advanced higher french and spanish

hiya! this year i’ve got quite a lot on my plate and i’m just scared if it’s going to be too much for me to handle. i’m doing three advanced highers (french, spanish and geography), higher business and nat5 bio. i’m scared that it’s going to be too much and i’m going to be stressed. i’m planning to do languages at uni (italian and spanish) and so i think i need to do this to learn about the workload.
can anyone give me their opinion and give me an idea of what i’m getting myself into? thank you

Why are you doing so many? Do you need them for your course? Have you checked with the uni to see if there is any advantage to doing so many?

Doing less you will probably get you higher grades in the ones that count, and also give you time to focus on extra curricular/projects/personal development/leadership type activities etc too for your personal statement.

I did 3 AH and a group award, and I found it quite a lot of work. I think you'd manage the 3 AH and either a N5 or a higher, but doing both might make it harder for you to do well in all of your subjects.

thank you! i’m thinking of dropping the nat5. i done really well in my highers so i’m hoping i do alright this year

Three advanced highers can open up English universities on the table, plus second year entry for Scottish universities, while the Higher is an additional differential to show breadth, which various decent universities welcome, so the OP is on solid ground.

I applied to both Leeds and Kent this year (as English unis)

Kent gave me an unconditional with my already 5 As at higher.

Leeds gave me a conditional for a B at any higher or an A at any advanced higher. I did not do any advanced languages because my school did not offer them.

I firmed Leeds for Italian and Japanese. Aside from those two English unis I got unconditional offers to Glasgow and St Andrews for Italian and German.

Unless you want to apply to Oxford or Cambridge, you likely won’t need as many as 3 advanced highers. I looked at Liverpool as well but they wanted an advanced higher at Italian or German and my school wouldn’t let me self study an advanced higher (I self studied Italian).

There’s a LOT on your plate. Too much. No school should allow you to do 5 subjects when 3 of which are advanced highers. Taking too many subjects will have you spreading yourself too thin and you might end up flunking them all.

If you want to go to Scottish unis you will not need advanced highers for languages. If you want to go to English unis, one or two are good but then you won’t need as many highers.

The nat5 is useless. You’re wasting your time on it.

Highers are usually the 'equivalents' to AS levels, although universities realise that Highers are more difficult.

That's actually decent to get into Leeds with a conditional with only Highers, I do think you have other things like Open University courses etc. which convinced them maybe you're the exception and you could've gotten in without Advanced Highers.

Scottish university are one year longer because they start from Highers. To enter an English university without Advanced Highers is almost like early entrance to university.

For Leeds you can technically meet the requirements with six highers (equivalent to six harder AS levels), but I mean Higher is basically a harder Year 12, so basically by entering Leeds with only Highers you're skipping a year. I mean, Leeds is 92nd place in QS 2022, which is basically around St Andrews at 91st place. (https://www.leeds.ac.uk/undergraduate-applying/doc/accepted-qualifications)

Maybe the OP is considering Oxbridge, UCL, Imperial College London, LSE etc. and these will need Advanced Highers.
For Oxbridge, (https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/admission-requirements/uk-qualifications) you will see that if you're capable then three advanced highers, for Oxford it's AAB to reflect the fact that Advanced Highers are harder than A-levels. A in Adv Higher = A* in A lvl, B in Adv Higher = A in A level. Cambridge doesn't care and just goes A1,A1,A2 for A*A*A.

Oxford does need 5 highers, unless you're an exceptional case, then maybe they could let you in.

I agree with your nat 5 part, I think the OP should drop it (unless it's important).

'There’s a LOT on your plate. Too much.' It's not that much, it's basically three harder A-levels plus one harder AS level plus a harder GCSE, it's not too much when you consider loads of English students attempt 4 A-levels, and they're quite fine.

Highers are usually the 'equivalents' to AS levels, although universities realise that Highers are more difficult.

That's actually decent to get into Leeds with a conditional with only Highers, I do think you have other things like Open University courses etc. which convinced them maybe you're the exception and you could've gotten in without Advanced Highers.

Scottish university are one year longer because they start from Highers. To enter an English university without Advanced Highers is almost like early entrance to university.

For Leeds you can technically meet the requirements with six highers (equivalent to six harder AS levels), but I mean Higher is basically a harder Year 12, so basically by entering Leeds with only Highers you're skipping a year. I mean, Leeds is 92nd place in QS 2022, which is basically around St Andrews at 91st place. (https://www.leeds.ac.uk/undergraduate-applying/doc/accepted-qualifications)

Maybe the OP is considering Oxbridge, UCL, Imperial College London, LSE etc. and these will need Advanced Highers.
For Oxbridge, (https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/admission-requirements/uk-qualifications) you will see that if you're capable then three advanced highers, for Oxford it's AAB to reflect the fact that Advanced Highers are harder than A-levels. A in Adv Higher = A* in A lvl, B in Adv Higher = A in A level. Cambridge doesn't care and just goes A1,A1,A2 for A*A*A.

Oxford does need 5 highers, unless you're an exceptional case, then maybe they could let you in.

I agree with your nat 5 part, I think the OP should drop it (unless it's important).

