Should I take 5 a levels?
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
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Original post by workable-biologi
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
I mean, with Maths, Further Maths and Physics there's a lot of overlapping content, and people doing 5 A Levels isn't totally uncommon - seeing as you're getting all 9s in your GCSEs now, I see no reason you shouldn't be able to cope with the workload. If it is too much, then you always have the opportunity to drop a subject in Year 12.
Original post by workable-biologi
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
If you truly believe that you will find it fairly manageable then maybe. I have done 3 A-levels and that is PLENTY stress. 2 of my friends took further maths at the start of yr 12 as a 4th A-Level and both ended up dropping. Honestly, GSCEs are pretty easy but A-Levels are rough. I would suggest considering the mental load of doing that and ask for advice from teachers if you can
Reply 3
Original post by workable-biologi
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
No don't do 5 Alevels. I got 9s and 8s for GCSEs but ALevels are hard. Don't do that to yourself.
I wouldn't recommend it. Especially all the sciences and 2 rounds of maths that's rough. None of them will allow you to slack off a bit.
I'm doing 4 and already struggling 🫠🫠🫠
It seems fine at the start, so then you stick it out, but before you know it you're at the end of the year with SO much to revise and you're so far in it doesn't seem worth it to drop any. Its just not practical. And unis will accept you with 3. And it'll be easier to secure amazing grades in just 3 as opposed to 5.
But also remember trying to get all the stuff for your personal statement alongside your grades takes up a lot of time
I'm doing 4 and already struggling 🫠🫠🫠
It seems fine at the start, so then you stick it out, but before you know it you're at the end of the year with SO much to revise and you're so far in it doesn't seem worth it to drop any. Its just not practical. And unis will accept you with 3. And it'll be easier to secure amazing grades in just 3 as opposed to 5.
But also remember trying to get all the stuff for your personal statement alongside your grades takes up a lot of time
Reply 5
It depends on why you’re doing them in the first place as you can only put (I believe, I could be wrong as it’s been a while) three full A Levels on a uni application and once you have your degree, your A Levels become redundant.
Personally though I found A Levels to be the hardest subjects I’ve done in my life and right now I’m about to finish my MSc in Biomedical Science!
The jump from GCSE to A Level was far bigger than I expected for me personally. I’m not saying it will be for you but personally, for me is was a lot harder than expected…
Personally though I found A Levels to be the hardest subjects I’ve done in my life and right now I’m about to finish my MSc in Biomedical Science!
The jump from GCSE to A Level was far bigger than I expected for me personally. I’m not saying it will be for you but personally, for me is was a lot harder than expected…
Reply 6
Thanks for everyone's replies!! I have read through each and every single one and I will take in what everyone had said. Tysm guys, especially those who have shared their experiences, allowing me to gain a deeper understanding! Lots of love <333
Original post by workable-biologi
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
I suppose picking a levels all comes down to which uni degree u want to do, if engineering for example maybe fm, maths physics chem are the most useful and different combinations for different subjects. Maybe try and look at what the Uni's say about the degree you want to do and the subject requirements. Maybe that'll help you. If you feel up to the challenge to do 5 A levels, then go ahead but like you always have the chance to drop a subject since you're planning to do 5. But just remember that a person doing 3 a levels and getting As is better than a person doing 5 whose getting all Bs. but ye if you're up for it, then the sky is ur limit pal
(edited 11 months ago)
Reply 8
Broooo if ur doing 5 thas literally just for showing off 😭, do 4 MAXX if you really feel like it but yeah like everyone else is saying please dont damage yourself like that just do 3 A levels ( again if you really really feel confident do 4) also please just becareful of physics - by far the hardest subject , Chemistry aint too bad , Maths can be hard but can also be easy
Original post by workable-biologi
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
No, I do 4 A Levels and it is a lot of work. I would suggest dropping your least favourite science from that list because I know many people who tried to take all 3 sciences but ended up dropping one because it was too much (only one person I know still does all 3 sciences + maths and he's a genius). I also found GCSEs easy and at the time I felt like I could have taken any of my subjects for A level but it's better to focus on ones that you'll enjoy the most and are linked to the degree you want to study.
(edited 10 months ago)
I highly recommend NOT doing 5 A-Levels. Only do 4 A-Levels if you're willing to start revising from about halfway through your first year of A-Levels because the exams will hit you as hard as a train and you will not have much time. In addition, an extra a level already removes time from your free time as its extra lessons. Keep in mind the following: The jump from GCSE to A-Levels is much, much bigger than from A-Levels to Uni. Regardless of how well your grade is at GCSEs. My average grade was an 8 in GCSE with a few 9s and I can attest that it is hard enough already having 3 A-Levels.
