4th AS important?

Hi all,
I am really struggling with my 4th AS level, failed my January exams despite massive effort and just hate it. I will obviously not take this AS on to A level, but am wondering whether I should just drop it now instead of wasting effort and getting depressed taking the exams in May/June?
So I am basically wondering what the consequences of having 3 AS levels instead of 4 will be, bearing in mind the 4th will be a poor grade? I guess it will mean less ucas points, but I have 3 older siblings at uni and all their offers were grade based (i.e. AAB or BCC in your A levels) instead of based on ucas points.
Thanks for any advice.x

Reply 1

pinksparkles2

Yeah I would say drop it if you know your going to get a bad grade. I got a D in my 4th AS and its not going to go towards anything because like you said, all my uni offers are grade based.
It was music and I revised really hard for it and still got the highest in the class with a D. I feel like it was such a waste of revision time now.
xx

Reply 2

GemmyMonster

You could always take up a new AS level for your second year anyway..

It depends what course you want to do I think - some specify 3.5 A Levels (so 3 A2 and 1 AS).

Reply 3

*pitseleh*

As a general rule, the higher up in the league tables your chosen university is, the less likely they are to make you a points-based offer. So especially if you're aiming high, there's a fair likelihood that you'll get a grades-based offer anyway. Why don't you look at the online prospectuses of the universities you might be interested? Or even type in your proposed course onto UCAS - it will come up with a list of all the universities that offer your course, and if you click on the course titles you can find out whether the entry requirements revolve around points or grades.

It's pretty rare for a university to make a grades-based offer for more than three A-levels... and I don't know if this opinion applies across the board, but on the Oxford website they actually state that it's better to get AAA than AABB.

If I were you, and there was no way I could improve my grades in that last AS, I would probably drop it and just work very hard at the other three. Don't forget you can always take up another AS next year if you feel that your application is missing something.

Reply 4

city_chic

If you drop the subject, you could strengthen your application by taking an extra AS next year, or taking an AEA, or even taking an extra GCSE.

Reply 5

βored

^ I agree. Drop it if you are going to fail and pick up another AS next year.

Reply 6

xxmehzzixx

nah, it isnt that important cos am doing 3, we dont have to do 4 in my 6th form...

but my advice is that if u h8 it anyway and likely to fail it then, drop it!

Reply 7

I Wanna Be Adored

I believe I am in the same boat as you, genderless one. I've wanted to drop theology for so long, I revised for January and my results have come back and I've got an E and I wouldn't mind, had I not actually revised! I just feel as though me hating it so much has led to me being destined to do shoddy. In all honesty, the grade I will get at the end of the year will probably drag my UCAS down if I don't get rid of it. I've tried, I gave them an exam to see if I could do it, and I've really ****ed up. I feel as though I have let them down, but at the same time, I know it's the best thing to focus on my other 3 and I'll probably pick up an AS in ICT or something next year.