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Which step up would you say is bigger? GCSE to A level or A level to degree?

When I was going in to A-level , everyone said that the jump between GCSE and A level is bigger than the jump from A level to degree level, and when discussing starting university with people no one seemed to think about the academic aspect being a problem/being hard.
Having started my first year at university I think thats a load of rubbish, I've found the jump here so much bigger. What does everyone think about this? Why do people say this? Maybe it depends on the subject
Reply 1
Avatar for samsama
samsama
8
I think there is a bigger gap in the actual course content difficulty from GCSE to A level.
However, at university you are responsible for your own learning; there are no teachers to force work on you, and often the style of teaching is different at university with lecture theatres containing hundreds of students.

Because of this, learning can be more difficult in university if you haven't adapted, even though the actual stuff you need to learn isn't as big of a step up.
Reply 2
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em.d_4
17
Original post by 2bon2bt=t?
When I was going in to A-level , everyone said that the jump between GCSE and A level is bigger than the jump from A level to degree level, and when discussing starting university with people no one seemed to think about the academic aspect being a problem/being hard.
Having started my first year at university I think thats a load of rubbish, I've found the jump here so much bigger. What does everyone think about this? Why do people say this? Maybe it depends on the subject

I study medicine and at this point I'd say GCSE to alevel and alevel to degree were quite equal steps really.
Degree is a bigger life step though which can make it feel a bigger jump and it's a different learning style.
I imagine it depends a lot on your degree though
I've found that on the whole the learning environment at Uni is very different to that at A Level... but as far as difficulty the jump for me was a lot easier than that of GCSE to A Level. On top of that I'm studying a subject I've never done before D: I really think it depends on the type of learner you are, if you are happy to get on with your own work and not be spoon fed Uni isn't too difficult. I actually struggled far more at A Level than I have as a first year :smile:
Speaking as a maths student, a level to university was the bigger step up by a vast amount. GCSE to a-level was barely noticeable. I guess that comes with the territory though considering university mathematics is completely different to a-level/gcse standards.
Who nose
Reply 6
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erudite
7
Tbh if we can do alevels we can do anything
Reply 7
Avatar for 2bon2bt=t?
2bon2bt=t?
OP
Original post by alex2100x
Speaking as a maths student, a level to university was the bigger step up by a vast amount. GCSE to a-level was barely noticeable. I guess that comes with the territory though considering university mathematics is completely different to a-level/gcse standards.


yep, I do maths too, tbh I think thats where the problem is :confused: its just so different

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