Help a newbie out!

I'm an international student without IGCSE planning to take A Level as a private candidate, what should I know before taking A Level?

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by livingcorpse

I'm an international student without IGCSE planning to take A Level as a private candidate, what should I know before taking A Level?

Kind of depends on the subject and where you are based, but generally:

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It's a pain to do as a private candidate

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It's not cheap

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Be careful of any subjects that have coursework/NEA or practicals

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It's going to be a jump from iGCSE; different level of difficulty, testing you on different things

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If you are doing essay based subjects, learn to read quickly and read a lot

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Use YouTube if you don't understand certain material

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Do a lot of past papers

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We recommend people revise as they study

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You can theoretically do 6-7 A Levels in 1 year, but that is stupid - each A Level takes 300 hours to cover the material, and you should do 300 hours of revision on top; over 50 weeks per year doing 80 hours per week.

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If it's not a required subject for your degree or professional qualification, then it's optional/a preference

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No one will ever ask you to do more than 3 A Levels over 2 years. If you have a preference for doing 4, then by all means. 5 is excessive unless the last subject is Further Maths.

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Try to finish covering your material 2-3 months before your exams. This would give you time to revise properly and for material to sink in.

Good luck.

Reply 2

livingcorpse

Thanks for the reply! Is there any official website for CIE A level that I can refer to guide my study for practical exam? Also, I've found contradicting information of subjects that have course work/NEA. Could you please provide me links that I can rely on? Thank you!