Choosing 5 AS levels?

Hi, I am currently in year 11 and deciding what to do next year for AS
I want to do Spanish, German, Maths, Economics and Computing.
Is it a good idea to do all five, or should I drop one, is there anyone who did five including two languages?. (I get A*s in my work in all these subjects at the moment)
Thank You!

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Reply 1

sunnyrays07

Original post by docterprocter

I'm doing 6 but just as long as you can cope! :tongue:

I might drop some subjects in year 13 though but since some A levels are changing, I found I could focus on some subjects in year 12 more than others etc.

Reply 2

_Caz_

Original post by sunnyrays07

I'm doing 6 but just as long as you can cope! :tongue:

I might drop some subjects in year 13 though but since some A levels are changing, I found I could focus on some subjects in year 12 more than others etc.

I'm in year 13 and doing 4 a levels (maths, further maths, chemistry and physics) at the moment and it's a lot of work. I strongly recommend that you drop something next year I don't think you'll need any more than four a2 levels. And it would be better to get 4 really good a levels than 6 less good ones. :smile:

it's up to you in the end though.

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Reply 3

sunnyrays07

Original post by _Caz_

it's up to you in the end though.

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Thank you for your advice! I actually currently in year 11 but I'm planning on taking the 6 A levels, although further maths is part of it. Would you say that I should maybe drop something then? I heard the step from GCSEs to A levels is quite big so do you think that I should maybe do less?

Reply 4

username877577

Original post by sunnyrays07

You are only in year 11 so I'd day concentrate on your GCSE and AS choices now.
See how the workload it at AS, then decide what to drop.

Although, 6 A levels is a lot, what about the IB as an alternative?

Reply 5

kelefi

do 4 AS levels, you might think that because you work at A* at GCSE you can get an A at AS, as i did. i soon found that "i got an A* at GCSE" will be of little use. an A* at gcse level probably equates to a low C at AS level. if you want to do 5 as levels, then you should ask to do some over summer (Thats what im doing with further maths). only take 5 if you dont think you can self teach an AS level in 6 weeks and you really want to. the 5th level makes no difference applying to uni :smile:

Reply 6

groovyd97

Why are you doing such broad AS levels, but not further maths? There is no point doing 5, unless you are doing further maths - from your options of computing, economics and maths, further maths would be an ideal addition. Otherwise you would limit yourself, as further maths is quite important for Econ or computing at uni

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Reply 7

username1560589

I took maths early and now do 4(further maths, biology, chemistry, physics) and take extra maths modules and STEP, which take more time/effort than A-levels. It is still manageable.
As the STEP and extra modules take so much time, it equates to at the very least another full A-level in terms of work. If you can work as effectively as me, you could do 6.

Reply 8

_Caz_

Original post by sunnyrays07

I really wouldn't recommend doing more than 5 AS levels. I think the step up from GCSE to a level is quite big but not half as big as the jump from AS to A2. I mean I used to have a part time job and edit and write for a college magazine while doing 4AS levels and managed to get four As quite comfortably but this year doing all four has stressed me out a lot - so much that I've given up my job and writing for the magazine. I mean it isn't up to me in the end but I'd recommend reducing your workload a bit.

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Reply 9

username1560589

Original post by kaytaylou

I wouldn't take 5 if you're doing two foreign languages unless you don't want a job or social life :colondollar:

How many serious A-level students have jobs during term?

I wouldn't get a job unless you don't want to do 5 A-levels.

Reply 10

Walt_14

You may as well do Further Maths if you want to study that or economics on the side.

Reply 11

missfats

Original post by _Caz_

it's up to you in the end though.

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Do maths + further maths lower your workload as they are essentially same subject, instead of having to take history for example.

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Reply 12

username1560589

Original post by kaytaylou

Quite a few state college students as not everybody's parents are willing to give them money all the time for uni.

A few at mine do, but no-one who does more than three A-levels has a job during term. It's just not feasible to put all of your time and effort into your subjects and also work dozens of hours per week on the top. After A-level work, further reading, eating and sleeping there isn't much time left in the week.
The maintenance loans should pay for the majority of expenses at uni.

Reply 13

username1560589

Original post by missfats

Do maths + further maths lower your workload as they are essentially same subject, instead of having to take history for example.

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Further maths gets a lot more difficult at A2, so shouldn't be taken as an easy subject.

Reply 14

username1560589

Original post by kaytaylou

My boyfriend is taking four next year and he's dropping his job cos it's gonna be too much but that's only because he takes further maths. :tongue:

Moral of the story is don't do more than four unless you're doing further

See above post. A2 further maths is quite a bit more difficult than A2 maths, or any other A-level(except additional further maths). It isn't an easy A-level, so shouldn't be taken as such. Taking it doesn't make four easier.

Reply 15

llamaspoon

Languages are extremely time consuming at A Level. I did two, and they're a lot of work. Five might be too much.

Reply 16

missfats

Original post by morgan8002

Further maths gets a lot more difficult at A2, so shouldn't be taken as an easy subject.

How about AS further maths?

is it a big step from maths.

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Reply 17

_Caz_

Original post by missfats

How about AS further maths?

is it a big step from maths.

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AS further maths is kind of on the same difficulty level as C2 in my opinion. You just deal with different topics like matrices and complex numbers (both of which do not turn up anywhere in normal maths, AS or A2)

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Reply 18

username1560589

Original post by missfats

How about AS further maths?

is it a big step from maths.

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Not really. FP1 is a little harder than C2. The first applied module of each type is easy(in first year you would likely do C1-2, M1, S1, D1, FP1).

Most of the stuff in FP1 is covered at a much more difficult level in FP2-4.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 19

_Caz_

Original post by missfats

Do maths + further maths lower your workload as they are essentially same subject, instead of having to take history for example.

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