A levels or Foundation

A levels opens all the options, but if you are a weaker student (maybe if your GCSEs are mostly C grades or less), you probably shouldn’t do A levels

Hi, my expected grades for IGCSEs are mostly As and 1 or 2 Bs. But, what Im afraid of is A levels being too difficult and I fail to get the grades desired to get into a Uni I like, which I can also join through their foundation programme using my IGCSE results. Another concern is that halfway though my foundation programme, I might not like the course which my foundation is leading too. Thank you so much for replying HAHA, my parents are hurrying me to make a choice so Im a bit desperate

Hi, my expected grades for IGCSEs are mostly As and 1 or 2 Bs. But, what Im afraid of is A levels being too difficult and I fail to get the grades desired to get into a Uni I like, which I can also join through their foundation programme using my IGCSE results. Another concern is that halfway though my foundation programme, I might not like the course which my foundation is leading too. Thank you so much for replying HAHA, my parents are hurrying me to make a choice so Im a bit desperate

If you’re expecting A grades in GCSE, then of course you should do A levels as your grades are much higher than some people who do A levels. A levels is lots of studying but it means you can access all of he Universities. Also you know your progress as there are some practice tests along the way .

Hello, If by 'foundation' you mean a BTEC, Access to HE etc, then I am also trying to choose between A levels and Access to HE. I am also an A grade student with 1 or 2 B grades. @Mustafa0605 in your opinion do you think I would be better doing A levels than Access (bearing in mind I will be 20)? Thank you.

(Original post by Jadelrx)

What A-Levels do you want to pick? Difficulty differs depending on the subjects you pick

Similarly what career do you want to go into or are thinking of, some careers you just can't get into through BTEC's, AtHE etc.

Biology, Chemistry and Psychology A levels. I self-taught all 6 of my IGCSES using textbooks and past papers with no help from any tutors. Career wise I would like to go into either biology, biomedical or microbiology.

Oof, those three subjects are quite difficult, perhaps look at the actual content and see whether it's right for you given your current skill level/ motivation to learn it.

Another tip I can give you is to go to university websites and check entry requirements. This is so important for people who are deciding on A-Levels to pick as a lot of people miss out on the chance to study something they want simply because they weren't informed they needed specific subjects to get into the course. Sometimes courses will ONLY let you apply for them if you do ALevels, some don't mind if you take BTEC's.

Good luck in your future endeavours!

Thank you for your advice, I have checked university websites and they do accept both A levels and Access to HE. However, distinction is needed in most assignments. Not to be funny in any way but could i just ask what you mean by 'given your current skill level/motivation to learn it' as I am not sure why I would at a disadvantage because they are difficult. As i've said I self-taught my GCSES and achieved mostly A grades

I'm asking you to evaluate whether you think that you are motivated and/or capable enough to complete these three really hard subjects over the course of two years. It's not just you who would be at a disadvantage because they are difficult, it's everyone, hence why I believe that people should think first before rushing into these super hard subjects. I used to see a ton of people daily struggling with the subjects they'd picked on a whim just because they did ok in them at GCSE.

I'm sorry if it seemed like I was belittling you or calling you stupid, I wasn't trying to, I just didn't want you to make any rash decisions.

Good luck with everything in the future I hope it all goes gucci