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What's the point of doing 4 A-levels?

As far as I can see, not even Oxbridge want 4 full A-levels. The max requirement is like 3 A-levels and 1 AS.

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Original post by champ_mc99
As far as I can see, not even Oxbridge want 4 full A-levels. The max requirement is like 3 A-levels and 1 AS.


A lot of people applying to top universities (particularly those doing sciences) do take 4 full A Levels because they can and to prepare better for the course but yes, you're right, there's no clear cut advantage of taking 4 A Levels, at least not in terms of getting offers from universities. Some universities will give out offers based on 4 A Levels if you take them but none require you to have taken four. I don't even think I've ever seen an official document from a university saying that taking 4 A Levels will give you an advantage. But as I said, some people take 4 A2s because they can. I didn't want to drop any of my subjects which is why I continued all 4 to A2. The advantage for me was that I found it interesting and challenging.
(edited 8 years ago)
Some people also like to actually learn things for the sake of knowledge.
Original post by jamesmc12
Some people also like to actually learn things for the sake of knowledge.


Agree. People can enjoy acquiring knowledge for its own sake, plus it's a challenge :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by Plagioclase
A lot of people applying to top universities (particularly those doing sciences) do take 4 full A Levels because they can and to prepare better for the course but yes, you're right, there's no clear cut advantage of taking 4 A Levels, at least not in terms of getting offers from universities. Some universities will give out offers based on 4 A Levels if you take them but none require you to have taken four. I don't even think I've ever seen an official document from a university saying that taking 4 A Levels will give you an advantage. But as I said, some people take 4 A2s because they can. I didn't want to drop any of my subjects which is why I continued all 4 to A2. The advantage for me was that I found it interesting and challenging.


Original post by jamesmc12
Some people also like to actually learn things for the sake of knowledge.


Ok fine, I understand the enjoyment of learning and taking up the challenge but a person who is taking 3 only, will have less on his plate so has more time to focus all energy in achieving better results than those in competition with him who are taking full 4. Is it really worth the risk if there may not be any real advantage in securing a place?
There is actually an advantage in taking 4 A2 levels. This is more evident when most of the people in your school take 4, but you only take 3. Top unis will be aware of these things.

Ofcourse unis like Oxford have to say 3 A2 is just fine, or else they are discriminating. But what they prefer or 'want to see' is a different story.
Original post by champ_mc99
As far as I can see, not even Oxbridge want 4 full A-levels. The max requirement is like 3 A-levels and 1 AS.


As far as I know there are only a handful of courses that require four A-Levels; Law at Churchill College Cambridge and Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.
Original post by champ_mc99
Ok fine, I understand the enjoyment of learning and taking up the challenge but a person who is taking 3 only, will have less on his plate so has more time to focus all energy in achieving better results than those in competition with him who are taking full 4. Is it really worth the risk if there may not be any real advantage in securing a place?


That's something you've got to decide. My school tried to pressure me into taking 5 subjects for AS and I refused for similar reasons to what you've mentioned - I wanted more time to spend on extracurricular pursuits like the Engineering Education Scheme, reading and also relaxation, because it is important not to get too stressed. I thought that was a very good decision. However, I enjoyed all of my AS subjects and didn't want to drop any of them for A2 which is why I decided that it would be worth it to carry on with all four. I did have less free time than in Year 12 but I still had enough time to devote a lot of resources to my Extended Project and university applications in the first term, and then spent more time on revision in the last two terms. You've also got to know how much time you need. I knew from previous experience that I don't need to spend as much time revising outside of school as some others might need which is why I was confident with my decision to take 4 A2s but if you know that you're the kind of person who needs to spend more time on their work - which is fine - then it might not be sensible.

If you think taking 4 A2s is going to negatively impact your results, do not take 4 A2s. On the other hand, if you know that you can deal with 4 A2s and you want to take 4 A2s, there's no harm in doing that.
Original post by colourtheory
As far as I know there are only a handful of courses that require four A-Levels; Law at Churchill College Cambridge and Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London.


