Hard vs. Soft A-Level Subjects?

OP

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:

I agree and vice versa, however, studies have been done and art is meant to be one of the easiest a levels therefore I think the physics students would probably do better in art than the art students in maths, again just my opinion

Reply 21

Kidneyjean

7

Original post by bethany18

I agree and vice versa, however, studies have been done and art is meant to be one of the easiest a levels therefore I think the physics students would probably do better in art than the art students in maths, again just my opinion

What studies?

I do maths, chemistry and biology at A2... I had to drop GCSE Art halfway through because it was just too much. From my somewhat limited experience as an art student, and what friends (who do A-level Art) have told me, the workload is insane, and you're expected to produce loads of high quality work, consistently throughout the year. I've yet to meet a science student who hasn't slacked for a bit, then attempted to cram at some point.

Reply 22

bethany18

OP

9

Original post by Moiraclaire

In my opinion maths was my easiest a-level by far.

wow, what other subjects do you do? I could only guess physics and the like?

Reply 23

Id and Ego seek

21

Original post by bethany18

I agree and vice versa, however, studies have been done and art is meant to be one of the easiest a levels therefore I think the physics students would probably do better in art than the art students in maths, again just my opinion

Studies? Like Psychological studies? :wink:

Art is hard in comparison to Physics because there are no sets of theories, application and mark scheme: Art doesn't have right answers. To me, this is hard. I don't think I could cope with this level of creativity and lack of rigidity :rolleyes:

Reply 24

bethany18

OP

9

Original post by Kidneyjean

What studies?

I do maths, chemistry and biology at A2... I had to drop GCSE Art halfway through because it was just too much. From my somewhat limited experience as an art student, and what friends (who do A-level Art) have told me, the workload is insane, and you're expected to produce loads of high quality work, consistently throughout the year. I've yet to meet a science student who hasn't slacked for a bit, then attempted to cram at some point.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/official-some-alevel-subjects-are-harder-than-others-857643.html came across this the other day & in my opinion it seems pretty accurate however i'm aware everyone has their own experiences.

Of the people I know that do Art alevel, the workload is ridiculous and there seems to be a lot for them to do however, knowledge-wise, i imagine art doesn't require a lot of intense thinking and understand more time consuming than anything?

Reply 25

Alexandra's Box

17

I've just applied to college and I think my experience will be interesting as I'm doing:
- Biology (Science)
- Chemistry (Science)
- History (Humanity)
- Economics (Social Science)!
I'm pretty lucky in that I can write essays and understand science :biggrin:

Reply 26

bethany18

OP

9

Original post by Id and Ego seek

Studies? Like Psychological studies? :wink:

Art is hard in comparison to Physics because there are no sets of theories, application and mark scheme: Art doesn't have right answers. To me, this is hard. I don't think I could cope with this level of creativity and lack of rigidity :rolleyes:

Indeed, psychology is closing linked to science :P in my experience of the few psychology classes i attended(before dropping it i may add) I was surprised at the similarity to science it had actually and again in the study i've came across psychology was the hardest social science (apparently)

Reply 27

Id and Ego seek

21

Original post by bethany18

Indeed, psychology is closing linked to science :P in my experience of the few psychology classes i attended(before dropping it i may add) I was surprised at the similarity to science it had actually and again in the study i've came across psychology was the hardest social science (apparently)

Yeeees!
+1 point to the best Social Science using scientific methods.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 28

bethany18

OP

9

Original post by Alexandra's Box

I've just applied to college and I think my experience will be interesting as I'm doing:
- Biology (Science)
- Chemistry (Science)
- History (Humanity)
- Economics (Social Science)!
I'm pretty lucky in that I can write essays and understand science :biggrin:

Yeah im pretty similar in both those areas however i must say your choices are slightly overwhelming, biology is, i think, actually is the biggest jump to alevel(can't remember if i said maths earlier, but maths is a close second) because biology is so easy at gcse I feel at alevel it sort of evens out with the other subjects and there's a lot more chemistry involve at this level.

Also, history is meant to be really dificult and being an economics student myself, i must say it's not too bad :smile:

Reply 29

Kidneyjean

7

Original post by bethany18

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/official-some-alevel-subjects-are-harder-than-others-857643.html came across this the other day & in my opinion it seems pretty accurate however i'm aware everyone has their own experiences.

Of the people I know that do Art alevel, the workload is ridiculous and there seems to be a lot for them to do however, knowledge-wise, i imagine art doesn't require a lot of intense thinking and understand more time consuming than anything?

That study was commissioned by the Institute of Physics. D'you really they'd let science subjects come off badly? Also, art isn't on the list of 'easiest' subjects, so I don't know where you got that notion from.

They also list general studies as being 'harder' than maths. If general studies was as intellectually challenging as this article implies, why would universities all over the country be ignoring it as an A-level when looking at people's applications?

And what makes you think that art doesn't require intense thinking and understanding? Producing high-quality art demands huge amounts of creativity, focus, and technical skill.

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 30

F1's Finest

21

Original post by bethany18

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?

your deluded. i got 1A*, 1A, 7B's for my GCSE's (which is low compared to the many people on this site) and im doing just fine for my A-levels. predicted an AAB and ive got interviews for my chosen course.

maths got an A at GCSE, got an A for AS.
chemistry got A*s/A's for gcse modules, got a B for AS
biology kept on getting C's at gcse and yet i still got a C for AS.

