Help! Is 5 a levels worth it? How heavy is the workload!?

The EPQ is nowhere near the workload of a full extra AS, so feel free to take it. You do it during the summer after AS, usually, so it doesn't increase your workload when you're busy with your other subjects. I'm finding it quite fun.

Also, I did almost exactly the same subjects as you, except my economics was just straight economics, and I'd say that although you really do have to work hard it wasn't impossible. Just do all the homework, listen + contribute in class and revise well in advance. If you have any more questions about the subjects/subject combo, I'm happy to answer more questions!

you're obviously very, very clever! I would probably leave thinking about doing an EPQ until the end of lower 6, I was advised to only do it if I was applying to a university that based their applications on UCAS points (E.G. not usually a Russel Group uni) therefore, obviously for you with you're outstanding GCSE's would be pretty useless tbh, it would give you something to talk about at an interview but an EPQ seems to be a common thing and therefore wouldn't set you apart from many other people. However if you pick a subject you really enjoy for it and you have a good work ethic then I don't see the problem, and it should be really enjoyable for you

why would you do 5 a levels for optometry?? you get in to most places with AAB-ABB. I think you would be putting way too much stress and pressure on yourself

Can't I do it before my AS?:/ I think I might change my economics and business to just economics. I just picked it to try something new. Is that why you picked it?

Thanks for the tips and advice! Haha, yeah I probably will have plenty of questions to ask you throughout the next year!:P You might wanna withdraw what you said because you miiight just regret it!(;

wow o.O I don't know what to say about your friend, happy that he got in but that is super sketchy o.O. I still aim for it but if I do really well in my A levels then I might even try going for Oxford or Cambridge but that seems a bit far fetched.

Idm studying, quite enjoy it. I started a month/ 6weeks earlier for GCSEs so idm putting in extra effort for AS and A2. Giving up a social life for a bit won't bother me much because it'll hopefully be worth it in the end!(:

i think I will do the EPQ however I just got an induction pack from the school i applied for and it says I'm doing Further Maths AS not EPQ! Think I'm going with the EPQ. Although I love maths, doing crap loads of units in the summer will kill me! If Jan exams were still in place then I'd have done it. AND I'd be doing Maths A2 and Further Maths AS so it would be a mess!

My current AS teacher said I'd be bored if I don't do Further Maths. You did it didn't you? How did you find it? I don't think I'll be doing it though but still good to know.

Thank You for all your help and advice btw (:

Hm, I don't think so because although the project itself doesn't take long, you need to be allocated a supervisor, talk your project through with them, and maybe attend a few sessions on how to do various aspects of the project. Bit of admin stuff, too - your project needs to be approved by the centre coordinator.

I think whether you change to straight econ should depend on whether the business aspects of the joint course look interesting to you or not (google for the syllabus of both), but that's coming from someone who has no idea how unis view them relative to each other. I'd assume that, as your fourth AS which you intend to drop, it makes very little difference - so go with the one you can see yourself enjoying, and therefore putting effort in, for a year.

I picked it because I didn't want to give up essay-based subjects just yet and because it sounded like an appealing sort of blend of logic and creativity. It also helps you make sense of news and form an informed opinion on it, so you can understand why the Chancellor is taking this step or that step. Oh, and you do have to put in the effort at the beginning of the year to get your head around it as a new subject, but after that I personally found that it didn't distract too much from my other subjects. If you get the whole 'thinking like an economist' thing then the essays aren't too difficult, even fun. Most of the content is logically deduced and so fairly easy to remember.

No problem, and I'm not regretting it yet. I'll let you know. :P

It's definitely manageable to do five in your first year. I wouldn't advise five in your second year, though - I did that, and it was more egotistically than reasonably driven, and it strained my grades a tad. I'd have been better off just doing three, perhaps four.

Oh no! Doing 5 in the second year would kill me! I won't be doing 5 anyway. If i do do the EPQ then that'll drop be dropped because it just goes to AS and then hopefully I'd have finished Maths with a good grade so then I'll just carry on the other 3. What subjects did you do btw?

Hmm.. A lot of people that I asked did say that they're doing it now (which was in the summer during school in June. All A level exams finish in May don't they?)

You see, with the Economics Vs Economics and Business , Unis prefer just economics. I only chose the business with it because a lot of school don't offer the combination and I didn't want to lose the opportunity however, after research it seems that Economics is the winner. I did business at GCSE and it was okay I suppose but I do want to start something truly new.

Wait, so the exam consisted of writing an essay? A bit like and English Lit exam would you say? Or are there questions that hold little marks within the paper too?

Yes, now as in their gap between AS and A2. I thought you were referring to your gap between GCSE and AS when you said now - sorry!

They do, but the difference is marginal and even more so as you're doing it as your fourth AS alongside traditional subjects. If your business GCSE didn't particularly catch your eye then you might as well just go for econ, I agree.

For both the macro and micro papers you answer multiple essay-style questions of varying lengths, but there are also short answer questions (still a paragraph or so). A decent chunk of the micro paper is also multiple choice, but each answer requires explanation to achieve the majority of the marks available for this section. Also, the essays aren't as hard as ones for English because you can always get a very decent amount of marks from doing the relevant diagram and definitions. You can look up the papers on the Edexcel website, that'll give you the best indication of what you're getting yourself into. But I was more talking about the essays we were set as standard homework, which we were more likely to recieve than more problem-based homework.

I'm sorry but I don't get what you mean by macro and micro. To me that's big and small or are you referring to an 'economic' term. I have heard of microeconomics and macroeconomics but have no idea what it is! Ohhh as honework. Crap, I'd totally forgot about homework!