Reply 11
Original post by workable-biologi
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
Reply 13
Original post by workable-biologi
Well, for a long time now I have always been asking myself what should I do for A-Levels and it seems that I am unable to be decisive. The A-Levels I am wanting to choose are FM, Maths, Physics, Chem, Biology. In terms of GCSEs my FM, maths and sciences are all 9s since last mock and rn the actual GCSEs seem to be a breeze. Any suggestions to give me a helping hand?
Thank you so much. <3
Thank you so much. <3
by the time you get to the end of year 13 like where i am right now you just desperately want to get the grades that will get you into uni haha. depends what course you’re doing and where you want to apply, but even only 3 subjects has been enough stress for me, and I still managed to get all 4 med school places with 3 A-levels. it’s probably quite a bit easier to achieve A*A*A in 3 A-levels, than AAAA in 4, nevermind 5
it’s also important to note that A-levels are much different to GCSEs. GCSE physics was a breeze for me, it didn’t take much effort at all for me to achieve a 9 yet a lot of the content in A-level physics is very challenging, i’ve only ever achieved an A* in one mock recently, and i’ll be very happy with a B for my final grade (my offer is BBB based on widening participation). chemistry and biology are a bit simpler in terms of content but still very very different to GCSE with a huge amount of content you have to learn.
by all means start out with all 5 if you really want to, and you can drop any you don’t enjoy later. if you make it through the entire course for all 5 you definitely deserve a medal haha
good luck with whatever you decide to do!!
Reply 14
Only you know if you'll be able to truly handle five. I pulled it off by doing a mix of arts and sciences, so I wasn't getting information overload all of the time. From what I understand, chem and bio are really content-heavy. Also, if you're doing further maths, normal maths pretty much comes free so that's a bonus.
Reply 15
It depends on your abilities ultimately. If you have a near eidetic memory and a very high iq, go for it. It also depends on what subject you want to take at university. If you want to do medicine, theres really no point doing more than 3 a levels because from what I know, universities like oxbridge only look at 3 a levels. There's really no point stressing out over 5 a levels. I was going to do 4 a levels but i've decided to remove one because I've realised its too much stress for me.
Reply 16
Also, I forgot to mention, I know someone who got 10 9s and still decided to just stick with 3 a levels (bio, chem and maths). On the other hand, I know someone who did 6+ a levels (although a few years ago) and didn't get into the 'top' universities.
Original post by Hannahblossom
No don't do 5 Alevels. I got 9s and 8s for GCSEs but ALevels are hard. Don't do that to yourself.
I want to preface this by saying that I do not want to be rude at all, just trying to present a different point of view.
First of all, congratulations for those amazing results in your GCSEs, those are great, and not many people get them!
However, there is a difference between getting 9s and 8s and all 9s. There is a well-known saying that goes, "You got 97% because that's all you could get, but I got 100% because that's all there was to get". If OP is indeed getting all 9s in the subjects they want to take, then they may well be so good that they don't need to try in their GCSEs, and getting these results with minimal work, in which case 5 A Levels may not be that difficult of a task, as it may be the same amount of work that others put into 3 A Levels. I have two friends who absolutely flew through their GCSEs (like one did GCSE Maths in year 8) and are now doing 5 A Levels with barely a sweat, simply because they are capable of that. If OP is like them, then I would say go ahead.
Reply 18
Original post by Hippogan
I want to preface this by saying that I do not want to be rude at all, just trying to present a different point of view.
First of all, congratulations for those amazing results in your GCSEs, those are great, and not many people get them!
However, there is a difference between getting 9s and 8s and all 9s. There is a well-known saying that goes, "You got 97% because that's all you could get, but I got 100% because that's all there was to get". If OP is indeed getting all 9s in the subjects they want to take, then they may well be so good that they don't need to try in their GCSEs, and getting these results with minimal work, in which case 5 A Levels may not be that difficult of a task, as it may be the same amount of work that others put into 3 A Levels. I have two friends who absolutely flew through their GCSEs (like one did GCSE Maths in year 8) and are now doing 5 A Levels with barely a sweat, simply because they are capable of that. If OP is like them, then I would say go ahead.
First of all, congratulations for those amazing results in your GCSEs, those are great, and not many people get them!
However, there is a difference between getting 9s and 8s and all 9s. There is a well-known saying that goes, "You got 97% because that's all you could get, but I got 100% because that's all there was to get". If OP is indeed getting all 9s in the subjects they want to take, then they may well be so good that they don't need to try in their GCSEs, and getting these results with minimal work, in which case 5 A Levels may not be that difficult of a task, as it may be the same amount of work that others put into 3 A Levels. I have two friends who absolutely flew through their GCSEs (like one did GCSE Maths in year 8) and are now doing 5 A Levels with barely a sweat, simply because they are capable of that. If OP is like them, then I would say go ahead.
There’s no point in doing more than 3/4 A-levels.
If you do 4 then maybe keep FM.
What do you want to do after sixth form OP? that could help when trying to decide the A-levels.
If you do 4 then maybe keep FM.
What do you want to do after sixth form OP? that could help when trying to decide the A-levels.
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