What is your experience/knowledge of self-teaching?

If you enjoy Maths and you're good at it then go for it is all I can say. Most people who do Further Maths do it in a year (and they do the Maths A-level in a year too) so there's no reason why you wouldn't be able to cope with it.

I've taken a gap year and resat some of my worst exams (had timetabling issues last year) I managed to improve my Psychology paper from a U to an A after teaching myself everything again. Good luck if that's what your going to do

Thanks I spose theres nothing to lose either so its worth a try

It is for personal benifit yes, just something I really want to cover

Wow well done! I don't think I want to improve any of my current A-levels as I still have A2 year for that opportunity. I just really wanted to study either Maths or Psychology out of personal interest!

I may leave self-teaching until I've completed A2 by taking a gap year. I know it isn't necessary. It's purely personally and I just really want to do it. Bit of a nut.

What would you advise then?

Finishing the AS year and self-teaching A2's?

This is reassuring I've always been interested in psychology.. I think I may self-teach it. Would you advise self-teaching it once I'm in my second year and then taking the AS in summer next year? Just a shame I can't carry it forward another year

I've always thought self-teaching is much much quicker. Is this true?

I self-taught 4 Maths modules. It wasn't too bad because all the information was contained inside the relevant text books so I just had to read through and do the exercises; I imagine it'd be quite a different experience for someone self-teaching something like History.

Is it easy/difficult?
Do you have to spend time, more than you would if you were in school, scrutinising the specifactions and mark schemes?
Share your experince and any advice, please.

I am starting this. I want AAAA. I have 2 months. Wish me luck.

I suscribe as well.
I will start self-teaching 6 A-levels (I want to do them in a year).

Well, actually, it is not exactly that. 1 of those is going to be only at AS (Spanish First Language), and I have been revising Past Papers, and I don't have to study anything, anybody native will get an A anyway. Another one is Thinking Skills (CIE), which I'll do for the sake of gaining some UCAS points, and will study (only) doing some Past Papers. I don't know if it will be only at AS-level or the full A-level.
The other four (Maths, Economics, Politics and Sociology) are a tad more difficult to cope with. I intend to take them all to the A2. But I won't be exactly self-teaching, I'll do them with the NEC. Does anybody know how it works, and how it is?


Wow! I wish I could do something like that. Do you think that 3 AS-levels are doable in two months?
Good luck, anyway.

These grades are by no means secure. I will have to work quite hard. And, yes I do believe 3 a-levels can be done that quickly. What do ou study.

Wow, but anyway... it is very hard.
Anyway, I guess I'm late to inscribe on a college to sit my exams (besides, living in Spain, it can be difficult to arrange planes, accomodation, etc.). I'll have to wait until January to sit my AS. The thing is that if I do so, probably I'll have to wait to the 2012 UCAS cycle. Ah, who cares. I want to take a gap year anyway (actually I'm having it now).
As of now I study nothing. I ended last year Spanish equivalent to GCSEs (about 3 A*, 6 or 7 As and a B, but this is a rough approximation, I'm inclined to add another A* and convert the B to an A).
I started Spanish Baccalaureate last September (which is 10 subjects with the same workload of an A-level), equivalent to Yr 12, and in October I fell ill. Until December I could more or less go, sometimes, but I haven't attended school since January. All of January and February at the bed, and now halfway (end, actually) of March I'm starting to feel a bit better. I can't anyway do very much.
I will now start A-levels. Half the workload, anyway, as Spanish Bachillerato, and actually very easier to get higher grades.

Sergio

Fair enough mate, but this how I see it...
I have 6 AS and A levels (in total)
I'm sitting in my dorm room in 2 years from now and life is good at uni. If i had worked my arse off getting there and not enjoying life, I would feel that a lot of time had been wasted.

or

3 A* grades at A-level, knowing that I enjoyed my last year at college and home, whilst maintaining excellent grades.

Your family are proud, you are proud, and you can leave home knowing that your peers know that you are genuinley intelligent.
(I know I change from 1st to 3rd person)

What I am getting at is that either way, you would be in the same position (uni-wise). And ten years down the line, it will matter even less.

Thats just how I like to look at life, but thats just me. Lol.

Revise for your AS exams as much as possible - go over the syllabuses 2/3 times over to make sure you understand them completely. Find every past paper you can find and do them over and over again whilst timing yourself with exam conditions. Getting an A is every bit worth the scarification of your social life and other interests or hobbies till May/June. Then you have all the time in the world to relax. It is tough, but completely worth it. Just keep your goal in mind - be it Oxbridge or any other institution.

What I recommend for your A2's is to buy the relevant text books in accordance with your exam board, and cover some of the material during the summer holidays before you return to college. When January comes, you can perhaps sit the exams. Then in June you'll have the option of sitting Further Maths or whatever.

Also, create a revision timetable. What I found optimum was to spread it over a week, but only revising for 4 days, and the remaining days using to relax. You'd ideally want to revise 2-3 hours each day, with breaks in between - anymore than that, it'll probably completely kill your interest in the subject, or you end up committing suicide lol.

Plus, you'll have all of us here to help you out if you ever need it.

Edit: I just noticed that you'd like to self-teach after your A2's. Well, the advice still stands. The revision timetable, practicing past papers with exam conditions, and making sure you understand the syllabus is all you'll need. Best of luck.

Hmm, I suppose there isn't much point as it's not going to change where I end up. Although I don't even have any idea where I'm going to end up lol. I think the only reason I'm considering self-teaching is because I have no idea what I'm interested in. So I wanted to take psychology for example because I was always interested in taking it and may want to proceed with it in the future. I mean I'm taking two sciences at the moment and have no interests in them whatsoever. I know them help me show a range but I doubt I'm going to pursue anything along the scientific line..

Ah