Well pretty much any tough course at Imperial (so like all of them) will have a proclivity to give out a 4 A-Level offer if you do take 4, technically making it easier to get one in the first place with 4. I was told this personally by an admissions tutor at my interview. My offer for Pure Maths at imperial was A*A*AA. (Meeting this offer was hell but I made it happen anyway)

Pretty sure Oxbridge are the same ie. quietly preferring 4 A2 levels
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by champ_mc99
Ok fine, I understand the enjoyment of learning and taking up the challenge but a person who is taking 3 only, will have less on his plate so has more time to focus all energy in achieving better results than those in competition with him who are taking full 4. Is it really worth the risk if there may not be any real advantage in securing a place?


Not really. There really is no advantage in taking three. I know people with 6 A-Levels doing Law at Ox and people with 3 A-Levels doing Law at Ox. It's about how you think and not how much you've done at college. Academic potential over volume of content already covered.
Reply 10
I do further maths, so doing three A-Levels would feel like I'm doing two and would just become tedious and boring

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Also some are more like 3.5 A-Levels. I did Maths, Further Maths, Physics and PE at A Level and although it was a lot of work, it felt like I was doing only 3 as half my maths was covered in physics too. They complimented each other and I enjoyed it. I still had plenty of time - I worked part time and competed internationally. Still got A*s and As - it's possible :smile: I did 4 because it just worked for me, not because I wanted it for uni.
Original post by Infamous7
Well pretty much any tough course at Imperial will have a proclivity to give out a 4 A-Level offer. My offer for Pure Maths at imperial was A*A*AA.


Thanks for clarifying.

Law at Churchill College Cambridge is either A*A*A* or A*A*AA which I always thought was a little elitist.
Original post by colourtheory
Thanks for clarifying.

Law at Churchill College Cambridge is either A*A*A* or A*A*AA which I always thought was a little elitist.


Yeah pretty much the same policy at Imperial, if I remember correctly. Though my friend got an offer of A*A*A*A for JMC (the hardest and most respected course at Imperial excluding medicine). Look on the Imperial applicants page you will see tons of these crazy offers.

He made it but damn that offer brah
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 14
Original post by colourtheory
Not really. There really is no advantage in taking three. I know people with 6 A-Levels doing Law at Ox and people with 3 A-Levels doing Law at Ox. It's about how you think and not how much you've done at college. Academic potential over volume of content already covered.


This kinda encourages my point lol
Original post by Infamous7
Yeah pretty much the same policy at Imperial, if I remember correctly. My friend got an offer of A*A*A*A for JMC (the hardest and most respected course at Imperial excluding medicine).

He made it but damn that offer brah


That offer is so high I would feel so overwhelmed in all of my exams!
This is what Imperial say. "Our standard minimum A-level offer is A*A*A - A*A*AA with an A* in Maths and Further Maths. For further recommendations on A-levels, see Qualification Advice for JMC."
That's the minimum. People have much more than that. Lmao the Computing dept at imperial shames my dept lol
Reply 17
I have to admit that when I started AS, I was told that the college expected most people to drop a course by A2 anyway (or would suggest it). I did take four courses but ended up dropping one because I wasn't enjoying it, so for me, the point of taking four A-Levels was to find out what I was good at...(which I honestly thought was the point at first!).
Original post by Infamous7
Yeah pretty much the same policy at Imperial, if I remember correctly. Though my friend got an offer of A*A*A*A for JMC (the hardest and most respected course at Imperial excluding medicine). Look on the Imperial applicants page you will see tons of these crazy offers.

He made it but damn that offer brah


Poor soul...
Reply 19
Original post by Infamous7
This is what Imperial say. "Our standard minimum A-level offer is A*A*A - A*A*AA with an A* in Maths and Further Maths. For further recommendations on A-levels, see Qualification Advice for JMC."
That's the minimum. People have much more than that. Lmao the Computing dept at imperial shames my dept lol


What's the computing one like then?

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