Is AS/ A level difficulty over-rated?

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Hi guys, I'm choosing A levels soon.
I'm hoping to choose:-

Geography - in GCSE I got a B - Would I find this at A level extremely difficult?
Economics - In GCSE maths i'm predicted a C, is this worthy of doing if my maths isn't overly that great?
English lang & Lit - Big jump compared to GCSE?
Sociology - What is the content like? Is it a lot to learn?
Biology - Is it worthy of doing if i'm predicted a B in science if my science isn't overly great?

From what my friends have said, geography and sociology aren't too bad at all- sociology is certainly easier if you're interested in the subject :smile:

biology is manageable from a B grade, but you need to step up in terms of revision to manage the sheer content.
Do you need to take so many subjects? I'd say that economics would be difficult from C-grade maths, is there a particular reason why you wanted to take it?

Reply 41

Toriar

Yeah I heard a lot of horror stories about AS and it was absolutely not as bad as I was expecting. I'm finding the step up from AS to A2 much harder than from GCSE to AS.

Reply 42

amamsy

Original post by clh_hilary

In general the British qualifications are being seen as a lot less rigorous than those in the orient.

Erm, well, I'm "oriental", and we follow the British education system (at least in my country)...I'm pretty sure we get the same exams, too, because I remember chatting about my GCSEs with people on TSR and comparing answers last year :biggrin:

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Reply 43

ThatPerson

Original post by amamsy

I started my AS recently (September), and it's been going okay. I take sciences...no maths :ahee:

At GCSE, all everyone talked about was how horrible A level sciences are, how you fail stuff even if you study loads, how it's a huge and shocking jump from GCSE, etc.
But I think it's not that bad...?
Admittedly, we are doing semi-basic topics atm (Bio: DNA structure, genes, mutation. Chem: shapes of molecules and bond angles. Phys: moments, torques) but still, I was expecting it to be really tough right from the start...
Are A levels just over rated, or is that "huge, shocking jump from GCSE" going to come later?
Also, any advice for sciences would be appreciated :biggrin:

Posted from TSR Mobile

The beginning of the course is quite simple. One thing that I found with AS Levels at least, was that it was very possible to understand every topic as it was introduced in lessons, yet not have the required exam technique to do well in the actual exam. (Note: What I mean by "well" is subjective; in my case I mean high UMS). Personally, the only exam that I found really difficult was the AQA Physics EMPA.

How much work you need to do depends on what results you want to get. What kind of degree do you want to do and at what kind of university?

Reply 44

amamsy

Original post by PinkSkyComplex

When I started AS, I thought the same as you about Chemistry and Biology (not maths though... struggled with maths).
But, for me, it did get a lot harder when it came to actual exams, especially with chemistry.
You might be one of those lucky people who seem to breeze through though :colondollar:

Thanks!
Everyone's been warning me about chemistry in particular :erm:

eep.
And I highly doubt the "breeze through" thing, lol :redface:

I'm not one of those natural geniuses, unfortunately :tongue:

I had to work my butt off to ace my GCSEs, and I'll probably have to do the same this year. *sigh*. The struggles of being of average intelligence :colondollar:

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Reply 45

amamsy

Original post by ThatPerson

I definitely need As and Bs at the very least, since I want to do medicine! :redface:

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Reply 46

PinkSkyComplex

Original post by amamsy

Thanks!
Everyone's been warning me about chemistry in particular :erm:

eep.
And I highly doubt the "breeze through" thing, lol :redface:

I'm not one of those natural geniuses, unfortunately :tongue:

I had to work my butt off to ace my GCSEs, and I'll probably have to do the same this year. *sigh*. The struggles of being of average intelligence :colondollar:

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Yeah, chemistry can get tricky.. I wish I had put more effort in at AS now. I ended up with a C, which could have been a lot worse, but it's going to be difficult to get my grade up this year.
As for biology, I think it's easy enough to understand for the most part, just takes a lot of time to make sure everything stays put in your head :tongue:

Reply 47

Caver

Original post by Ezme39

From what my friends have said, geography and sociology aren't too bad at all- sociology is certainly easier if you're interested in the subject :smile:

At the moment I'd love to do an English degree, but I would like to keep my options open in case I change my mind. :smile:

Reply 48

saibhandari

I think it's pretty overrated. GCSE and AS were pretty easy for me personally. All I can say is that the jump is a bit more noticeable from AS to A2 but it's still not much, unless you're doing science subjects. It is however, manageable (unless, like me you've suddenly realised that this is your last chance to do stuff at school and have signed up for like 5 extra curriculars on top of everything else). Hope this helped :smile:

Reply 49

CarysMoo

Original post by Caver

Thankyou! Does economics entail of equations or is it just learning terminology? What did you get at GCSE English lang&lit?

