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How hard to get 4 A*'s at A-level ?

I know it might sound like a pretty pathetic question, but nobody has every answered it clearly everyone is always so wishy washy saying 'do the best you can' bla bla bla -

Im a GCSE student in Yr11 and I view myself as a A/A* grade pupil except from science and maths where im working at a (Low) A/(High)B

I will probably be taking these at A-level -

1. History
2. Govt + Politics
3. Philosophy
4. Law or Biology

I think im a capable student and im always prepared to put as much work in as is necessary to achieve the grades I want.
I was wondering how much hours a day would I have to put in every day to achieve 4 A*'s at A- level ?

and when do you start revising 6months before exams 5,4,3,2,1 ?

I want people to reply with personal experience of the work load at A level and I know its not an impossibility my cousin achieved 3 A*'s and I know he wasn't the most brightest of bunnies in the world is it just a matter of your work ethic or do you need something extra or be a brainiac ? :cool:

Thanks.

(edited 13 years ago)

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Reply 1

Miracle Day

It is hard. Possible.. but hard.

Reply 2

JOR2010

Original post by h_a_95

I know it might sound like a pretty pathetic question, but nobody has every answered it clearly everyone is always so wishy washy saying 'do the best you can' bla bla bla -

Im a GCSE student in Yr11 and I view myself as a A/A* grade pupil except from science and maths where im working at a (Low) A/(High)B

I will probably be taking these at A-level -

1. History
2. Govt + Politics
3. Philosophy
4. Law or Biology

I think im a capable student and im always prepared to put as much work in as is necessary to achieve the grades I want.
I was wondering how much hours a day would I have to put in every day to achieve 4 A*'s at AS level ?

and when do you start revising 6months before exams 5,4,3,2,1 ?

I want people to reply with personal experience of the work load at AS level and I know its not an impossibility my cousin achieved 3 A*'s and I know he wasn't the most brightest of bunnies in the world is it just a matter of your work ethic or do you need something extra or be a brainiac ? :cool:

Thanks.

On subjective subjects, such as History, Politics, Philosophy, and Law, it is very difficult, since there's no correct/incorrect answer, and so to demonstrate A* ability is difficult, even if you are talented.

Reply 3

cooldudeman

Original post by h_a_95

I know it might sound like a pretty pathetic question, but nobody has every answered it clearly everyone is always so wishy washy saying 'do the best you can' bla bla bla -

Im a GCSE student in Yr11 and I view myself as a A/A* grade pupil except from science and maths where im working at a (Low) A/(High)B

I will probably be taking these at A-level -

1. History
2. Govt + Politics
3. Philosophy
4. Law or Biology

I think im a capable student and im always prepared to put as much work in as is necessary to achieve the grades I want.
I was wondering how much hours a day would I have to put in every day to achieve 4 A*'s at AS level ?

and when do you start revising 6months before exams 5,4,3,2,1 ?

I want people to reply with personal experience of the work load at AS level and I know its not an impossibility my cousin achieved 3 A*'s and I know he wasn't the most brightest of bunnies in the world is it just a matter of your work ethic or do you need something extra or be a brainiac ? :cool:

Thanks.

why do 4 a-levles, why not 3 like normal people. universities don't really care if you do more than 3.

Reply 4

gozatron

Meh,

Obviously it varies person to person and subject to subject but honestly i don't think 4A*s is that difficult to achieve for a bright student. Personally, i had next to no work ethic throughout sixth and come close to 4A*s, it's not that difficult a stretch, especially in the maths and sciences.

Reply 5

sLip

Original post by cooldudeman

why do 4 a-levles, why not 3 like normal people. universities don't really care if you do more than 3.

It makes a difference if you do more than three/four.

Don't tell me it doesn't because it does.

Reply 6

Issy123

i personally think its VERY difficult :/ its a big jump from GCSE'S to A levels!

Reply 7

Schoolio93

I got 3A*s in math,bio,chem and an A in german. So I didn't really get 4A*s but that's only because I didn't work hard! Instead of reading two novels for German I just read a summary for both novels on Wikipedia one day before the exam and ended up getting 116/140.

Moral of the story : it's possible but you need to work for it.

Reply 8

limetang

Original post by sLip

It makes a difference if you do more than three/four.

Don't tell me it doesn't because it does.

It makes a marginal difference yes, but I don't see why it should.

Let's say for example (just to take this to an extreme) that you decide to do 6 A levels, and a university looks at that and is impressed that you're putting in all that extra work. So that university gives you an offer based on those a levels, however it still gives you an offer for three of them... Theoretically after you've got your offer you can fail the other three subjects and just concentrate on the three you need for your offer. So why on earth should doing more subjects put you at an advantage when you could play the system that easily.

Reply 9

Schoolio93

Original post by sLip

It makes a difference if you do more than three/four.

Don't tell me it doesn't because it does.

it does! No one in my college has less than 4 A-levels. Unis like it when you have more than 3 coz it shows that you've got potential to cope with the workload that you experience during your time at uni.

Reply 10

TheWorldEndsWithMe

Maths, sciences etc are fairly easy in that the answers never change and if you do enough work you can ALWAYS get full marks.

Essay-based subjects, or anything requiring you to add a bit o opinion or evaluation is much more difficult because even if you know everything perfectly you need to be able to write it in a way that appeals to the examiner and in certain subjects, (Economics comes to mind, my teacher keeps going on about it) you need to have read around the subject and be aware of the latest/recent news.

Reply 11

limetang

I got A*AA. If I'd put in more work I probably could have got A*A*A*, but by the time the June exams came along I needed so little that I wasn't very stressed while in the exams so probably didn't try in them in the end as hard as I could. (I still got good marks mind you, but I definitely could have done better)

Reply 12

TheWorldEndsWithMe

Original post by Schoolio93

Tbh I think you're mixing up AS and A2.
Most places won't let anyone do less than 4 AS which I the year yore going to enter into next September (right? The year system is numbered differently here), but in A2 year, more people than not drop one of the subjects (usually the one they did worst in) and only do three to full A-level.

Reply 13

soutioirsim

Original post by h_a_95

I know it might sound like a pretty pathetic question, but nobody has every answered it clearly everyone is always so wishy washy saying 'do the best you can' bla bla bla -

It's not wishy washy, that's the right answer.

Reply 14

Maccees

Original post by sLip

It makes a difference if you do more than three/four.

Don't tell me it doesn't because it does.

I would like to know your reasoning and sources behind that claim please?

Reply 15

H.C. Chinaski

Original post by h_a_95

I was wondering how much hours a day would I have to put in every day to achieve 4 A*'s at AS level ?

you won't be getting any A*'s at AS level

Original post by h_a_95

I want people to reply with personal experience of the work load at AS level and I know its not an impossibility my cousin achieved 3 A*'s

It is an impossibility and he didn't.

Reply 16

Schoolio93

Original post by TheWorldEndsWithMe

oh no with college I mean my College at Cambridge. Yeah you are right normally students do 4AS levels and 3A-levels. But what I am trying to say is that it does make a difference if you do more.

For AS I done maths,bio,chem,phy and computing and for A2 I dropped phys and computing.

So yeah I do get the system lol

Reply 17

gunner4lyf44

Original post by h_a_95

I know it might sound like a pretty pathetic question, but nobody has every answered it clearly everyone is always so wishy washy saying 'do the best you can' bla bla bla -

Im a GCSE student in Yr11 and I view myself as a A/A* grade pupil except from science and maths where im working at a (Low) A/(High)B

I will probably be taking these at A-level -

1. History
2. Govt + Politics
3. Philosophy
4. Law or Biology

I think im a capable student and im always prepared to put as much work in as is necessary to achieve the grades I want.
I was wondering how much hours a day would I have to put in every day to achieve 4 A*'s at AS level ?

and when do you start revising 6months before exams 5,4,3,2,1 ?

I want people to reply with personal experience of the work load at AS level and I know its not an impossibility my cousin achieved 3 A*'s and I know he wasn't the most brightest of bunnies in the world is it just a matter of your work ethic or do you need something extra or be a brainiac ? :cool:

Thanks.

I can see people on this thread saying it doesnt make a difference if you do 4 over 3 but it does. Too many people believe the tutti frutti world of what unis SAY they want when reality they want much, much more for the really competitive courses.

I cant really comment on your subjects for difficulty to get A* as I do all 3 science and maths for A2 but its really not as abstract of a possiblity as people make it out to be. Infact just do the homeworks your teacher sets, questions in textbooks, pastpapers from the exam board, and revise for your internal class tests (trust me these are more important at A level than GCSE as you need to know where you are) and you can get 4A* or at least 2A*2A. No need for reading notes everyday, independent study etc thats a load of bull.

Reply 18

h_a_95

Original post by cooldudeman

why do 4 a-levles, why not 3 like normal people. universities don't really care if you do more than 3.

Personally im am still deciding between career paths so an experience of an extra subject could be pivotal in what career path I choose to go down, tbh im not too worried whether universities care if i have 3/4 im just picking 4 subjects i like you never know what you might be missing out on, and im not to worried about the workload i think its manageable, and i dont want to be normal :s-smilie: