Does General Studies carry any worth?

does it?..can it influence your offer?

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Yes

Some admissions tutors actually consider it to be a very valid A level (especially if you're doing all science A levels they know that it involevs essay writing).
Some admissions tutors consider it to be a good indicator of university success (and so tend to be pretty harsh on people who don't get good grades in it).
Some admissions tutors think it's a waste of time.

The Times league tables and the Guardian League tables consider it to be a full A level.

As a byproduct of this most universities consider it to be a full A level when they set targets.

Therefore most admissions tutors will be more inclined to accept a student who has missed a grade but got an A level in GS than a student who has missed a grade without an A level in GS...

Reply 2

Botticello

What do you actually study in gs?

Reply 3

kellywood_5

It depends on the university. Some top universities completely disregard it, most won't accept it as part of your offer but might look favourably on it and others will accept it as they would any other A-level. Prospectuses should tell you what the universities you're considering applying to think about it.

Reply 4

Happy1

It doest cary much worth with universities, but I do think it has some relevance in the individual's life. Recapping basic GCSE stuff that you dont necessarily do at A level can be useful and may be very helpful at some point in your life, but I'm not sure it warrants a whole A level.

Reply 5

lil one

My school doesnt offer GS :frown:

should I be worried?

Reply 6

Juno

lil_one

My school doesnt offer GS :frown:

should I be worried?

No. You can get it explained in your reference if you think it will have an effect though

Reply 7

kellywood_5

lil_one

My school doesnt offer GS :frown:

should I be worried?

I don't see why, a lot of universities don't see it as a proper A-level anyway and lots of students resent having it forced on them. My school doesn't offer it either and I still got 5/6 offers.

Reply 8

calcium878

lil_one

My school doesnt offer GS :frown:

should I be worried?

No, you should be happy! :biggrin:

Reply 9

allymcb2

Kquishir

does it?..can it influence your offer?

Not unless you are applying somehwere pretty crap.

Reply 10

lizzyd

allymcb2

Not unless you are applying somehwere pretty crap.

that's a bit harsh, there are some fairly decent universities that will accept it.

we have to do it, every year the sixth formers try and get out of it but it never works.
they offered it for GCSE this year so most of us took it just to get an extra GCSE- it was such a joke though, no one took it seriously!

Reply 11

KerriT

allymcb2

Not unless you are applying somehwere pretty crap.

I wouldn't call Leeds, Sussex and Southampton pretty crap. They all accept General Studies for History and Southampton even included it in my offer. On the other hand, Canterbury Christ Church accept it for practically everything, and their standard offer is CC. I'm sorry, but if you only get a C in General Studies and a C in another subject you are not university material.

Reply 12

sluggabed

depends entirely on the course and institution... generally the russel group unis don't accept it, but they won't penalise you if you HAVE taken it, so long as you have 3 other a levels.

i took the whole a level in 1 year without having any lessons...got an A, which was useful as even if they don't accept it, you will still stand out over someone without it who is relying on their AS grades alone.

Reply 13

supertramp

does it?..can it influence your offer?

Hell yes! Sheffield counts it and Sheffield is bloody good. I'm partly relying on my general studies grade to get in.

Reply 14

darryl

lil_one

My school doesnt offer GS :frown:

should I be worried?

My college does but I didn't take it but I still got 6 offers, including some top 10 universities (including Imperial College).

Don't fret, just concentrate on what you have control over :wink: