The Student Room Group
Reply 1
magiccarpet
are they? cos normally you take the 'good' subjects to A2, so as grades dont matter, and if you only take a subject to as then drop it, its not considered to be useful by unis and means nothing on a cv as no one cares about as, only a2s. unis never ask for AA and A at as, they only dictate a2 grades.


Why bother asking the question if you seem to sure?

You're wrong anyhow, lots of universities can give offers to include A/S levels. To take one example, for certain courses at Edinburgh they state you need either a B at A-Level or an A at A/S.
It depends on the subject. Some universities are liking AS critical thinking and it is useful for LNAT.
Reply 3
AS are really only useful if you have some A2's as well but that is not always the case.
AS are useful as they enable you to assess your progress on your course and hence allow you to try and improve your performance overall. This will raise the standard of students produced. IMO a modular system is far better than the old system where all your grades/uni place is dictated by one set of exams at the end of 2 years.
Reply 5
I don't value A levels that much and I never valued GCSEs either. I hope they do manage to combine them into a single qualification covering a variety of subjects. The skill is needed.
Reply 6
To give an obvious answer, they're worth UCAS points as a freestanding qualification, which can aid you in meeting a university tariff based offer. Out of this context, they're going to do nothing but improve your CV. If that's the case, the validity of their use as an educational tool is irrelevant.

As for university offers not containing AS grade requirements, you’re incorrect. A friend of mine had an offer of AABa (he picked up an extra AS in upper sixth).