The Student Room Group

Can someone do an A-level/GCSE along side a degree?

So, I've been wondering this for a while now and it's mostly out of pure curiosity, if I'm completely honest.

Is it possible to do a BA degree and do an A-level(or GCSE) at the same time? and has anyone ever done this and succeed?

Just want a clear answer please.
Original post by Kasperian
So, I've been wondering this for a while now and it's mostly out of pure curiosity, if I'm completely honest.

Is it possible to do a BA degree and do an A-level(or GCSE) at the same time? and has anyone ever done this and succeed?

Just want a clear answer please.

ofc, why would it be illegal? doesn't make it any less idiotic
Reply 2
Original post by A Rolling Stone
ofc, why would it be illegal? doesn't make it any less idiotic

Nah, never thought it would be illegal or similar. I've just heard of some places that prevent you from doing both or a mix of different levels at the same time.
Well, you won't be able to do it for free, but if you want to pay for exam entry, tuition (or try and self study to save money, but you will probably need to pay for some resources e.g. textbooks), and for science subjects, the science endorsement...there's nothing to stop you from doing so.

It really seems entirely pointless though - what are you going to gain from a random A-level or GCSE that you can't or won't from your degree? If it's merely to explore an interest you'd be better off making use of your university's library resources to explore that area, and a single A-level or GCSE qualification usually doesn't mean much (the exceptions being GCSE Maths and English Language at grade C or above, which you probably will already have, and in that case you would be retaking rather than taking it as a new subject) to employers (or anyone else).
Reply 4
Original post by artful_lounger
Well, you won't be able to do it for free, but if you want to pay for exam entry, tuition (or try and self study to save money, but you will probably need to pay for some resources e.g. textbooks), and for science subjects, the science endorsement...there's nothing to stop you from doing so.

It really seems entirely pointless though - what are you going to gain from a random A-level or GCSE that you can't or won't from your degree? If it's merely to explore an interest you'd be better off making use of your university's library resources to explore that area, and a single A-level or GCSE qualification usually doesn't mean much (the exceptions being GCSE Maths and English Language at grade C or above, which you probably will already have, and in that case you would be retaking rather than taking it as a new subject) to employers (or anyone else).

I might still be able to do I for free due to my age but I understand it wouldn't be cheap either way.
The degree I was planning on doing was Criminology (policing) and the A-level was going to be either Sociology, Psychology or Art and design.
The course content doesn't go into a whole lot of detail at the uni I'm planning on going to.
Original post by Kasperian
I might still be able to do I for free due to my age but I understand it wouldn't be cheap either way.
The degree I was planning on doing was Criminology (policing) and the A-level was going to be either Sociology, Psychology or Art and design.
The course content doesn't go into a whole lot of detail at the uni I'm planning on going to.


I'm fairly certain you won't receive local authority funding for a level 3 course while enrolled on a degree course being funded by SFE. Aside from that, any degree course will go into more depth and breadth than an A-level, as it needs to in order to reach the benchmarks required for it to be granted as a degree level qualification.

None of those A-levels are necessary for any particular career, and all of them are subjects you can explore in an extracurricular (or in the case of sociology and psychology, possibly curricular) fashion once you are at uni. This would also allow you to be more flexible with how you are spending your time, to ensure you are able to focus on your degree work when needed without potentially getting a lower grade in the A-level (or vice versa if you focused too much on the A-level material).

Quick Reply

Latest