Has anyone here..........

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Leanne_g

I'm the same. I did do quite well in my GCSEs (2A*s, 4As, 4Bs) but I know I could have done better, I didn't really do that much work throughout secondary school, I found it really boring, the only subject I really liked was History and RE to an extent because a lot of it was discussing issues.

But at A level at went to college and I found it so much better, I found it more interesting, especially as I was doing subject I chose and the general atmosphere at college is a lot better than school and I managed to get 4 As at AS.

I know people who did much better than me at GCSE because they memorised lots of facts, but struggled at A level and didn't do so well.

Yeh i'm just like you... I was bored by GCSE - consequently I did no revision and just coasted along - predicted 8 A*s....came out with 3...argh..that was a bad day.. :rolleyes:

Reply 21

67382

At my school if you don't get a B in the subject (A in the case of maths) you're not allowed to carry it on at 6th form for the pure reason that my school want to keep high up in the rankings and don't care about student's opportunities. consequently i wasn't allowed to carry on with maths because i only got a B which has now greatly restricted my university choices for economics.

I did ok at GCSE (3A 5B 2C) and i'm expecting to get AABC at AS level, so not a huge step up for me.

Reply 22

MayaIllusion

stratomaster

Bit insulting saying B is a 'normal grade'

it is a normal grade for others, and a bad grade for some...btw normal isnt insulting.

Reply 23

BeckiM

I under acheived for GCSEs was predicted 6A*s and the rest As only got 1A* 7As and 2Bs then underacheived even more at AS 1B and 2Cs hopefully will improve this this year and get 3Bs *fingers crossed*
so it does depend i moved before starting my alevels and have worked really hard but not seemed to get that far!

Reply 24

Pippak

I think with A levels you have the chance to go into more detail in a subject you really love. So it makes sense that if you've managed to get Bs by coasting because, for you, the GCSE is fairly basic, you'll be able to get As at AS because the syllabus is more complicated so for the first time in your life you're interested in working.

That said, I got 6A*, 4A, 1B, aaabc at AS and am predicted AAB this year, so...
I know that I found sixth form a lot better academically because it's more independent and you can really explore the areas of a topic that interest you.

Reply 25

SoniK

the exact opposite happened to me

i did fairly well in my GCSEs with 5A* and 4A grades but come AS and i flopped with ABBCC!!! My gcses helped me get uni places, they are important especially english and maths...i know a boy who can never do dentistry because his GCSE English grades were not v good even though he got straight AS levels!!!! Luckily i got a double A* in both Eng and Lit so Unis were willing to take me despite my poor AS effort

Reply 26

TSRXShogun

Yeah some of my friends did that, it is really for their own personal aims. One of my friend is very good in studies but he got Bs at IGCSEs, he intentionally did that to worry his parents, so his parents told him they would give him rewards if he excel in A/AS Level and that bastard got straight As...some of us do that to pist the teachers as for me ah well GCSEs aint that important yet and not very interesting comparing to A/AS Level...

Reply 27

Ghetto_Princess12

I don’t think that GCSE should reflect you’re A-level ability. By far A-levels are more difficult then GCSE and there is a massive gap between GCSE and A-level in terms of subject content, structure and your own effort to do well. Majority of A-level work is independent and unlike Gcse where most of it was given to you.

It is very likely that students can improve from Gcse and I’ve known who have done so. At A-level you get a mixture of subjects, from which you can choose from and there is a lot more flexibility offered I.e. Free periods and you are given the choice to carry/drop a subject if you wish. Many people have underachieved and have not attained the minimum grade needed but that hasn’t prevented them from giving up, and many have tried there best to succeed.