How hard will it be to get 5 A*s at A-level?

Hi I was wondering how hard it will be to get 5 A*s at A-Level in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I am definitely going to do Maths, Further Maths and Physics but I am not sure whether or not to do the other two as well as I'm hoping to study Mathematics at Trinity College.
Thanks in advance

Reply 1

knightchildish

2

I reckon it would be harder than ever because of the linear system

Reply 2

staircase

2

Original post by carlsenesque

Hi I was wondering how hard it will be to get 5 A*s at A-Level in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I am definitely going to do Maths, Further Maths and Physics but I am not sure whether or not to do the other two as well as I'm hoping to study Mathematics at Trinity College.
Thanks in advance

you don't need to do 5 subjects to study maths at Cambridge... you need to be good at maths.

Reply 3

desaf1

12

My friend got an offer for maths at Cambridge this year and he does four A Levels. Also, my other friend got an offer for Natural Sciences (physical) at Trinity College, Cambridge and he did four A Levels.

Reply 4

epsilondelta

11

Why do five when you can do better in four and some get in with three

Reply 5

CraigBackner

20

Original post by carlsenesque

Hi I was wondering how hard it will be to get 5 A*s at A-Level in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I am definitely going to do Maths, Further Maths and Physics but I am not sure whether or not to do the other two as well as I'm hoping to study Mathematics at Trinity College.
Thanks in advance

wheres your brain at? all you need to do is maths

Reply 6

username2944572

14

Is it the linear exams? very difficult. If you work your hardest from day 1 then its possible

Reply 7

LGBTvoice

18

All these choices will be under the new specs come September. I think you will struggle. That honestly isn't me digging at you or calling you unclever - I'm sure you are very clever and the fact you are considering these choices shows how good you must be currently. That said, you will not sit any exams that count towards your overall A level until the end of the 2 year course. That means there'll be around 3 exams per subject making you have around 15 A Level exams to sit in June 2019 (give or take a few). That sounds like hell. GCSE to A Level is a big jump and nobody really understands it until they've made the jump.

You really wouldn't be disadvantaged with just 4 A levels; heck, even just 3 is enough to go to most universities and I'm sure Cambridge is included.

Ask yourself if you'd rather get 3 A*'s and go to Cambridge or 5 C's/B's and end up going to a non-Russel Group institution.

Reply 8

dragonkeeper999

17

Original post by carlsenesque

Hi I was wondering how hard it will be to get 5 A*s at A-Level in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I am definitely going to do Maths, Further Maths and Physics but I am not sure whether or not to do the other two as well as I'm hoping to study Mathematics at Trinity College.
Thanks in advance

If I were you, I would just take four - five subjects is a relatively large time commitment and you'll need to be spending every bit of spare time you have preparing for STEP...

As to how easy it is to get 5 A*s, not too challenging if you manage your time correctly, your subjects will overlap a lot and are relatively straightforward to revise for and answer exam questions. They don't have too much coursework so you won't be overwhelmed with essays throughout the year, unalike if you had chosen essay based subjects. However, it really depends on how good you are at studying - are you predicted mostly A*s at GCSE and find them easy? If you're struggling at GCSE with the workload or level then I wouldn't recommend taking extra A level subjects.

Reply 9

AfcFob

18

REALLY FLIPPING DIFFICULT

Man just do 4, there's no need for five at all

Reply 10

username2975406

6

I know someone who got 5 A*s and an A, and is studying Econ at Cambridge. It sure is possible, provided you work hard.

Reply 11

DeepInTheMeadow

18

Really don't take 5 A levels. I think it might just finish you off. By all means, four is fine; but don'y destroy yourself without reason. Better 4 As than 5 Bs!

Reply 12

ByronicHero

20

It depends on how hard you are willing to work. If you are willing to spend most of your free time studying, I don't think it will be enormously difficult. The discipline is far more challenging than the material. From that point, the difficulty increases as your willingness to work decreases.

Reply 13

Xez

6

5 A*'s at A-Level? Jeez, you might as well be playing darts with spaghetti

Reply 14

username2324315

17

All you need is Maths, Further Maths, Physics + another subject probs

Reply 15

math42

20

Not hard for a bright and hard-working individual. Not necessary, but meh.

Reply 16

IrrationalRoot

20

Original post by CraigBackner

wheres your brain at? all you need to do is maths

Basically this. The other two subjects are completely irrelevant and will only serve as a hindrance. If you're applying to Trinity, there's always a chance of getting rejected even if you're brilliant, so I would strongly advise you to only take Maths, Further Maths and Physics, do enough in Physics to get an A, do whatever tiny amount of work is required to get A*A* in M/FM and otherwise focus completely on improving at Maths. If you're good at olympiads and stuff you shouldn't find STEP particularly challenging at all (but of course it's best to work hard to prepare for it). But you must make sure you get an offer.

Reply 17

username1214455

21

Just do 4, with linear A Levels it really isn't worth it.

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Reply 18

User3939

13

Original post by carlsenesque

Hi I was wondering how hard it will be to get 5 A*s at A-Level in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology. I am definitely going to do Maths, Further Maths and Physics but I am not sure whether or not to do the other two as well as I'm hoping to study Mathematics at Trinity College.
Thanks in advance

There's no benefit of doing 5! I know someone doing Maths at Kings and they did 3 at A2 with Spanish as their additional AS All you need is Maths, further Maths and physics. There is little point doing more than that at A2, you're making it harder to meet your offer and it really isn't worth the extra work! Then there is STEP too, which is hard. If you got 5A*s and missed the STEP requirement then it's likely you'd still miss your offer. Just focus on getting good AS module grades, and preparing for other tests. Take a 4th AS in chemistry if you want to keep chemical engineering, medicine etc. open to you. If you're sure on Maths, then just take something easy and fun to cool down a bit, they just care about the Mathsy subjects

I'm not in admissions so I'm not sure, but I'd never advise doing 5A2s, even 4 for that matter