or better. That being said, I'd advise you to start off with five as you are likely able to drop down to four (or even three) at any time. This gives you the opportunity to try the new courses and be sure of where your interest is.


Only now AS levels are a stand alone qualification and a lot of schools won't do it. So it'll just be 5 A-levels
Original post by Shazen
Usually people take 5 at AS Level then at A2 they drop 1 or 2 when they realise how hard it gets. That's all up to you, you might carry on all of them at A2 Level.


That's what I was thinking, I can always drop some.

Original post by Rosiex179
Definitely doable if you are a top grade, hard-working, and self-motivated student. Students in my sixth form were only allowed to take five AS subjects if they had achieved 5 or more A* and the rest As at GCSE, so i'd say you should only consider continuing five for the whole year if you are around this mark or better. That being said, I'd advise you to start off with five as you are likely able to drop down to four (or even three) at any time. This gives you the opportunity to try the new courses and be sure of where your interest is.


I doubt I'll reach 5 or more A* and the rest As as my GCSE grades, I didn't work hard enough in year 10. I'll probably get 5 or more As and the rest Bs. I'll definitely start with 5 though, thanks!
Original post by ScienceFantatic
Pointless to do combined English Lang and lit
And then do English lit again. Might only be treated as one subject really.

Also it's pointless to do 5, there's no extra advantage. You're just adding extra pressure to yourself during exam season and there are many people who think they can cope with it and just don't lol.

Best not to do 5, as your other subjects might suffer and you must want some time to have fun lol


what about doing 4 a levels , maths, physics, economics and computer science
Original post by fefssdf
dont underestimate how much time is needed for each subject to do well. I started off doing 5 subjects and then after the january mocks I had to drop one ( biology ) so was doing 4 subjects and i basically wasted a lot of time in attending lessons for a subject i never really liked anyway...go to the lessons for all 5 and find the one you like the least and drop it... there's no point doing 5 when unis only want 3....


That's true. Plus I'll be doing EPQ and General studies.
Original post by epage

I doubt I'll reach 5 or more A* and the rest As as my GCSE grades, I didn't work hard enough in year 10. I'll probably get 5 or more As and the rest Bs. I'll definitely start with 5 though, thanks!


honestly your wasting your time stating with 5, because you will end up dropping at least 1, therefore it will just be a waste of time
Original post by ScienceFantatic
Pointless to do combined English Lang and lit
And then do English lit again. Might only be treated as one subject really.


Yeah, I put english lit down thinking it was the reserve, I wasn't planning on doing both, but I'll see which one I like better and drop the other most likely
Original post by epage
That's true. Plus I'll be doing EPQ and General studies.


honestly mate you will be wasting your time doing 5 and the fact youre doing the EPQ as well like you don't want to end up flopping all your exams as that is the likely outcome... not trying to scare you but just being realistic here
Original post by fefssdf
honestly mate you will be wasting your time doing 5 and the fact youre doing the EPQ as well like you don't want to end up flopping all your exams as that is the likely outcome... not trying to scare you but just being realistic here


Yeah, thank you, I think I'll drop at least one when I know what my strongest subjects are and what I most enjoy
The cheat way of getting free AS levels is by doing both Economics and Business due to the overlap, and also AS Level ICT due to the ability to cram a week before - done it this way and got 100/100 for the second unit
Original post by epage
That's what I was thinking, I can always drop some.



I doubt I'll reach 5 or more A* and the rest As as my GCSE grades, I didn't work hard enough in year 10. I'll probably get 5 or more As and the rest Bs. I'll definitely start with 5 though, thanks!

Yeah that's fine then. :smile:
I am doing 5, and even though my subjects are intertwined the workload is pretty crushing.

I do Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Computer Science. Maths and FM comes really easily, as do the mathematical aspects of the others. The rest of the subjects I personally have to work hard at.

But essay based subjects, such as yours, seem to have even greater workload than mine. Don't be disheartened, but prepare for a barrage.
(edited 7 years ago)
5 essay subjects?!? You're gonna collapse under the workload, essays take forever to write. Not to mention, they tend to be very content heavy subjects so there will be a lot to learn.

I say drop english combined because English lit is the facilitating subject.

And this is coming from someone who only did 1 essay based subject and struggled

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