Too much?

Hi! I’m going into Year 12 next year and plan on taking English Literature, History, Politics and French (which I took a year early and got a grade 9) for A Level. I also participate in athletics competitively and hope to become a coaching assistant. I also want to do my Gold DofE as part of this and hopefully even become a prefect at school. However I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a lot of work. Does anyone have any tips to manage big workloads or should I drop something? I really want to go to a good uni in the future so any advice would be great. Thank you!

Hi! I’m going into Year 12 next year and plan on taking English Literature, History, Politics and French (which I took a year early and got a grade 9) for A Level. I also participate in athletics competitively and hope to become a coaching assistant. I also want to do my Gold DofE as part of this and hopefully even become a prefect at school. However I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a lot of work. Does anyone have any tips to manage big workloads or should I drop something? I really want to go to a good uni in the future so any advice would be great. Thank you!

hey, i just finished year 12 where i also took on a bunch of different things like 5 subjects, student union, work experience, volunteering, badminton and occasional community help. i did different subjects to what you are thinking (psychology, criminology, sociology, math studies and epq) but i have a lot of peers who are in that area of study. honestly my biggest advice, really simple is to stay organised and always have priorities. your a-levels are the most important thing at the end of the day so if at any point you feel like you cannot focus on your studies then you'll need to rethink how much time your putting into your extracurriculars, also keeping track in year 12 will help you massively in year 13 and on your summer holidays. to keep organised, i use google calendar to time-block my activities with a nice colour coding system so that i don't have to constantly remember everything which keeps my head clear. i also use this to schedule breaks and personal care like cleaning, going on walks and spending time with friends because honestly having these breaks is what kept my sanity lmao. i think it's really great to have these ambitions going into your first year, because you will have more time for them and it will by extent boost your personal statement, CV etcetera. then, when year 13 rolls around you will have it out of the way because the jump for year 12 to 13 can be brutal i've heard.

What do you want to study at Uni - any ideas?
And why are you taking 4 A levels?

Hi! I’m going into Year 12 next year and plan on taking English Literature, History, Politics and French (which I took a year early and got a grade 9) for A Level. I also participate in athletics competitively and hope to become a coaching assistant. I also want to do my Gold DofE as part of this and hopefully even become a prefect at school. However I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a lot of work. Does anyone have any tips to manage big workloads or should I drop something? I really want to go to a good uni in the future so any advice would be great. Thank you!

I don't know really how intense any of these are (other than History) but I know that staying organised is really key. Only take on what you feel confident and comfortable doing - yeah, gold DofE is really impressive but if you're already starting to struggle, you can do it at a later point.
I know it's quite awkward to go back up to 4 if you have dropped one, but it's possible until the beginning of year 13 (depending on the sixthform) so you can always add it back. Don't be afraid to drop a commitment or a-level if it's too much (or creates too much of a negative impact on your time, health and wellbeing).
Extracurriculars are great and you will have fab Uni offers, but don't make yourself overwhelmed. Make sure you have the support from friends and family so that you're not focusing too much on one thing unnecessarily, and so that you are still having positive interactions and socialising (one girl in my year did 5 alevels and her parents loved her for it but she had no free time out of 9-3). Teachers should be able to help with deadlines and helping you stay on track (although don't rely on this obvs).
Well done and good luck
Hope this helps )

What do you want to study at Uni - any ideas?
And why are you taking 4 A levels?

Hi! I’m going into Year 12 next year and plan on taking English Literature, History, Politics and French (which I took a year early and got a grade 9) for A Level. I also participate in athletics competitively and hope to become a coaching assistant. I also want to do my Gold DofE as part of this and hopefully even become a prefect at school. However I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a lot of work. Does anyone have any tips to manage big workloads or should I drop something? I really want to go to a good uni in the future so any advice would be great. Thank you!

Hi! I’m going into Year 12 next year and plan on taking English Literature, History, Politics and French (which I took a year early and got a grade 9) for A Level. I also participate in athletics competitively and hope to become a coaching assistant. I also want to do my Gold DofE as part of this and hopefully even become a prefect at school. However I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a lot of work. Does anyone have any tips to manage big workloads or should I drop something? I really want to go to a good uni in the future so any advice would be great. Thank you!

