Philosophy A-level Results?

I'm choosing my A-levels within the next few months, and am currently considering taking Philosophy A-level. My school runs the AQA Philosophy course, but this last year the highest they got was a B - and that was from someone who achieved only As and A*s at GCSE and achieved As in their other A-levels.

I went along to the Open Evening, and asked the students who had just taken their A-levels exams. They all put the results down to how hard the test and course was. I'm wondering if this is the reason, or if it is due to - as some of my fellow year 11-ers believe - bad teaching.

So, my question is whether A grades are actually realistically achievable in Philosophy? How many of you are predicted an A in it/ achieved an A in it?
And are the top grades achievable without very good teaching? Is it possible to learn the information from the textbook alone, or is there a lot of exam technique and practice required that the textbooks don't offer advice on? How useful are all the resources out there for the AQA Philosophy course?

Thank you for any information you can offer :smile:

(edited 13 years ago)

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Reply 1

Mann18

Well I got an A at AS, and lots of people in my college got As at A-level last year (In religious studies, but half of that is Philosophy and I got 94% in that module.) As and A*s at GCSE count for nothing at A-Level. That being said, without good teaching, it'd be very hard to get good grades at A-level imo.

Reply 2

BojanglesELF

I got a high A in my AS level....then an E in my A level...evened out to a C.
i didnt work as hard as i could have....but tbh i really thought i would have at least got a C in my exam at the lowest.......................this years results caused a bit of a stir. Ive heard the two phil lecturers at my college discussing the fact that nationally grades seemed to drop WHEY below the predictions.
Philosophy is one of those subjects where you realy have GOT to keep on top of every single peice of information...otherwise you loose it.
However i do know one person who got an A this year...so it is doable.

Reply 3

BojanglesELF

In reality it all depends what modules are being taught, how insihgtful you are, how much work you put in....its hard, but doable

Reply 4

SemperVivum

At my school's options talk we were told that A-level philosophy is one of the hardest A-levels and that the academic standard required to get an A is actually closer to degree level. I do have friends who are taking philosophy and doing well but they are the sort of people who would go all out for top grades anyway. Definitely not an A-level for the faint hearted :wink:

Reply 5

Installation

I got an A at A level and an A at GCSE (though tbh I really shoulda got an A*, oh well).

Reply 6

Sellotape&String

I managed to get an A, as did a couple of other people in my class, but there were a fair smattering of Ds and Es as well. Basically, I think you need to have a genuine outside interest in the subject - it's not enough just to turn up to lessons, revise a bit then take the exam. You have to...well, think. Also, I took the old spec, so I'm not sure how much things have changed (I had the joy of writing 5000 words in exam conditions on Plato and Mill's views on the relation between the individual and society. Actually, I did quite enjoy it :rolleyes:

)

Reply 7

Sellotape&String

Oh also, the best advice I received from my teacher: philosophy textbooks are, in general, a load of toss. Read genuine secondary texts over them any day; they generally explain things in a more interesting and, surprisingly, more comprehendable, way.

Reply 8

lovett

It's perfectly possible to get top grades in philosophy. How much 'good teaching' you need is completely reliant on how good at the subject you are,. It's more conceptual than a lot of other subjects; History, Politics, Physics for example.

That's good or bad depending on how you learn. GCSE's hardly require any grasp of concepts so you can get good GCSE's and be awful at philosophy. If you find you understand what your learning, rather then just being able to memorise it, philosophy might be a good option.

I'd recommend just looking at a few issues on the course first, to see if they interest you. If they do that's half your work done. A lot of people seem to choose the subject 'cause they think the name sounded cool and then find themselves completely adrift.

Reply 9

I-HEART-NY

BojanglesELF

I got a high A in my AS level....then an E in my A level...evened out to a C.

Exactly the same for me! I had a really sweet teacher who was passionate about the subject, but she would always go off on a tangent, so we weren't really taught that well. God knows how I managed to get an A at AS, but my luck ran out at A-level. One girl looked at the paper at the start of the exam, decided she wasn't going to bother and fell asleep. We had to wake her at the end of it!

I didn't take philosophy at school by the way, don't think it was an option. For people who have done it before A-levels, it maybe easier to achieve a higher grade, because you have already been introduced to the subject (albiet a very simplistic version).

I don't really think exam technique is that important, but what I would say is that a LOT of reading is required in all fields. What surprised me the most was how far-reaching philosophy was. My teacher was always incorporating science, maths, business studies etc as examples of philosophical thought in action. I think if you can do this, that is the key to getting a good grade.

Reply 10

BojanglesELF

I-HEART-NY

LOL- one of my best friends also had a nap in the exam......sad times =(
however for us our lecturer was quite good. he would especially make up these booklets for us and he managed to work whatever tangent we went off on into the subject...so i cant really blame him for my failing lol i just didnt realise how much harder it is at a level.

i didnt know you could take it in school either D= ive never heard of that before!!

Reply 11

I-HEART-NY

BojanglesELF

i didnt know you could take it in school either D= ive never heard of that before!!

Lol, it may have been introduced after 2003 (when I left High School). God, I feel really old now!

tbh, I didn't really work hard for my a-levels, and I guess I got found out in 2nd year when it was a real step up from AS. Plus, I bunked off alot and didn't pay attention or do any work when I did go in, so I kinda deserved the C in the end.

Reply 12

pennyyyy

There's 6 of us in my Philosophy class, and 3 of us got high As, 2 got Bs and 1 got a C :smile:

Reply 13

LoonyAbby

Philosophy is a very difficult subject, but it does depend on which topic your school/college decides to teach you. The grades often fluctuate (I got an E at AS in January and then I did a retake and my overall grade was an A).

Personally, I found the ethics much easier than Philosophy of Mind, but I am enjoying Philosophy of Mind because it is such a challenge. If you like a challenging subject and are inquisitive you will love Philosophy regardless of the grade you get.