Hard vs. Soft A-Level Subjects?

So there has been many threads similar to this in the past but I was wondering what A-Level subjects people were taking/have taken & the gcse grade you recieved in that subject previously?

I find maths & the science subjects the most difficult without a doubt & people that got A/A*s at gcse often fall to Es and Ds when doing these subjects. It's funny to see students coming up into sixth form with C and Bs boasting about how they are going to do maths, further maths, physics, chemistry and maybe philosophy etc. unaware of the huge jump from gcse to a-level and without lots of hard work they'll probably end up dropping the subjects and taking others. What do you think?

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

srascal8

Maths and Sciences are far harder than the Arts and Social Sciences. I'd probably say from about year 9 onwards the Sciences and Maths always tend to be harder, regardless of what people say. Hence, I favoured Humanities and Social Sciences (although Econ is a bit of both I suppose)

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 2

ieatcheeseyo

AA in sciences at GCSE
Doing them at AS

They're harder and look into concepts in depth
Hard work, effort and time will get you the grade you deserve.

Reply 3

Steph_1810

I'm taking Chemistry, Biology, History and Maths... I got an A* in them at GCSE, but I literally had a mini-breakdown over maths at the start of the year. SUCH a massive jump from GCSE to AS level. Chemistry, on the other hand, I didn't find such a big jump, though this might be because I did triple at GCSE, which has two modules of practically AS-level stuff.

Reply 4

Cats150

It depends on what type of person you are, I find creative subjects easier than practical ones and some of my friends are the complete opposite.

Reply 5

Alexok

My friends studying English and History don't put as much consistent work in their coursework as I put into revision over the year, then they complain about their one exam they have to revise for..

Reply 6

proud nd luvin it

Well for GCSE I got an A in Geography, A* in Biology and Maths, and for A Level I got an A for Geography, and B's for Biology and Maths. Yes there are hard and soft subjects, but there are massive jumps between all subjects from GCSE to A Level :smile:

Reply 7

AdamTheArchitect

I'm taking Physics, Maths, English Lit, French, Art and Dance(Off-timetable) and got an A* in all of them-

I found that the gap between Physics at A-level and GCSE science was easily the biggest... Maths A level for me is easier than it was at GCSE because my teacher is wayyyy better now than gcse so i feel i understand it much easier. Art is pretty much the same just more work, French is a pretty big gap as well- English is a comfortable transition im finding so far...

:biggrin:

Reply 8

Edenwood

Original post by srascal8

Maths and Sciences are far more harder than the Arts and Social Sciences. I'd probably say from about year 9 onwards the Sciences and Maths always tend to be harder, regardless of what people say. Hence, I favoured Humanities and Social Sciences (although Econ is a bit of both I suppose)

I disagree with this. I think that in terms of doing a subject at school you can sit down and revise hard in order to get better at sciences, whereas with essay subjects like English it's a lot more difficult to reform your entire writing style to make it appropriate for what you're doing. Because with the social sciences and arts there's rarely a single right answer it makes it more difficult to revise and more difficult to know how to do well in those subjects. Whilst sciences seem much more difficult immediately, the social sciences and arts can present more of a challenge in the long run, in my opinion.

Though I am of course biased because I'm doing English Lit, Economics, Politics and History. :P

Reply 9

allwordsaredust

I'd have to disagree... I find the science and maths a lot easier than the humanities. Granted, I've only done unit 1 but still.

Reply 10

AdamTheArchitect

essay subjects like English it's a lot more difficult to reform your entire writing style to make it appropriate for what you're doing.

I agree with this completely- All you have to do for sciences and maths is get a right answer or a wrong answer- for english etc there is no right or wrong answer- just a good one or a bad one

Reply 11

Sagacious

GCSE: I got A*'s in Maths and Science.

A-Levels; Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Electronics.

I find that GCSE isn't a true reflection of how well one can do at A-Level. Many of my friends who achieved A's at GCSE are struggling with Maths and Physics at A-Level because of the work-load.

