[littlebabe]

as levels one step up from Gcses and A level one step up from AS so AS is where the hard work starts
A levels are supost to be the hardest exams you do in ur life

[Triplet1]

Hiya. I'm studying Law, Music, History and Biology and just about to go into year 13 at sixth form. Lots of teacher said to me at GCSE level that there was a HUGE step between GCSE and AS Levels, but i didnt find this, even tho AS levels are obvisouly harder the move between them wasnt as hard as i first thought. The teachers take you into it slowly and dont already expect you to no everything! The only thing i found hard is that there is always a few people in your class that already no everything.
One other thing i found hard is that i moved from a secondary school to a sixth form with a secondary school, so at GCSEs the silibus included some of the AS course at a simpler level, obvisouly to help the AS students. this was mainly a problem in History as i found most of the class just moved from the secondary school up to sixth form and already knew a fair amount of the subject we were studying.
But moving to sixth form is the best thing i've ever done and the change isnt really that hard if you keep up witht he work.

[stud1_89]

Hi. Could someone please explain how important the first 3 months of AS levels are. Is it possible to still get good grades if you HAVE TO miss these first few months. Thanks.

[kellywood_5]

(Original post by stud1_89)
Hi. Could someone please explain how important the first 3 months of AS levels are. Is it possible to still get good grades if you HAVE TO miss these first few months. Thanks.

If you'd said the first 3weeks I'd have said they're probably not essential because they're usually spent just going over GCSE work and settling in, but 3 months??!! There are less than 8 months of teaching time at AS when you take into account holidays, revision time and exam time, so you're talking about missing over a third of the course. It might be possible to still get good grades if you made sure you could photocopy a friend's notes or something and caught up in the Christmas holidays, but I definitely wouldn't recommend it, especially since this is the time when (depending on subjects) you may have loads of coursework due in.

[stud1_89]

hi, ive just had a major operation, and my surgeon said it will be a whil b4 i can return too school. Hopefully my school will send the work home.

[kellywood_5]

(Original post by stud1_89)
hi, ive just had a major operation, and my surgeon said it will be a whil b4 i can return too school. Hopefully my school will send the work home.

Ouch, hope you get better soon! Yeah, that would be a good idea. You could even ask any teachers you get on really well with and who you don't think would mind for their email addresses or phone numbers so you could get help with anything you were stuck on.

[jonjoe]

Its only hit me how hard as levels are going to be compared to GCSE, im rreally worried now, im thinking or dropping down to 3 subjects.

[thegreatstupendo]

I didnt really notice that much fo a difference between lower school and 6th form, probably because the teachers eased you into it fairly gradual, so you start to adapt without realising it. To me, when teachers said how much harder 6th form was the GCSEs, it felt like one of those threats they had been making since year four - "if you behave like this you wont be able to cope in year 5".

On the subject of workload, I found I had way less at A and AS level that GCSE, due to the fact I wasnt constantly having to do various pieces of coursework.

[Emmaleuk]

I have just left high school and will be going to a 6th form. I'm quite worried about it since my friends are all going to a college as its much closer. I'm not at all worried about the work- I will be doing English lit, critical thinking, government and politics, German and philosophy (I was also doing chemistry but was advised to drop one) and i'm pretty dedicated to working hard...I guess its just the whole deal of making new friends all over again and having to get two busses twice a day!!

[Realist101]

I just finished 6th form.

AS levels are pretty hard, at first because Gcse never had much focus on analysis, evaluation these skills are heavily focused upon at A level. So if you pick them up quickly, you will be fine.

A2 is where everything counts, forget your AS scores, your final grade is important and A2 is where everything begins to get a little bit harder and you need to be very focused because gaining marks at A2 is very hard, whatever subject you do.

If your aiming for the highest grades, i reckon hard work can get you there, but what i did notice, is that those who did best in their classes were those who actually loved the subject, the passion was there. This makes it easier for one to revise through the dull topics and still maintain focus.

gd luck everyone.

[kellywood_5]

(Original post by Browneyedboi)
I just finished 6th form.

AS levels are pretty hard, at first because Gcse never had much focus on analysis, evaluation these skills are heavily focused upon at A level. So if you pick them up quickly, you will be fine.

A2 is where everything counts, forget your AS scores, your final grade is important and A2 is where everything begins to get a little bit harder and you need to be very focused because gaining marks at A2 is very hard, whatever subject you do.

If your aiming for the highest grades, i reckon hard work can get you there, but what i did notice, is that those who did best in their classes were those who actually loved the subject, the passion was there. This makes it easier for one to revise through the dull topics and still maintain focus.

gd luck everyone.

But it's much easier to get a high final grade with high AS scores

[Realist101]

yeah of course, because marks carry through to A2. If you get 260+/300 at AS thats an A grade, bt if you get around that mark or higher, it means for A2 you only need around a B grade to hold onto that A. if that makes sense.

[sandettielightvessel]

It is quite a big step - you're independant etc. I found the staff were willing to help you, but *YOU* have to approach *THEM* and ask for it, not the other way around.

(Original post by sluggabed)
pretty much..yeah!

we had to wear suits, so the yr7s often mistook us for teachers

Hah! We get that too!

(Original post by Q.E.D)
I am terrified- both about the leap in difficulty, but also about whether I have chosen the right subjects. I feel like I don't know where I am going at all, which is really strange since I always used to have a very strong sense of direction.

It varies from school to school but I know that lots of people wanted to change options here after GCSE results came out - provided they worked in with the school's options system, they were allowed to.

(Original post by jonjoe)
Its only hit me how hard as levels are going to be compared to GCSE, im rreally worried now, im thinking or dropping down to 3 subjects.

I'd advise you start off with the 4 you planned and see how you find it - you can always drop one after half a term or whatever if it turns out to be too hard or you don't like it.

[weird_child]

im jst worried about my grades lol.although i guess i do want 2 go 2 6th form feels like im growing up.so dats kwl i guess lol.how eva those results lol.

[Shakespeare1]

im rather nervous....im thrilled at the chance of not having to wear uniforms and having frees but i really dont like change, i was contented in yr11.....im worried the teachers will assume im alright and not bother with us as much as the lower school

[Toot1987]

sixth form were the best years of my high school life because i was one of those pupils that had obvious strengths an obvious weakness rather than being good or ok at everything. so i only had to do the subjects which i had a passion for and so i did much better. i would say that its easy to forget how important your AS's are because those are the grades which u apply to uni with and they, to an extenet, will determine which unis it is realistic to apply to. they will also give u something to fall back on in year13 when the stress kicks in.

[BeesKnees]

(Original post by Emmaleuk)
I guess its just the whole deal of making new friends all over again and having to get two busses twice a day!!

I know this feeling all too well. I used to have to catch a bus to town and then a train to another town..then a shuttle to a smaller town and then walk a little bit to my school. It used to take me 2 hours every morning lol. Don't know how I did it (no wonder I was depressed). I moved schools and now take 2 buses to my college, which for me is a major relief for me. It's not so bad once you get used to it coz most people at my college have to travel ages to get there anyway.

[Botticello]

Most people i know are going to go to a Southport 6th form college, with a train, and then TWO buses twice a day... I don't know how they'll put up with it! I just walk about a mile

[brimstone]

I start today ...

[Botticello]

I start tomorrow!
But.. what I'm worried about is that I can see so many free lessons, and I think I'm going to get bored!