'There’s a LOT on your plate. Too much.' It's not that much, it's basically three harder A-levels plus one harder AS level plus a harder GCSE, it's not too much when you consider loads of English students attempt 4 A-levels, and they're quite fine.

also, I did not get into Leeds with *just highers*.

I got into Leeds after studying SEVEN highers, 2 of which I studied completely by myself, as well as an advanced higher which I also self studied.

I am deserving of my place at university. I will not be ‘skipping’ a year because I have worked just as hard as the a-level shmucks, if not harder.

If you know nothing about scottish qualifications then simply shut up. If you want to play the equivalence game then most a-level students are leaving with 144 UCAS points. I’ve left school with double that.

So in the time it takes English students to get 144 ucas points, I managed twice that.

So shut up. Disrespectfully.

I'm just clearing some things up in this thread.
Myth 1: 'There’s a LOT on your plate. Too much. No school should allow you to do 5 subjects when 3 of which are advanced highers. Taking too many subjects will have you spreading yourself too thin and you might end up flunking them all.'
Truth: The OP is doing 3 Adv Highers, 1 Higher and 1 Nat 5, that is basically 3 harder A-levels, 1 harder AS level and 1 harder GCSE. The English equivalent is a bit more than 4 A-levels (imo), loads of English students ace 4 A-levels, it isn't that much work.

Myth 2: 'Why are you doing so many?'
Truth: https://targetcareers.co.uk/careers-advice/a-level-choices/1034462-should-i-take-four-a-levels
There are various decent reasons for 4 A-levels, this can also apply to the Scottish system, which would be four Advanced Highers. There are a good few English universities which need three Advanced Highers, for instance Oxbridge, Imperial College London etc for the minimum requirements. Let's say if someone is trying to decide between engineering (which requires Maths and Phy), chemistry degree (which requires Chem) and law (which requires a language Advanced Higher) then someone can take four Advanced Highers to widen their options.

Additionally the extra Advanced Higher will give backup, even if one is messed up you still have three decent ones. And you can have breadth as well.

I have not done an open university course. I got into university completely off of my highers and advanced higher. I finished 6th year with a total of 6 nat5s, 7 highers, and an advanced higher, all at As.

OP did not state whether or not they wanted to get into scottish or English unis. So I offered the fact that I got into both scottish AND English unis.

if they want to apply to oxbridge or ucl where they might need 3 advanced highers then that’s fine, I mentioned that. But none of those unis give a **** about highers. UCL won’t even consider highers for languages, they only want advanced highers.

I’m assuming you’re an English student because advanced highers are much harder than a levels. They are much more intense and done in one year which makes them more difficult.

doing 3 advanced highers, a higher, and a nat5 is too much work for one year when you’re studying completely different subjects. There’s also no point to it.

scottish unis will still let you in with highers and advanced highers. England want advanced highers, and sometimes highers.

So doing two extra subjects is unnecessary. The nat5 is useless.

its best for OP to stick with the 3 advanced highers, or do 2 advanced highers and a higher.

Lol Nat5s aren't harder than GCSEs, they're equivalent. What's with all this 'harder' stuff. Advanced Highers are roughly equivalent for 1st year uni in those subjects but the stuff that comes before isn't necessarily harder than the English system, it's basically the same but in a different certification structure (Highers one year/ A levels in two etc so A levels slightly harder than Highers but Highers more intense than AS levels etc)

They are harder, not that much harder but they are harder. A in Adv Higher is A* in A-level. Highers are actually tougher than AS, Nat 5 is a bit tougher. That's why I say Adv Highers are harder A-levels, which might've been understating it, considering the response from cchloepx.

Yes I would say A levels are slightly below AHs in terms of difficulty but I'm not convinced there's really any difference between Nat5s and GCSEs. The two systems follow mostly the same structure up to that point, it just differs in the last couple of years.

I applied to both Leeds and Kent this year (as English unis)

Kent gave me an unconditional with my already 5 As at higher.

Leeds gave me a conditional for a B at any higher or an A at any advanced higher. I did not do any advanced languages because my school did not offer them.

I firmed Leeds for Italian and Japanese. Aside from those two English unis I got unconditional offers to Glasgow and St Andrews for Italian and German.

Unless you want to apply to Oxford or Cambridge, you likely won’t need as many as 3 advanced highers. I looked at Liverpool as well but they wanted an advanced higher at Italian or German and my school wouldn’t let me self study an advanced higher (I self studied Italian).

There’s a LOT on your plate. Too much. No school should allow you to do 5 subjects when 3 of which are advanced highers. Taking too many subjects will have you spreading yourself too thin and you might end up flunking them all.

If you want to go to Scottish unis you will not need advanced highers for languages. If you want to go to English unis, one or two are good but then you won’t need as many highers.

The nat5 is useless. You’re wasting your time on it.

thank you! i’m still doing the three advanced highers, but i’ve dropped the nat5. i’m scared of flunking them all. but at the same time, i got A’s at both and i feel quite good at them both. worst comes to worst, i won’t sit the exam for advh french.

i want to do spanish and italian at university, so ill ideally need the spanish to have a head start. thank you