i have direct comparision to a levels as i spent a year in england doing the AS. And I must admit, its easier, you only have to focus on 4 subjects. Whereas we have 11. You get an A till 80% our A = 86%
Plus, the exams are only on half a year, we get grades over two years and the final exam is about the whole of 2 years. You can resit, we can't. Now try to constantly have in 11 different subjects only A's. The 1.5 abitur oxford wants for example would mean that i'm only allowed to get 13 = 86% and 12 = 81% points. And this over 2 years. Also does our exams require alot of transfer thinking, whereas i barley met this in As level (comparing maths and physics). The was one transfer question, in on maths exam i can remember, an i cann assure you 90% of the student had no clue. Im not saying that A-Level is that easy or anything, i'm sure you still have to work hard and alot.