How hard are biology and chemistry A Level?
Also maths if you can help?
I'm not a great lover of practicals, how hard are they and how are they marked/graded?
Posted from TSR Mobile
I'm not a great lover of practicals, how hard are they and how are they marked/graded?
Posted from TSR Mobile
DEpends on what you consider difficult. A lot of people find biology the easiest but I found it the hardest of biology, chemistry, and maths.
Conceptually I'd personally say none of those are difficult at A Level but if you're not one for examinations then the actual qualification is difficult.
Conceptually I'd personally say none of those are difficult at A Level but if you're not one for examinations then the actual qualification is difficult.
Original post by Username97
Also maths if you can help?
I'm not a great lover of practicals, how hard are they and how are they marked/graded?
Posted from TSR Mobile
I'm not a great lover of practicals, how hard are they and how are they marked/graded?
Posted from TSR Mobile
I find A Levels are a jump up from GCSEs, GCSE to AS is a big jump, then AS to A2 is another jump.
Chemistry is one of the hardest A Levels I did, you really have to work hard to learn mechanisms and equations.
Maths is also a hard A Level, I do Maths as a degree, but if you find GCSE maths hard, A Level maths will be a whole other level.
Biology is a rather easy A Level in my opinion, I found AS Biology easy and A2 didn't look too hard.
I do AS biology, chemistry and maths, and they're not too bad, but it depends on you and your strengths.
Personally, biology is easier than the others, but there is a lot more you need to know and be able to remember.
With the other 2, its really important to actually understand the concept rather than memorise what the textbook says.
Basically, they can be hard initially, and if you don't put the effort in, but if you do actually work for it, do the work and go the extra mile, you shouldn't find it too hard
In terms of making, maths is 100% exam, so that's marked externally.
Science exams are marked externally as well, but depending on exam board, coursework can be marked internally then externally moderated, or may just be marked externally.
Personally, biology is easier than the others, but there is a lot more you need to know and be able to remember.
With the other 2, its really important to actually understand the concept rather than memorise what the textbook says.
Basically, they can be hard initially, and if you don't put the effort in, but if you do actually work for it, do the work and go the extra mile, you shouldn't find it too hard
In terms of making, maths is 100% exam, so that's marked externally.
Science exams are marked externally as well, but depending on exam board, coursework can be marked internally then externally moderated, or may just be marked externally.
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by nicatre
DEpends on what you consider difficult. A lot of people find biology the easiest but I found it the hardest of biology, chemistry, and maths.
Conceptually I'd personally say none of those are difficult at A Level but if you're not one for examinations then the actual qualification is difficult.
Conceptually I'd personally say none of those are difficult at A Level but if you're not one for examinations then the actual qualification is difficult.
I think I'm better at exams than practicals (just learn it, understand it and answer questions on it)
Posted from TSR Mobile
Differs a fair amount between exam boards, from what I hear.
I did OCR Chemistry A, Biology, Physics (AS) and Edexcel Maths. The practicals are worth 20% of your overall grade, so if you don't perform too well you can always make up for it in exams. In terms of actual difficulty, practicals tend to be all right as long as you sufficiently prepare for them.
The exams are reasonably difficult, but certainly manageable. It shouldn't be that difficult to get an A provided you have a strong work ethic both in class and at home.
I personally found Maths to be my easiest A-Level due to the fact that past papers are all you really need for revision, followed by Chemistry/Physics and finally Biology. There wasn't a great jump in difficulty between AS and A2 for Maths and Chemistry, but I felt that the volume of information required for A2 Biology was considerably greater then AS.
Most of the above is simply my personal opinion and is in no way reflective of the larger student population. If you think you'll enjoy these subjects, then by all means go for it! If you have passion for your subjects and truly wish to excel, you'll find a way to make it happen!
I did OCR Chemistry A, Biology, Physics (AS) and Edexcel Maths. The practicals are worth 20% of your overall grade, so if you don't perform too well you can always make up for it in exams. In terms of actual difficulty, practicals tend to be all right as long as you sufficiently prepare for them.
The exams are reasonably difficult, but certainly manageable. It shouldn't be that difficult to get an A provided you have a strong work ethic both in class and at home.