I am convinced that if you work hard, you can achieve all A's at A-Level.

As for the comparison between Maths/Science and Social Sciences/Art subjects;

You can't compare the two. I'm terrible at English and therefore if you asked me to analyse a poem, I would most likely fail. However, ask me to differentiate something and I'm happy. Therefore it's all dependent on the individual.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 12

najinaji

Original post by Steph_1810

literally had a mini-breakdown over maths at the start of the year. SUCH a massive jump from GCSE to AS level.

So glad I'm not the only one. :colondollar:

I got Us for a good few months of AS Maths...

Reply 13

DanielMartin

Original post by bethany18

Yep, that's it - Precisely why I only took subjects I excelled in at GCSE, to play to my strengths and hopefully get good grades for uni.

I'm doing

English Lit / Lang : GCSE English Exam Mark: AA Coursework Mark: A
Philosophy : GCSE RE Exam Mark: B Coursework Mark: A
Product Design : GCSE Graphics & Electronics Exam Mark: B B Coursework Mark: A* A*

and so far, philosophy is one of the easiest. I think humanities and english are some of the easiest subjects you can do as they require creative thought... as opposed to strict regimented hard core facts that maths and sciences require.

Also yeah, it really is about hard work - Even if you do naturally get A's and B's at A level essays etc. you still need to put in the effort and learn everything well.

Reply 14

Steph_1810

Original post by najinaji

So glad I'm not the only one. :colondollar:

I got Us for a good few months of AS Maths...

Haha, I wasn't the only one in my class, but no-one really admitted to it at the time. :P we've been given a NQT for this year as well, who was just awful for the first term, though he is getting better. He tends to copy everything I say though, it's really weird... :confused:

Reply 15

bethany18

Original post by AdamTheArchitect

All you have to do for sciences and maths is get a right answer or a wrong answer- for english etc there is no right or wrong answer- just a good one or a bad one

True - however, in my opinions the content difficulty in subjects like maths etc. is a lot harder to deal with than improving writing technique etc to get a better answer.

Reply 16

Id and Ego seek

Original post by srascal8

Maths and Sciences are far more harder than the Arts and Social Sciences.

Subjective.

At my school, there is only two people in A Level Physics and no one in A Level Mathematics who would pass A Level Art :colonhash:

Reply 17

wizzar

General rule of thumb, any A-Level for which a calculator is a must have in exams (i.e biology, maths, chemistry, physics) is way harder than whatever else there is, seriously, for Maths We have 3 exams in a year, bio, 2 exams and one practical, chem, 2 exams and one practical. whereas others just do coursework, then have the one exam they've been studying for all year

Reply 18

Moiraclaire

Hard Vs soft doesn't necessarily concern how difficult it is to get any grade.
But how useful it is and if you gain any transferrable skills that unis will appreciate.

Some subjects are so over consumed that it looks bad to choose because people will think you lack commitment to what you actually want to do... As the new 'soft' subjects tend to be more vocational, e.g. media, as soon as you take it, it gives the appearance that you'd want to do that as a potential carreer path, but you can do traditional a-levels that just make you appear to have a range of skills.....

That wasn't a very coherent argument but I hope that the point I'm trying to make is obvious.

In my opinion maths was my easiest a-level by far, but that aside, you need maths in all sciences and the kind of logical mindset is a useful approach to some arts as well.

people do fail sciences, but only because they don't know how to revise or how much to revise and rely to much on teachers.

Whereas media, the skills you gain from it can only be used in media and possible english or Drama. But in terms of showing ability to write, this can be better demonstrated through English lit, history, Geography or a language.

Reply 19

billybunslane

Original post by srascal8

This is untrue, a person who is naturally good at maths and science, will find those subjects easier, as the content of these subjects will play more naturally to their ability, they will struggle more with social sciences, despite some considering them to be softer choices. However I do agree that anyone would find media studies the easiest subject to do on the planet lol :rolleyes: