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Most difficult A-Level subjects?

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Original post by 123456789012
That's not too bad then; I'd prefer exams over coursework any day. Have you done Maths, Chem and Bio as well then?


nooooooooo at least in coursework you have time to edit your essays and not sound like an uneducated pleb :lol:
And yes, Biology is easiest, Chemistry is hardest
Finding chem quite hard at A2. Disappointed since used to be my fav subject in AS. :frown:
Original post by yasaminO_o
nooooooooo at least in coursework you have time to edit your essays and not sound like an uneducated pleb :lol:
And yes, Biology is easiest, Chemistry is hardest


I feel that in coursework you spend too much trying to perfect your work, but at the end of the day you end up getting a decent grade. With exams, you can do really well by just looking at mark schemes to see what sorts of answers examiners expect and by knowing the content sufficiently.
Where do you guys think A level Psychology should be on the list. Around the top, middle or bottom of the list?
Original post by TheMadHatteress
Finding chem quite hard at A2. Disappointed since used to be my fav subject in AS. :frown:


What aspects do you find difficult? Memorising the mechanisms and stuff, or understanding the concepts in general?
You're saying Computing, Music, German, French, sciences and general studies are all harder than Maths??????

Hahahahahha

Maths is arguably the hardest A-level out there. The amount of practice you have to do, let alone the difficult questions that come up in the exam!!!!!!!!!!!
Original post by 123456789012
I feel that in coursework you spend too much trying to perfect your work, but at the end of the day you end up getting a decent grade. With exams, you can do really well by just looking at mark schemes to see what sorts of answers examiners expect and by knowing the content sufficiently.


I much prefer exams for science/maths courses but the humanities are so subjective. Of course the Latin-English translation and the English-Latin composition has to be assessed under exam conditions, but I feel I'd have found in doing coursework at least for the literature aspects much nicer.
Geography > physics > maths > geology.

Hardest single unit in A2 either magnetic field or mechanics in physics and easiest being C3 apart from integration in maths. Geography I only did up to AS but hated the exams.
Original post by bulkybros100
You're saying Computing, Music, German, French, sciences and general studies are all harder than Maths??????

Hahahahahha

Maths is arguably the hardest A-level out there. The amount of practice you have to do, let alone the difficult questions that come up in the exam!!!!!!!!!!!


I agree that Maths does require a lot of practice, there's no doubt. But once you've done plenty of questions you can tackle almost any question thrown at you in the exam.
For the subjects that I did (hardest to easiest) in AS:

Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Geography


For the subjects I do in A2:

Chemistry, Biology, Geography
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math42
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I would go Maths, English Literature, Further Maths, Physics (easiest to hardest). English is a bit low on that list and obviously General Studies' ranking is skewed by the fact nobody cares about it.
Original post by yasaminO_o
I much prefer exams for science/maths courses but the humanities are so subjective. Of course the Latin-English translation and the English-Latin composition has to be assessed under exam conditions, but I feel I'd have found in doing coursework at least for the literature aspects much nicer.


Yeah, fair point. I've just done Science and Maths A-Levels hence why I probably prefer exams over coursework. You're right about the fact that there's a lot of subjectivity in the humanities. But I think you have a better chance at getting higher grades in exams than coursework for the humanities subjects, especially since the examiners know that you have worked under pressure and so tend to more lenient when marking.
Easiest to hardest

Maths FurtherMaths Chemistry Biology


Posted from TSR Mobile
the hardest to easiest a-levels i had done:

philosophy, english lit, history then sociology

Spoiler

(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by 123456789012
I agree that Maths does require a lot of practice, there's no doubt. But once you've done plenty of questions you can tackle almost any question thrown at you in the exam.


true

From my experience
Hardest: Maths > Physics > Chemistry > Biology (Easiest)

Physics is pretty difficult because you have to really think and understand the context of the question and the theory behind it, in order to use the correct equation. Some of the concepts are also quite tricky.

Chemistry, the concepts are quite hard but the exam questions are often similar from each year, so you end up learning a lot of your answers from the mark schemes. But the papers have high grade boundaries to compensate.

Biology is quite easy to understand but you really have to learn it as you go along and really know your stuff. In the exam, they expect you to know every little detail. But once this is mastered it should be easy.
However, exam technique is also very important in biology, more than the other sciences - You have to focus on the command words, the way you phrase your answer and remember to use the correct key words and use them accurately. They're often very picky in the mark schemes, hence the low grade boundaries.
Original post by 123456789012
Yeah, fair point. I've just done Science and Maths A-Levels hence why I probably prefer exams over coursework. You're right about the fact that there's a lot of subjectivity in the humanities. But I think you have a better chance at getting higher grades in exams than coursework for the humanities subjects, especially since the examiners know that you have worked under pressure and so tend to more lenient when marking.


That's true, but it would make summer revision much simpler aha
Original post by sw651
Quite, I considered taking it but was advised against it, regret it now as I was turned away from law as a career path


You can still do it if you want to...
Reply 77
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ubisoft
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Original post by aliendays
I feel like law should be much higher than that


Why do you feel that? Because you do it? :lol:

Law is 100% remembering. You don't have to think once.
Original post by 123456789012
What aspects do you find difficult? Memorising the mechanisms and stuff, or understanding the concepts in general?


The concepts are a lot more harder to grasp I would say. But then again, I've been quite busy with uni applications, so maybe just a little more hard work will solve all the problems hopefully! :biggrin:
Original post by 123456789012
Physics is definitely harder than Chem! Chem concepts are relatively straightforward in my opinion.


No, I find the physics concepts more intuitive, chemistry is all a bit over complicated some of the time

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