if you think A2 is hard now before the reforms then imagine how difficult it's going to be for us. taking AS + A2 all at once. ****ing nightmare tbh.
luckily one of my three subjects (gov and pol) hasn't been updated to the new spec, but it still sucks.
If you're taking sciences then revising AS alongside A2 will actually help you with A2 (my bio teacher actually recommended we retake the AS exams because of the synoptic nature of A2 or something - they can question us on AS stuff in the A2 exams, plus the questions on the prerelease article in the final exam will be from the whole spec). And of course doing and understanding A2 will help you with AS.
With humanities subjects, not so much (eg in history, we're doing completely different time periods so it would just be a ton of extra content to revise, not building on what we learnt at AS as it generally is with sciences)
If you're taking sciences then revising AS alongside A2 will actually help you with A2 (my bio teacher actually recommended we retake the AS exams because of the synoptic nature of A2 or something - they can question us on AS stuff in the A2 exams, plus the questions on the prerelease article in the final exam will be from the whole spec). And of course doing and understanding A2 will help you with AS.
With humanities subjects, not so much (eg in history, we're doing completely different time periods so it would just be a ton of extra content to revise, not building on what we learnt at AS as it generally is with sciences)
in AQA history we just cover a longer time period. AS is 1855 - 1917 for Russia, A2 is 1917 - 1964. they don't link though. you just end up doing four A2 exams which sucks.
for sociology everything is new.
The A2 exams for the AS topics also get much harder. I mean, I'm not worried about flopping or anything, it just feels like unnecessary work and sort of makes AS levels pointless (tho I'm still revising to get +90 UMS).
in AQA history we just cover a longer time period. AS is 1855 - 1917 for Russia, A2 is 1917 - 1964. they don't link though. you just end up doing four A2 exams which sucks.
for sociology everything is new.
The A2 exams for the AS topics also get much harder. I mean, I'm not worried about flopping or anything, it just feels like unnecessary work and sort of makes AS levels pointless (tho I'm still revising to get +90 UMS).
My A2 history exam covers Russia from 1855-1964.
Are all your exams Russia? Because my AS topics were completely different (the Cold War for European and Churchill for British) and then A2 coursework is on Gladstone and Disraeli.
Also, A levels used to be linear until AS was introduced around 2000 I think. So really this is just going back to the way they used to be. I didn't know about the A2 versions of the AS exams getting harder though, although I guess it makes sense
Are all your exams Russia? Because my AS topics were completely different (the Cold War for European and Churchill for British) and then A2 coursework is on Gladstone and Disraeli.
Also, A levels used to be linear until AS was introduced around 2000 I think. So really this is just going back to the way they used to be. I didn't know about the A2 versions of the AS exams getting harder though, although I guess it makes sense
no, I also do English Civil War AS 1625 - 1624, A2 1642 - 1660.
in AS History, you compare two sources in an essay, in A2 you compare three. same with interpretations. the essays become 30 markers I think, and are in general more difficult than AS questions.
same for Sociology, longer questions and more difficult.
if you think A2 is hard now before the reforms then imagine how difficult it's going to be for us. taking AS + A2 all at once. ****ing nightmare tbh.
luckily one of my three subjects (gov and pol) hasn't been updated to the new spec, but it still sucks.
I feel deeply sorry for you guys, you won't even know how much you need to improve from AS from your A2 results. It's no fair (. Also, applying to uni will be a pain. I do govt and politics at A2 now and it's heavy content, but I think being on top of everything you'll be alright hopefully.
I'm procrastinating to the point where last night I spent an hour watching A level results videos... not only weird but also rather depressing :-)!!!!!!
At least you've not gotten distracted and drift off to watch unrelated videos :3
no, I also do English Civil War AS 1625 - 1624, A2 1642 - 1660.
in AS History, you compare two sources in an essay, in A2 you compare three. same with interpretations. the essays become 30 markers I think, and are in general more difficult than AS questions.
same for Sociology, longer questions and more difficult.
In AS I compared 2 for a 30 marker and 5 for a 70 marker, and the other exam didn't have sources (2x50 mark essays)
A2 coursework is 2x2000 word essays, 40 marks each, one comparing four passages/sources, the other is an investigations essay where we have to find at least 8 historians to quote. The A2 exam isn't source based and its 2x60 mark essays in 2 hours, and both cover the whole period from 1855-1964
So 30 marks is the shortest I've had over the whole A level
Thanks for the advice, I just don't know how these 5 weeks are going to pan out, and I honestly feel as though I'm drawing a blank and I haven't even sat an exam yet.
Just start, I promise that once you do that, you'll be very into what you're doing that it'll be somehow enjoyable. And keep all your electronics and wi-fi at a distance.