What subjects have the biggest leap from GCSE to A-Level?

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dont get me wrong - i love chemistry :L its my favourite subject - but the first topic is so so hard because you have to get your head around so much new stuff! and the stuff you previously learnt is all lies :L

but stick with it because after a few weeks things will start to click, piece together and light bulbs will be going off in your head :smile:

its all worth it in the end! good luck!

Just wondering, Is there alot of practicals involved in chemistry and do you get marked based on your practical skills. Thanks.

Reply 41

Bella Occhi

French is quite a jump, I'd say. And English Literature.

Reply 42

ohdeer

German - tonnes of new vocab
grammar constructions (the subjunctive, passive, the pluperfect tense, declination of the noun, adjective endings according to case system, the list grows...)
and a new style of writing (more report/essay style on contentious issues and argument, not a personal monologue about what you like for breakfast and what your school uniform is)
general discussion of current affairs (considering my understanding of these in English is rather flawed)

That said, it has been a rewarding subject and the AS and A2 demand is more similar - just addressing different topics and literature

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 43

GottaLovePhysics! :)

IMO:
Big jump: Physics
Small jump: Biology

(Of the subjects im doing)

Biology is samish, fact learning.
Physics just punches you repetedly in the teeth

Reply 44

ilickbatteries

C1 seems pretty basic, in all honesty, and I have a C at GCSE Maths.

I can't comment on C2, C3, C4 or M1 or S1 though.

I think with humanities subjects, such as English, the content steadily gets harder. However, with maths and sciences, the content has a massive jump because the core 'what you need to know' is what GCSE is all about, but A-Level is 'what you need to know if you're going to do this subject at university'.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 45

FunkeyMunkey

Original post by kingam

i did double has been fine for me this year lol what exam board did you do, chemistry has been the easiest out of all my subjects.

Really?? Maybe your just super smart lol? I did edexcel how about you?

Reply 46

FunkeyMunkey

Original post by Stardust Mirage

Just wondering, Is there alot of practicals involved in chemistry and do you get marked based on your practical skills. Thanks.

Depends on your exam board. I was on edexcel exam board and DID LOTSSSSSSS of practicals (mostly practice ones nearly every single lesson) and about 3 real assessed ones for AS, and 3 for A2 which contribute to your whole A level. They're not too bad, you get used to them because you do soo much but it depends on how lenient and good your teacher is.

Reply 47

Trixy.Sam

I would say that for me, it was chemistry. But that was because we did the really bad 21st century ocr science thing for GCSE which involved revising the night before and ticking boxes for the exam.

A-level chem was a bit of a shock to the system, but very enjoyable. :smile:

Reply 48

kingam

Original post by FunkeyMunkey

Really?? Maybe your just super smart lol? I did edexcel how about you?

i aint super smart lol i do OCR CHEM A , and did ocr additional science at GCSE

Reply 49

Kalliope

This is scaring me :eek3:

All of my chosen subjects have been mentioned in this thread.

Reply 50

vedderfan94

Why do so many say Maths? C1 is basically just A* level GCSE stuff. C2 doesn't expand on C1 that much (the only topic people in my class mainly had a problem with was logarithms).

Reply 51

Unununium

Original post by Stardust Mirage

Just wondering, Is there alot of practicals involved in chemistry and do you get marked based on your practical skills. Thanks.

depends on what exam board you go on!

I was on AQA which has 6 units - 2 of which are practical exams - one at AS and one at A2 - so bascially you do the practical get marked on your safety, your results and ability to present your results and then you sit an exam on the practical - these are called ISA's (investigative skills assessments) - they arent too bad :smile:

and if you mess up first time - cuz they arent easy to get your head around - you get the chance to resit :smile:

any other questions :smile:

Reply 52

lilzoldier

English probably has one of the biggest leap from GCSE to A-Level since you would need to read and write significantly more for your exam and coursework.

Chemistry...

Well, i got an a* for gcse history and found it quite easy but at a level i really struggled with it

Reply 55

T.F92

I think maths will be difficult if you don't do higher tier maths at GCSE's. Biology is not hard but there is a lot of content you will need to know that may not even come up in the test which is frustrating . And if your not good at English then don't do philosophy. Even though I found philosophy really interesting im not good at essays and ending up getting a C grade at AS so I dropped it.

Reply 56

Cll_ws

Original post by The Polar Dude

this is not 100% true, what about C1 and C2.

yeah fair enough.
maybe a slight over exaggeration! but still, it's all very different!

Reply 57

Zuzuzu

If your school runs the further maths and maths a-levels parallel with each other, Maths GCSE -> AS Further Maths is quite a jump. That said, I did no work at GCSE, and went to college not knowing how to factorise quadratics and sketch straight line graphs ( :colondollar:

Reply 58

Datbreh

Original post by Subclique

Maths had a massive difficulty leap from GCSE to A-Level for me. At GCSE, I got an A and at AS, it declined to an E causing me to drop Maths altogether.

The transition from GCSE ->A-level isn't big, it's the leap from AS->A2.

Reply 59

Jacktri

Original post by vedderfan94

Why do so many say Maths? C1 is basically just A* level GCSE stuff. C2 doesn't expand on C1 that much (the only topic people in my class mainly had a problem with was logarithms).