Reply 31

Bekkah321

3

Original post by bethany18

Of the people I know that do Art alevel, the workload is ridiculous and there seems to be a lot for them to do however, knowledge-wise, i imagine art doesn't require a lot of intense thinking and understand more time consuming than anything?

True, it is time consuming and a ridiculous work load, but it's also a lot more too!
I mean.. with A-Level art you don't just have an idea and draw lots of pictures. You have to be able to sustain and develop the idea the whole way to a final piece and to get marks you much put in the highest standard of your you can do as well as using every art medium you can. Without doing these things you'd be luck to get a C.
As well as that if you can evaluate your work to a certain level then you'll lose more marks again. The there is A2 where you have to have a dissertation which is a lot out research and personal investigations to evaluate and justify all your work within the project.
On to of all those things you need to keep your work up to date.. the second you start slacking then you fall behind and it can become impossible to catch up.

I know everyone is entitled to their opinions :smile:

I just think it is totally unfair to say art is easy at A-Level

Reply 32

Monkeysuit.

1

Maybe I can help? I'm in year 13 and my three A Levels are Biology, History and Drama, so science, humanity, art.

Biology is the hardest in terms of content and understanding.
History has the most content, but is easier to learn, however the coursework at A2 is horrific when it comes to scoring marks.
Drama is the hardest to improve in, you have to have the academic intelligence for the theory paper which isn't too hard but is still a challenge, however the practical (which requires talent and creativity) you just have to be perfect, if not, you're screwed.

So there's elements of difficulty in all of them, I must admit I find Biology and History more interesting than Drama and I wish I'd taken Maths instead of it.

Hope that helps :smile:

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 33

tieyourmotherdown

14

In my experience History and French are indeed hard A Levels, particularly French because in your final exam you're required to write a 1500 word essay that require literature analysis similar to that of an English A Level, but in French. Consequently for somebody who is inclined to languages but isn't overly great at literature, it's very difficult. Also the jump from AS to A2 in French was vastly greater than any other subject I did.

As for History, the jump from AS to A2 isn't that huge, however the workload at A2 was probably the biggest out of any subject I did. I can only talk about the subjects that I did (History, French, Politics + AS Economics), however I think the Independent is spot on in saying that History and French are two of the hardest A Levels.

Reply 34

Woodworth

2

can somebody tell me what you learn in media studies and what you're questioned on in the exam?

Reply 35

Lumos

13

I think maths and sciences are actually easier to improve in/learn than humanities. there are always right answers, and once you know how to get there, you're set. did you know that 30% of Maths A level grades are A*'s? thirty percent! compared with 10% for history, 5% for german and french....

Reply 36

JXamie

12

I'm studying Mathematics at uni. From my point of view, my subject is conceptually a lot harder than say a degree in the social sciences. That doesn't mean it's harder overall though. You could revise religiously for an essay-based exam and then just write something that the marker dislikes and all your efforts have gone to waste. Maths, although difficult, once you understand a certain topic you can become confident in answering questions. Hence I dropped essay-based subject. Hence I took maths.

There are no strong/weak subjects.

Reply 37

bethany18

OP

9

Original post by Kidneyjean

That study was commissioned by the Institute of Physics. D'you really they'd let science subjects come off badly?

Can't really see the likes of an art college conducting this sort of research really though can we? It needs to be a science institute to even be able to scientific/psychological research.

Original post by Kidneyjean

Also, art isn't on the list of 'easiest' subjects, so I don't know where you got that notion from.

Didn't include this earlier sorry but this is where i got such "notion" from;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7482225.stm

Original post by Kidneyjean

They also list general studies as being 'harder' than maths. If general studies was as intellectually challenging as this article implies, why would universities all over the country be ignoring it as an A-level when looking at people's applications?

Good point, I can only assume its been based on exam results in general studies as the lack of actually learning any form of general studies content leads many people to do badly in the exam while people doing badly in maths is not usually related to the lack of learning as most colleges do five hours a week per subject.

Original post by Kidneyjean

And what makes you think that art doesn't require intense thinking and understanding? Producing high-quality art demands huge amounts of creativity, focus, and technical skill.

I feel theres more to learn in other subjects compared to art, its a more practical subject.

Reply 38

Bekkah321

3

Original post by Monkeysuit.

History has the most content, but is easier to learn, however the coursework at A2 is horrific when it comes to scoring marks.

Do you think History would be easier if it was all exam based and no coursework or do you find the coursework helps you pick up marks?

Reply 39

bethany18

OP

9

Original post by James A

your deluded. i got 1A*, 1A, 7B's for my GCSE's (which is low compared to the many people on this site) and im doing just fine for my A-levels. predicted an AAB and ive got interviews for my chosen course.

maths got an A at GCSE, got an A for AS.
chemistry got A*s/A's for gcse modules, got a B for AS
biology kept on getting C's at gcse and yet i still got a C for AS.

Don't understand you point about me being deluded :/? I got the exact same gcse grades as you and although finding the jump massive i'm also doing fine with my alevels, also got offers from uni etc :/ what is your point? Good luck with your interviews :smile:

Hard vs. Soft A-Level Subjects?

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