I personally found Maths to be my easiest A-Level due to the fact that past papers are all you really need for revision, followed by Chemistry/Physics and finally Biology. There wasn't a great jump in difficulty between AS and A2 for Maths and Chemistry, but I felt that the volume of information required for A2 Biology was considerably greater then AS.
Most of the above is simply my personal opinion and is in no way reflective of the larger student population. If you think you'll enjoy these subjects, then by all means go for it! If you have passion for your subjects and truly wish to excel, you'll find a way to make it happen!
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Username97
I think I'm better at exams than practicals (just learn it, understand it and answer questions on it)
Posted from TSR Mobile
Posted from TSR Mobile
If you enjoy the content and your exam technique is good then A Level's will be a breeze.
Original post by advice_guru
I find A Levels are a jump up from GCSEs, GCSE to AS is a big jump, then AS to A2 is another jump.
Chemistry is one of the hardest A Levels I did, you really have to work hard to learn mechanisms and equations.
Maths is also a hard A Level, I do Maths as a degree, but if you find GCSE maths hard, A Level maths will be a whole other level.
Biology is a rather easy A Level in my opinion, I found AS Biology easy and A2 didn't look too hard.
Chemistry is one of the hardest A Levels I did, you really have to work hard to learn mechanisms and equations.
Maths is also a hard A Level, I do Maths as a degree, but if you find GCSE maths hard, A Level maths will be a whole other level.
Biology is a rather easy A Level in my opinion, I found AS Biology easy and A2 didn't look too hard.
I don't find maths easy, but it's not the hardest thing in the world (despite me being in the bottom set at my grammar school) I achieved an A* in unit 1 (resit)and am resitting unit 2 to try and get an A*. I did some practice a level questions which i got right and my teacher recommends I do it, so I'm guessing I'm on the right track??
At the moment I don't find biology GCSE too challenging, chemistry is more difficult, but is it true that its purely based on effort?
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I find biology harder than chemistry. Admittedly the content in chemistry is harder more complicated but the exam questions are straight forward so if you learn the stuff you get the marks. Biology has a lot of questions where you have to apply your knowledge and it's sometimes hard to tell what you need to put in order to get the marks.
The papers may differ though depending on exam boards I'm doing AQA bio and OCR chem. incidentally for our biology coursework we're not actually assessed on carrying out the practical as such
This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
The papers may differ though depending on exam boards I'm doing AQA bio and OCR chem. incidentally for our biology coursework we're not actually assessed on carrying out the practical as such
This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by Username97
I don't find maths easy, but it's not the hardest thing in the world (despite me being in the bottom set at my grammar school) I achieved an A* in unit 1 (resit)and am resitting unit 2 to try and get an A*. I did some practice a level questions which i got right and my teacher recommends I do it, so I'm guessing I'm on the right track??
At the moment I don't find biology GCSE too challenging, chemistry is more difficult, but is it true that its purely based on effort?
Posted from TSR Mobile
At the moment I don't find biology GCSE too challenging, chemistry is more difficult, but is it true that its purely based on effort?
Posted from TSR Mobile
Don't forget with maths, you'll have to sit 3 exams, which get increasingly difficult in terms of the content, so you have to make sure that if you do choose maths, that you're actually working towards a good grade.
I found GCSE sciences easy if I'm honest, and at A levels, they definately require more thought, but they're not impossible. Similarly, having all the effort won't guarantee you pass them, its having the mix between effort and working. There's a clear distinction between the two at A levels.
Original post by Username97
I don't find maths easy, but it's not the hardest thing in the world (despite me being in the bottom set at my grammar school) I achieved an A* in unit 1 (resit)and am resitting unit 2 to try and get an A*. I did some practice a level questions which i got right and my teacher recommends I do it, so I'm guessing I'm on the right track??
At the moment I don't find biology GCSE too challenging, chemistry is more difficult, but is it true that its purely based on effort?
Posted from TSR Mobile
At the moment I don't find biology GCSE too challenging, chemistry is more difficult, but is it true that its purely based on effort?
Posted from TSR Mobile
I highly recommend a Maths A Level, it looks very good on a university application whatever you choose to do at uni in the end.
Effort is important in whatever you do, you could be the son of albert einstien but be so so lazy. You would fail in that case. You could also be not the smartest cookie but work your ass off and get good grades.
If you want to succeed always push yourself and try hard. If you get stuck, ask for help.
Hard unless you work!
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