Academically, there will be a lot of essay writing for you. I do history politics economics (switched from English lit) and German, so you would have a similar workload to me. I also had a lot of extra curricular going on: choir, orchestra, theatre (onstage and offstage work), tennis, charity work etc so I had to balance it with that. I wanted to be a prefect (and I am now for next year!) and honestly for that, just keep doing everything you're doing and be a good person and people will indubitably notice you (I stressed so much about this you don't understand so trust me when I say authenticity is the best way to be recognised). However, as you will have lots of essays, you will find you need to find a lot of time to write them and as you worry about the essay, the length, and everything else that is happening in your life, you will find yourself wasting time. I did this for nearly all of my lower sixth before I finally told myself that if I needed the grades for Oxford, I needed to push myself (fyi I had this huge epiphany of just suddenly bettering myself academically, as a person and in all areas of my life after I was stuck in the hospital for a month because I had appendicitis). To ensure I had enough time to do all my work to an A* level, do all my extra curricular activities, and have time to relax with my friends I did this:
a levels is the time to learn how to be organised so PLEASE DO SO. put everything in your outlook or apple diary and have reminders so that it is impossible for you to be disorganised! I even colour coded mine so it was super clear when I had to do something academic, music or theatre, sports, or club/society related etc that way it didn't look like a huge red blur. you need to be strict with yourself - even if it is difficult at first.
I will say I had this epiphany whilst in the hospital in January/February and so I had to catch up with a months worth of content and essays in a week (half term) by myself in cafes, libraries etc but I had had this insane switch of a mindset and suddenly studying wasn't so hard anymore. bear in mind during this time, ive also had holidays, read 15 books, and my friend died - however with this, I was able to persevere like crazy.
this is super long winded and I feel like im waffling now lol but hopefully this will give you some help? in summary, be insanely organised and let yourself struggle at first in order to produce the best possible version of yourself academically a few months later.

Hi! That’s so cool, I take English and History too ☺️ Honestly I don’t think there’s anything wrong with starting with more, but just be aware you might be very overworked very quickly, so it’s likely you’ll choose to drop something. But that’s ok and normal! It’s more important to do well in 3 a levels and have relax time than struggle to do well in 4. I also have lots of friends who started with extra maths and ended up dropping it because it was too much. Just see how it goes

Hello, I do Eng Lit, History and Psychology. Last year I also did and EPQ went through the Head Girl application process, became a house captain, became a subject prefect in 2 of my subjects, got my grade 6 and 7 LAMDA, as well as volunteering weekly. Overall this was mostly manageable but it is a lot less than what you are planning and there have been times where it has been A LOT (such as having my EPQ presentation evening the day after my LAMDA exam).
Personally I have found there wasn’t an extensive workload for Eng Lit. As long as you keep on top of reading you should be fine. We do a lot of timed practice in class for this subject and the feedback is really useful. I would just say don’t fall behind on reading and actively think about the feedback you are given and you will be ok!
History on the other hand has been a lot more work for me. I find myself writing history essays in any moment I have. I have had to put a lot of work into history as it is the subject I wish to take to uni. I found it difficult at first but with time and practice it has gotten easier.
I would look into you’re subject courses and see how much non-examined work there is (in my collage Eng, History and languages have it). I am working on 2 pieces as well as my personal statement and I feel as though it is a lot especially for a summer holiday!
My advice is try and stay on top of everything g and don’t think “I can do this later” as there will be something else to do!
If I were you I would start with everything and then if it becomes too much you can always drop something. I don’t know what Unis you are looking at but most don’t require this much!!!
Hope this helps- feel free to ask anything else

Hi! I’m going into Year 12 next year and plan on taking English Literature, History, Politics and French (which I took a year early and got a grade 9) for A Level. I also participate in athletics competitively and hope to become a coaching assistant. I also want to do my Gold DofE as part of this and hopefully even become a prefect at school. However I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a lot of work. Does anyone have any tips to manage big workloads or should I drop something? I really want to go to a good uni in the future so any advice would be great. Thank you!

Hi! I’m going into Year 12 next year and plan on taking English Literature, History, Politics and French (which I took a year early and got a grade 9) for A Level. I also participate in athletics competitively and hope to become a coaching assistant. I also want to do my Gold DofE as part of this and hopefully even become a prefect at school. However I’m starting to feel like this is going to be a lot of work. Does anyone have any tips to manage big workloads or should I drop something? I really want to go to a good uni in the future so any advice would be great. Thank you!