Economics has a fair few equations, but they're quite simple and easy to remember! The graphs I found more complicated, but it's just a case of learning how to draw a certain graph for certain questions/answers - from what I remember there wasn't too much figuring out and the maths was generally simple if you just practice. I got an A* in English Language and an A in English Literature at GCSE.

Overrated indeed.

Original post by amamsy

I started my AS recently (September), and it's been going okay. I take sciences...no maths :ahee:

Posted from TSR Mobile

If you want to do well in A level you have to make sure you read the notes from exam boards and give them what they want. I did way better at AS than GCSE's because I was passionate about my subjects and actually looked at what examiners had to say. There is a jump from GCSE to A level but if you understand the structure of how to answer exams now then there's no problem. Most people understand a lot but they are not trained to do well in A level exams.

Reply 52

YahimTHFC

Original post by Toriar

Yeah I heard a lot of horror stories about AS and it was absolutely not as bad as I was expecting. I'm finding the step up from AS to A2 much harder than from GCSE to AS.

Completely agree!!

Reply 53

cheeriosarenice

Original post by jake4198

As f thus far, they're definitely overrated.

I'm in year 12, doing 5 AS levels - maths, further maths, economics, history and geography - and the jump, though noticeable, isn't impossible.

Maths - having done further maths IGCSE, is extremely easy.
Further Maths - with revision, though really hard, isn't impossible - and it's manageable.
History - a lot of facts but same difficulty as GCSE.
Economics - though new to me, the content is incredibly straightforward.
Geography - how is this even an A level? Literally like an extension of GCSE.

I should also mention - I have a part time job, doing driving lessons and extra-curriculars. Maybe things will get harder, but at the moment, it's all talk and no bite.

What exam board did you do for igcse further, and A level further?

Reply 54

loperdoper

I think at first I was stunned by the higher workload, but it wasn't necessarily harder.
What really caught me out was the exam jump. Knowing the content isn't enough, you need to know the exams.

Reply 55

username1042689

For essay subjects, the biggest jump is that you really need to learn how to write at AS. That's the main skill you have to master. The actual content isn't usually a massive jump from GCSE.

For science subjects, I think the jump is exaggerated. Often it's a case of memorisation; there is a lot to memorise, though.

HOWEVER, don't get complacent. I know very clever people who have believed they can do well without trying and have come out with Cs instead of As. You have to put the work in. I don't thjnk A levels are easy at all.

Reply 56

Hollywood Hogan

Original post by amamsy

I started my AS recently (September), and it's been going okay. I take sciences...no maths :ahee:

Posted from TSR Mobile

The truth is that before 2000, Science A levels were very hard, so much that it was very possible to get into Medicine with ABB, with the A grade awarded to just over 20% of students in all subjects. Post 2000 things were made easier in all subjects, including the Sciences, with the number of A grades being awarded at just over 23%. Year on year this decline resulted in more dumbing down, so that the 26% barrier was broken for the first time.

I much preferred the challenge of the pre-2000 A levels, which encouraged further reading and independent thinking. The current A levels definitely don't do that, as you just need to revise using a few revision guides as with GCSEs. No wonder so many students find Maths and Physics too hard at university.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 57

Chlorophile

I think the difficulty itself might be overrated, but that's probably more because students who breezed through their GCSEs realise that they suddenly have to actually work rather than a genuinely massive leap in difficulty.

Reply 58

Scienceisgood

Am currently doing my degree and A levels are the most PAIN IN THE ASS thing I've ever done and never want to do again...

There's way to much "exam technique" and not enough of just asking you simple questions such because of the sheer amount of waffle in the papers themselves. :angry: