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I would be working 15-25 hours a week doing 4 A-Levels too much?

I recently got offered a job and stupidly said i could work a maximum of 15-25 hours however i don't know how i would organise my time.
I would be working after school roughly only 5 hours and since its 15-25 hours weekly i would have to do about 16 hours on the weekend..
Would this be too many hours
as I am doing English Literature, History, Biology, Psychology
So I kind of need advice, as I would kind of need the funds but need the grades more.
I'm only just starting AS and need roughly A*-A-B grades for my uni.
All advice is grateful

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Reply 1
Original post by khateshumans
I recently got offered a job and stupidly said i could work a maximum of 15-25 hours however i don't know how i would organise my time.
I would be working after school roughly only 5 hours and since its 15-25 hours weekly i would have to do about 16 hours on the weekend..
Would this be too many hours
as I am doing English Literature, History, Biology, Psychology
So I kind of need advice, as I would kind of need the funds but need the grades more.
I'm only just starting AS and need roughly A*-A-B grades for my uni.
All advice is grateful


I am afraid it would be to much, my college advice no more than 8 hours of work, you really would struggle to cope, sorry.
My sixth form also said no more than 8 hours. A levels are a lot of work, especially around exam/ coursework time, and you really would be straining yourself. Maybe when you get to uni, 15 hrs is okay, but at a level given the number of hours you have for each subject, it seems to me to be too much.
It'll be fine if you are good at being organised, although I wouldn't recommend that number of hours immediately before exams.
You would be totally shattered 100% of the time, which would weaken your concentration. If you want to get those grades, you need to be able to dedicate as much time as possible to your schoolwork. Sorry :/
Reply 5
Original post by Emsta
I am afraid it would be to much, my college advice no more than 8 hours of work, you really would struggle to cope, sorry.


could you not talk to them and see if they would cut your hours down, because it would be a shame to let a job opportunity go
My school said no more than 8 hours as well, I think it's a general guide. One of my friends worked about 15 hours a week (even during exams!) for really, really low pay, and she ended up with BCC.
Deffo ask if you can get hours cut down
My opinion:
You will probably fail, you're doing four subjects and most drop one after the first year, you'd probs get four U's due to stress and no time to revise.
You will need to do lots and lots of out of school revision because not all teachers are good teachers....self teaching might be necessary.
A levels are literally the most hellish years of your academic life and its getting harder and harder so i suggest you hold off the job.
I know people who had to work loads, and they dropped out of college because they couldn't handle both.
A levels are nothing like GCSE's, you can't revise a week before hand and get A*'s boo
(edited 8 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by khateshumans
I recently got offered a job and stupidly said i could work a maximum of 15-25 hours however i don't know how i would organise my time.
I would be working after school roughly only 5 hours and since its 15-25 hours weekly i would have to do about 16 hours on the weekend..
Would this be too many hours
as I am doing English Literature, History, Biology, Psychology
So I kind of need advice, as I would kind of need the funds but need the grades more.
I'm only just starting AS and need roughly A*-A-B grades for my uni.
All advice is grateful


I'm doing 12 hours (3x4h) and that feels like quite a lot - so yes, 15-25 would definitely be too much...
Original post by NutellaLuv
Gospel truth:
You will probably fail, you're doing four subjects and most drop one after the first year, you'd probs get four U's due to stress and no time to revise.
You will need to do lots and lots of out of school revision because not all teachers are good teachers....self teaching might be necessary.
A levels are literally the most hellish years of your academic life and its getting harder and harder so i suggest you hold off the job


I saw many students excel at A level and go to some of the best universities in the country despite working (some close to full time hours, myself included). So, unless A levels have become significantly harder in the last 15 years (the massive grade inflation says the opposite is true), any semi-competent student would have no problem working and getting good grades.
I got like 3 As 4 Bs and 2 Cs at GCSE if that means anything
and the job pays roughly 7.30 an hour I could possibly cut down my hours and I would be planning to drop psychology once I get to A2 anyways, and if neccesary I will take AS OR A2 again
Original post by Emsta
could you not talk to them and see if they would cut your hours down, because it would be a shame to let a job opportunity go


Possibly but as its a new job I wouldn't really know how to voice that after so recently saying I could do a number of hrs
Original post by Quantex
I saw many students excel at A level and go to some of the best universities in the country despite working (some close to full time hours, myself included). So, unless A levels have become significantly harder in the last 15 years (the massive grade inflation says the opposite is true), any semi-competent student would have no problem working and getting good grades.


They are pretty tricky nowadays, i've noticed, they want less people going to uni apparently (but Btecs say otherwise, but even they're trying to make them trickier too)
I don't deem it impossible, just no a bright idea, generally its a bad idea as lots of people who work and study tend to drop education b

Op: I'd suggest cutting down your hours
My friend works 12 hours a week and achieved AAC, whilst I work 9 hours a week and achieved A*BB. We both got into our first choice universities, but even through only working 9 hours a week, I was shattered. It's fine when you don't have any other commitments, but consider this:

Any free time, you'll have will be devoted to working or doing schoolwork. You need some time to yourself to rest, otherwise you will definitely burn out. My school advised doing no more than 10 hours per week, so I'd suggest going down to that at a maximum.

15-25 hours is probably more than you think.
Original post by Green_Otaku
My friend works 12 hours a week and achieved AAC, whilst I work 9 hours a week and achieved A*BB. We both got into our first choice universities, but even through only working 9 hours a week, I was shattered. It's fine when you don't have any other commitments, but consider this:

Any free time, you'll have will be devoted to working or doing schoolwork. You need some time to yourself to rest, otherwise you will definitely burn out. My school advised doing no more than 10 hours per week, so I'd suggest going down to that at a maximum.

15-25 hours is probably more than you think.


So would you say that i should significantly cut them down to 12 (which the lowest hours day do) or stay at the 15 which I suggested

BTW 25 is the MAX i said i could do not neccesarily meaning I will be doing 15
Original post by khateshumans
Possibly but as its a new job I wouldn't really know how to voice that after so recently saying I could do a number of hrs


Just be honest and say you can't do it. I told my employers I could do 11 hours a week but got my results and decided that I should do less hours and focus more on A-levels. They were fine with it and now my hours are cut down to 6. :smile:
Reply 16
Original post by khateshumans
I recently got offered a job and stupidly said i could work a maximum of 15-25 hours however i don't know how i would organise my time.
I would be working after school roughly only 5 hours and since its 15-25 hours weekly i would have to do about 16 hours on the weekend..
Would this be too many hours
as I am doing English Literature, History, Biology, Psychology
So I kind of need advice, as I would kind of need the funds but need the grades more.
I'm only just starting AS and need roughly A*-A-B grades for my uni.
All advice is grateful


Believe me it is doable. I studied for my A-levels 5 years ago. I got kicked out of my house at 16, lived in temporary accommodation. I had to get a job to support myself (mcdonalds!). My sister also lost her child at the time, so I had all of that going on! Went full time to help my sister out with funeral fees etc.

But I still wanted to do my A-levels. I pretty much got my college to give me some homework and the textbooks. I taught myself AS Maths, physics, chemistry and biology. I had two days off during the week (no weekends off) to go to school. I had to pay for my own exams, because my attendance was so bad. It was a mess. Did all of the modules. Got As in every module (apart from a B in one of the physics modules). I was so happy of what I acheived, I didn't get extenuating circumstances either.

The year after I was able to just work the weekends at mcdonalds and spend all my week going to school it was great.
15 hours might be manageable if you're good at organising time, but beyond that would not be wise. Most sixth forms say a maximum of 8-10 hours because A-Levels are really hard work and you get given lots of work to do.
Original post by craig12
Believe me it is doable. I studied for my A-levels 5 years ago. I got kicked out of my house at 16, lived in temporary accommodation. I had to get a job to support myself (mcdonalds!). My sister also lost her child at the time, so I had all of that going on! Went full time to help my sister out with funeral fees etc.

But I still wanted to do my A-levels. I pretty much got my college to give me some homework and the textbooks. I taught myself AS Maths, physics, chemistry and biology. I had two days off during the week (no weekends off) to go to school. I had to pay for my own exams, because my attendance was so bad. It was a mess. Did all of the modules. Got As in every module (apart from a B in one of the physics modules). I was so happy of what I acheived, I didn't get extenuating circumstances either.

The year after I was able to just work the weekends at mcdonalds and spend all my week going to school it was great.


wow craig this helped a LOT as this is relatively similar to my current situation more comment would be verrry much appreciated:smile:
Reply 19
Original post by khateshumans
wow craig this helped a LOT as this is relatively similar to my current situation more comment would be verrry much appreciated:smile:


You just have to find different and effective ways of learning. I found as I had around on average 15hrs study time per week I devised ways of memorising things. For Biology all I did is draw diagrams and diagrams and diagrams. It was the easiest way of memorising everything. For chemistry I did a similar technique, the maths was pretty straight forward and the application of theory came naturally to me luckily.

For physics and maths I put the hours in. I used online sources for help, I studied the textbooks and fortunately for me my friend I was living with for a while his dad teaches Maths undergrads at Uni of Liverpool.

My biggest advice is try and find a way of effective/succinct learning. Don't just memorise, understand things. Get the basis of understanding at then learn all the bulky stuff around it. After that learn about things outside the syllabus. I did this for both chem and bio and got A*s in both. It is all about how you utlise your time.

Good Luck.

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