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How many A levels are compulsary

rainy_skye

How many A levels do you have to take?? Or does it differ for each 6th form or college??

Reply 1

samd

10

If you want to go to University then you normally need 3, but people often start with 4 and drop one after AS.

None are compulsory.

Unlike GCSEs you don't have to do any. But doing them is strongly recommended.

Reply 2

rainy_skye

OP

Yeah i knwo all that, but when you start AS which i will be soon, do i have to do 4 or can i do 3??

Reply 3

shyopstv

15

It depends on what your college will allow.

You need 1 to get into a HND course
You need 2 to get into some uni degree courses
You need 3 to get into most uni degree courses
You need 3 + 1 AS to get into certain courses at some top unis

Reply 4

~Bex~

14

Most sixth forms make you take at least 3, because if you do less than that you dont do enough hours of study per week to be classed as a full time student. But with college its a bit different.

Reply 5

kellywood_5

17

Most people do 4 subjects in the first year and 3 in the second. If you want to go to university, you'll probably need 3 A2s, but you might get away with 2 A2s and 2 ASs or even just 2 A2s.

Reply 6

Comp_Genius

4

Usually you would have at least 4 AS's, excluding General Studies.

Reply 7

trev

15

It depends on your school/college, and the option blocks if you have any. In my school, the maximum you can take is 5, as there are only 5 option blocks.

If I were you I would stick to 3-4 AS-levels. If you take 4 AS-levels you will have an advantage on going to good universities, as they recommend (optional though) you to have 3 A-levels and 1 AS (drop the AS subject at year 13, and continue 3 A2's onto year 13). In addition, it reduces the workload at year 13, as you dropped one subject. If you take 3 AS-levels, it's better to continue onto year 13 with all of them, as most universities want 3 A-levels. 5 is a bit too many in my opinion.

Reply 8

TheRandomer

18

I really can't decide which one's to take now... :s-smilie:

So far I had 5 subjects I wuld be interested in: Chem, Phy, Spanish, Maths, and an ICT course.. I wanted to take further maths but would that mean i have to take 2 maths A levels??? Aaaah I'm so stuck, I have to start applying for a college/school in as early as October and I still have no idea what I want to take! Can anyone help me?

Reply 9

TheRandomer

18

I really can't decide which one's to take now... :s-smilie:

So far I had 5 subjects I wuld be interested in: Chem, Phy, Spanish, Maths, and an ICT course.. I wanted to take further maths but would that mean i have to take 2 maths A levels??? Aaaah I'm so stuck, I have to start applying for a college/school in as early as October and I still have no idea what I want to take! Can anyone help me?

Reply 10

shyopstv

15

Do you have any idea whatyou want to do at uni or as a carreer or whatever? If you are already planning to go to uni and know what you want to tkae then go to www.ucas.com and check what subjects are required for that course. All I can say is that a foreign language will be respected whatever you go into as will the Sciences. ICT is supposed to be rather crappy (2 years of using Microsoft Office) and Computing is much better apparantly. Further Maths will be an advantage if you plan to do Physics, Maths, Economics or Engineering at uni other than that, some people might see it as an easy option if you're only doing 4 ASs

Reply 11

kellywood_5

17

It really depends on which you prefer and what you want to do after A-levels. I'd personally say maths, physics, chemistry and Spanish would be a good combination, as ICT has loads of coursework and probably won't teach you anything you didn't already know. As stated above, most people who do further maths only take it as a 5th subject because some universities won't accept maths and further maths as 2 A-levels. Only take it if you really love maths and have the ability in it.

Reply 12

trev

15

xPunkx

I really can't decide which one's to take now... :s-smilie:

So far I had 5 subjects I wuld be interested in: Chem, Phy, Spanish, Maths, and an ICT course.. I wanted to take further maths but would that mean i have to take 2 maths A levels??? Aaaah I'm so stuck, I have to start applying for a college/school in as early as October and I still have no idea what I want to take! Can anyone help me?

Do what kellywood_5 and shyopstv said.

If you want to do Further Maths, I would take it up to AS only in year 13, and drop one A-level in either Chemistry, Physics, Maths or ICT (that's what my friend did). One of my friend is doing maths at university, she still got an offer to do Maths with A-level maths and AS further maths.

By the courses you are taking, I think you want to do a science or math degree...

Reply 13

trev

15

kellywood_5

It really depends on which you prefer and what you want to do after A-levels. I'd personally say maths, physics, chemistry and Spanish would be a good combination, as ICT has loads of coursework and probably won't teach you anything you didn't already know. As stated above, most people who do further maths only take it as a 5th subject because some universities won't accept maths and further maths as 2 A-levels. Only take it if you really love maths and have the ability in it.

ICT only has two pieces of coursework which is quite easy to do. However, if you know what you are doing, you can do it quickly and get it out the way.

Why are maths and further maths cannot be 2 seperate A-levels? I think they should be though.

Reply 14

Gaz031

15

some universities won't accept maths and further maths as 2 A-levels.

It's not so much that they aren't considered to be 2 A-Levels - they certainly are. What universities mean is that they don't want you to fulfill your offer using 2 maths A-Levels if mathematics isn't very relevant to your university subject. They might be a considerable advantage however if you applied for a physical science or mathematics course.

If you want to do Further Maths, I would take it up to AS only in year 13, and drop one A-level in either Chemistry, Physics, Maths or ICT (that's what my friend did).

You can't drop maths in your second year to do further maths. For the majority of syllabuses you need knowledge of standard A-Level maths before you can start F.M.

Reply 15

kellywood_5

17

Gaz031

It's not so much that they aren't considered to be 2 A-Levels - they certainly are. What universities mean is that they don't want you to fulfill your offer using 2 maths A-Levels if mathematics isn't very relevant to your university subject. They might be a considerable advantage however if you applied for a physical science or mathematics course.

Yeah, sorry that's what I meant- you might not be able to use both maths and further maths to meet your offer unless you're applying for maths or a related course. So if you did A-level maths and 2 ASs in your first year, then went on to do further maths A-level in the second year, you might also have to carry on with the 2 ASs so you'd have 3 different subjects.

Reply 16

stoney

12

just to give a general idea, most people i know take either 3 or 4 at AS plus general studies. btw i can see why uni's are reluctant to make offers based on maths + f. math as 2 alevels i mean surely maths becomes somewhat easier after doing f. maths as well

Reply 17

Gaz031

15

btw i can see why uni's are reluctant to make offers based on maths + f. math as 2 alevels i mean surely maths becomes somewhat easier after doing f. maths as well
On the other hand Further Maths is generally harder than other A-Levels as it requires knowledge of standard Maths before you can start :smile:

Reply 18

stoney

12

yeah but surely when going into the A2 year the concepts in maths are easier to pick up than they would have been considering having already done AS f. maths. not to mention the fact that half of your timetable will be maths and you will become naturally more competent in it since you do it half the time

Reply 19

Gaz031

15

stoney

yeah but surely when going into the A2 year the concepts in maths are easier to pick up than they would have been considering having already done AS f. maths. not to mention the fact that half of your timetable will be maths and you will become naturally more competent in it since you do it half the time

AS F. maths won't really help with A2 maths as nearly everyone doing Maths and F.Maths does AS+A2 Maths in their AS year - on many syllabuses it isn't possible to start F. Maths without a knowledge of the single Mathematics A-level.
I agree that some people have a natural affinity for Maths but that shouldn't put any bearing on how it's seen as an A-Level - you get people with a natural affinity for English or Languages too.

How many A levels are compulsary

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