A*'s to D's- normal?
Discussion for A-Level students and for those choosing their A-Level subjects.
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A*'s to D's- normal?I've just started my first few weeks of AS and some subjects having been testing us already to see where we're at. At GCSE, I received A's and A*'s but now my results are coming out as D's! Is this normal? I'm really worried!
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?Yes, sometimes. Apparantly if you don't put any extra effort into your a-levels, you can expect to go down by at least 2 grades. And probably even more if you were the kind of person that got As with virtually no effort and think you can do the same at a-level.
How much time do you spend on each subject outside of lessons. On normal weeks ie no official exams coming up, apparantly (although this varies between people) you should be doing the same amount outside of lessons as you are inside. Which works out at 9-10 hours in total per subject. At a-level you're usually still classed as a full time student. But if you only do 4 subjects, thats about 15-20 hours a week of lessons, and you need to make the rest up yourself with independant study to about 30-35 hours.
Plus, are they subjects you did at gcse or new ones like politics/law/sociology/psychology ? (although some places do them at gcse I know)
Do people honestly think that someone with 3 red gems cares about rep anymore?Last edited by Clare~Bear; 26-09-2012 at 16:54. -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?Got C's in every maths test for AS, but got an A in the exam. However I wouldn't recommend doing this as I had to work a lot harder for maths than I should have on past papers and revision in the weeks before exams which meant my performance in my other AS wasn't as good as it should have been and now I have to do retake modules from those subjects taking up A2 work time.
In short you should work hard from the start if you want A's as A levels are much harder than GCSE's.
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?Bull****.(Original post by Clare~Bear)
Yes. Apparantly if you don't put any extra effort into your a-levels, you can expect to go down by at least 2 grades. And probably even more if you were the kind of person that got As with virtually no effort and think you can do the same at a-level.
How much time do you spend on each subject outside of lessons. On normal weeks ie no official exams coming up, you should be doing the same amount outside of lessons as you are inside. Which works out at 9-10 hours in total per subject. At a-level you're usually still classed as a full time student. But if you only do 4 subjects, thats about 15-20 hours a week of lessons, and you need to make the rest up yourself with independant study to about 30-35 hours.
Plus, are they subjects you did at gcse or new ones like politics/law/sociology/psychology ? (although some places do them at gcse I know) -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?It's the 'recommended amount for maximum success' according to my head of sixth form.(Original post by Miracle Day)
Bull****.
I personally think it's motivational *******s but different thing work for different people. On topic: The drop in grades is perfectly normal and its usually what kick starts the majority of people to start putting the extra effort into the work they should be doing in and outside the classroom. -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?Which bit of it was? The 10 hours per subject is recommended for those trying to get top grades, although some people can put less in and others have to put more time in to get the grades they want.(Original post by Miracle Day)
Bull****.
I put 3-4 hours into each subject per week outside of lessons and only got Cs in my ASes, so I'm aiming to do 5 hours each a week this year. -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?Although this isn't exactly desired, it's totally normal! I hardly worked for GCSE's until the last minute and achieved mostly A*s and As. That's mainly because GCSEs are based mostly on how much you can remember, whereas A levels are more into testing logical thinking and accurate expression.I've just started my first few weeks of AS and some subjects having been testing us already to see where we're at. At GCSE, I received A's and A*'s but now my results are coming out as D's! Is this normal? I'm really worried!
I'm in A2s now, and I struggled a lot of AS mainly because I fell so far behind. However, in the end I managed to achieve mostly As and one B at AS, but that was after a lot of extra sessions with teachers and endless hours revising. Also, I would recommend spending a much longer amount of time on the coursework at AS level, as that was my big downfall. I was lazy and got a D in my English Literature coursework, but achieved a high A in the exam. Obviously this made me regret my laziness regarding the coursework, as I have to resubmit it this year (which is a lot of extra effort) in order to get an A overall at A level. -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?Unfortunately, yep. As we all discovered in year 12 (most sadly in the Jan exams) an A/A* grade at GCSE is more like the equivalent to a C/D at A level.
A levels require a crazy amount of work and motivation, it's just something you'll get used to as time goes on
Last edited by Icedancer95; 26-09-2012 at 16:27. -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?I got AABD and I put no effort in until the last month before my exams started, and that's when I really knuckled down(Original post by Clare~Bear)
Which bit of it was? The 10 hours per subject is recommended for those trying to get top grades, although some people can put less in and others have to put more time in to get the grades they want.
I put 3-4 hours into each subject per week outside of lessons and only got Cs in my ASes, so I'm aiming to do 5 hours each a week this year. -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?What were they testing you on? If it was an essay subject, such as History or English Literature, it takes a while to get up to the required standard.(Original post by liliesandroses)
I've just started my first few weeks of AS and some subjects having been testing us already to see where we're at. At GCSE, I received A's and A*'s but now my results are coming out as D's! Is this normal? I'm really worried!
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If it was something like Biology or Maths, I don't see why you should be getting D grades if they've tested you on the content learned so far. If they've tested you on content you don't know (such as using a past-paper) then it becomes understandable. -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?Well you're a lucky sod then. But that doesn't work for most people.(Original post by Miracle Day)
I got AABD and I put no effort in until the last month before my exams started, and that's when I really knuckled down -
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Re: A*'s to D's- normal?From what I've seen it does.(Original post by Clare~Bear)
Well you're a lucky sod then. But that doesn't work for most people.
Nobody puts that much work in per week, it's a totally ludicrous ammount and you'll burn out before exam period even starts. Just enjoy sixth form life for now.
