Is it possible to achieve an A*/A grade at A' Level chemistry if taken in a year?

My friend has decided to apply to Oxford university for medicine and needs to take a year out before applying to take an A' Level in Chemistry. She has asked me to ask on this forum whether anyone has successfully gained an A* or A grade in A' Level Chemistry after completing it in a year.

Many Thanks

Reply 1

RollerBall

Done by itself? I don't see why not :s-smilie:

Reply 2

booraad

RollerBall

Done by itself? I don't see why not :s-smilie:

Ok... I guess I should ask 'has anyone here achieved an A grade when taking the A' Level in one year?'

Reply 3

RollerBall

booraad

Ok... I guess I should ask 'has anyone here achieved an A grade when taking the A' Level in one year?'

Let me rephrase myself. I know of 4 people who in my year did Maths AS and A2 in a single year AS WELL AS 3 other AS and all attained As. A few others did it and got Bs.

It's doable yes.

Reply 4

booraad

RollerBall

Let me rephrase myself. I know of 4 people who in my year did Maths AS and A2 in a single year AS WELL AS 3 other AS and all attained As. A few others did it and got Bs.

It's doable yes.

Aha ok, thanks.

Reply 5

Malsy

How would we know your capabilities ?

Reply 6

booraad

Malsy

How would we know your capabilities ?

It's not about my capabilities. I don't want to take the A' Level, my friend does. I was curious about how easy/hard others found doing it.

Reply 7

TigerJack

Oooo, what do they wanna study, I wanna do chemistry at Oxford :biggrin:

Reply 8

booraad

TigerJack

Oooo, what do they wanna study, I wanna do chemistry at Oxford :biggrin:

Grad entry medicine.

Reply 9

sheburnslikethesun

I should warn your friend that as the syllabuses have changed, sitting a chemistry a level in one year will be a different type of A-level exam to the ones that he/she sat in year 13 (I am presuming she has just left sixth form?)
...
And from personal experience, going by the results of other people in previous years, doing a different subject (eg maths in one year, a couple of years ago) doesn't give a very good answer about whether this is possible. Plenty of people in my school sit maths AS, A2 and further maths in the same year and come out with As. Chemistry however is very different.
AS grades for chemistry have dropped for the first time in many many years. Edexcel in particular, marked down, rounding DOWN practical scores.
I go to an above average state school yet only 4 out of 60 chemstry students achieved As, whereas normally, 20-30% do. I myself, a straight A student, was so relieved to have scraped a C, when I was sure I had done so much worse.

It's a lot harder to do well in now, although your friend has probably taken the old syllabus science GCSE, meaning that it may be easier for them. If however they took the 21st century science- I would strongly STRONGLY advise against doing chemistry AS and A2 in one year, even disregarding the fact that the A2 course mostly relies on information studied in the AS course.
Hope that helps

Reply 10

wer343lit

It's possible. Nobody on here know your friend, so can't really judge. The above post paints a rather too depressing picture IMO. If your friend is capable, there's no reason why they couldn't get an A or A*, but of course, they will have to put in the work. :smile: