A-level workload and Part-time jobs

Hey is anyone out there doing further maths and history? and if so how are they finding the workload? I am losing my mind with all the work!
Oh, and my part time job makes me work weekends, is this a good idea when doing A-levels? :frown:

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Reply 1

Juggy123

well working anything over 16 hours per week whilst at college is a bad idea from personal experience i kno many who have failed. But the money does come handy in later and current life

Reply 2

Aleeece123

i dont know about history, but i havent found the workload for further maths that bad- to be honest we get more work set for normal maths lol- but i do think you should be careful about how many hours you work a week- i basically do 9 hours every sunday, and i do find that hard sometimes, but i think once i properly get used to it it shouldnt be so bad (i only started working the week after we went back to school)

Reply 3

mollymustard

I'd say don't work over 12 hours a week. It will end up stressing you out, and even if you are able to cope you will not enjoy much of your time over the next year or so.
Its best to find the balance, do some shifts but give yourself at least one day off a week just to take a step back and chill out!

Reply 4

SuperPatchKid

At the minute I'm not finding work too bad but I'm expecting it to get worse.. I try to keep as many days a week free for schoolwork/ social life.

Reply 5

Lehane

I'm really lucky because I work 8 hours (4 Sat, 4 Sun) at the local garage, but cos it's quiet I can watch TV and do my homework! I need the money, but if I worked anywhere else I know I'd struggle.

Reply 6

lucyhol1012

At college we get told we shouldn't even attempt to do anymore than 10 hours of extra work a week so we can keep up with college work.
It depends when you do it though, work all weekend and college in the week sounds tough!

Reply 7

worthers

During my AS Levels I was doing between 16-24 hours a week. If you can balance the work do it, but if you can't handle it quit.

Reply 8

watermelon sugar

how many hours are you working? last year from march onwards i was doing 5AS(inc art & fmath!) and working 16-20 hours commuting an hour either way to leicester. i swear, i must have been insane.
new job starting is just 9 hours a week :biggrin:

get a job with less hours if it's too hard. orrr, leave your job, focus on work for a while and then get a new job with fewer hours. i worked fulltime in summer with the intention of having money to keep me going this year working few hours with more time to concentrate on college

Reply 9

adam_1234

I'm averaging about 20 a week, but it's mostly weekends with the odd evening shift. As long as you make time to do work and stuff I think it's fine.

Reply 10

fisherman

I remember one particular week that I worked about 65 hours, in addition to doing four advanced highers, and doing lots of sports. Work hard, play hard.

Reply 11

bean87

A-level workload? sorry, but apart from coursework, what workload? i did maths, chemistry and bio. didnt seem to take up that much time, and they are thought of as being quite hard subjects

Reply 12

kamie

It depends on each individual - I coped easily with Maths, Further Maths and Economics and 7 (occasionally 14) hours a week straight through A2, including my exam period. During AS til Xmas A2 I was only doing 10 hours though. It depends when your hours are. When I was doing 10, it was 5 on both Fri and Sat nights, which was at the sacrifice of my social life. Working 7 though was on a Saturday, which was pretty good as it left Sunday for work. Do what suits you, and if you're struggling then you need to cut back the hours if possible. Working 40 during the holidays now that your 16 is possible.

Reply 13

Saru

I've always worked 18 hours a week during college terms, there were points when I was having trouble juggling my time [especially since one of my courses was 60% coursework]. My work is really quiet though so I take my college work with me to do.

If you can handle getting everything done, do it. Don't forget to take some time out though just to chill out, socialize etc.
Also reduce your hours during exam periods. (:

Reply 14

PunkyFish-x

I'm doing 4 A Levels and do 8 hours of part time work during the weekend. If you are finding it hard I would advise dropping your hours at work.

Reply 15

Guinny

The part-time job is a bad idea, methinks. You need to concentrate on the a-levels, or if you have to keep it reduce the hours?

Reply 16

bean87

PunkyFish-x

I'm doing 4 A Levels and do 8 hours of part time work during the weekend. If you are finding it hard I would advise dropping your hours at work.

none of my business friend, but with your qualifications you could go to much better uni's for law :smile:

Reply 17

Mijdge

Generally, it is advised to work no more than 12 hours a week. I usually work 2 hours on Mon and Thurs nights, and then four hours on Sat and Sun. Then I have rugby training twice a week. I manage to keep on top of my workload (English Lit, Philosophy and Ethics and Theatre Studies.) Free periods are a saviour. Also, when it comes to your exams, make sure they know and they should be pretty lenient with your hours.

Reply 18

ScarletBlaster

I just started working today. I'm doing 16 hours a week at Sainsburys, 4 on Wednesday evening, 6 on Saturday morning and 6 on Sunday morning and tbh I think it won't be too bad. For my AS's I'm doing Maths, Chemistry, Biology and ICT.

Reply 19

jelly1000

I'm doing History, and not finding the workload too bad. Out of all my A-Levels, RE is probally the most demanding because the essays really require a lot of thought and take a long time.

My job restarts next sunday and its for 2 1/2 hours a week which gives me enough time to work. Soon I shall also be volunteering for 2 hours a week as well, so that'll bring it up to 4 1/2 hours.