5 A-Levels

How feasible is it to take 5 A-Levels at a normal college and how much better is it than 4 if you want to apply to Oxford?

How many GCSEs would you suggest is an equivalent workload to 5 A-Levels?

Reply 1

imxa6

Study Forum Helper

Why would you want to take 5 A-Levels? No universities require even 4 (for some, 4 may confer an advantage), it is an insane workload and you are less likely to get the possible grades. Take 3 and an EPQ, or 4, and apply 🙂

Reply 2

zarah11

it depends if you speak a native language, or do further maths. my friend does five subjects- maths, further maths, french, chemistry, and physics- but this is because she is fluent in french already and really *really* loves maths. this is really the only scenario when you should take five subjects, otherwise it's completely unnecessary, because oxford themself have started explicitly stating that more than three a-levels does not give you any advantage over those with three (unless you're applying for, say, computer science, in which case you should ideally have physics, maths, further maths, and either chemistry or computer science. even then the maximum you reach is four). don't put your grades and mental health at risk for no reason.

Reply 3

KWad

There is no value added by taking 5 subjects... unless you really like all 5 need some more time to decide which final 4 subjects you want to pursue. Or in other words, only take 5 if you intend to drop down to 4 shortly into Y12. Don't actually try and do 5 subjects. Your time could be better spent.

Reply 4

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

Original post by Sichwünschen

How feasible is it to take 5 A-Levels at a normal college and how much better is it than 4 if you want to apply to Oxford?
How many GCSEs would you suggest is an equivalent workload to 5 A-Levels?

I wouldnt do 5.
I have known someone to do 5 back when i was at 6th form (one of them was further maths). But i wouldnt recommend it.
Id do a maximum of 4.
Why do you want to do 5?

Reply 5

sdfj

Original post by Sichwünschen

How feasible is it to take 5 A-Levels at a normal college and how much better is it than 4 if you want to apply to Oxford?
How many GCSEs would you suggest is an equivalent workload to 5 A-Levels?

I've taken 5 for a term with no intention of finishing with 5.

I'd say it's pretty unrealistic and not worth the effort - you could spend your time better. You won't usually need 4 if you're not doing further maths (yes - even for Oxbridge).

I'd say that my term of 5 A-Levels comes with about double the workload compared to GCSEs... I did 11 GCSEs - I'm sure you can do the maths. Seriously though, think twice if you're considered ending with 5.

Reply 6

HumanBeans

I go to a high achieving school (10% of pupils go on to go to oxbridge) basically no one does 5 A-Level. Most people end up doing 3/4 A-Levels and 4 is only really common if you are doing Further maths even though we all start doing 4. It is a lot of work. Don’t do it or if you do only do it for like 3 weeks to decide which subjects you want to do then drop it.

Reply 7

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

Original post by HumanBeans

"Don’t do it or if you do only do it for like 3 weeks to decide which subjects you want to do then drop it"

I agree, only start with 5 if you are indecisive and want to see which you like best to narrow your choices down.

Reply 8

sdfj

Original post by HumanBeans

Original post by Emma:-)

"Don’t do it or if you do only do it for like 3 weeks to decide which subjects you want to do then drop it"
I agree, only start with 5 if you are indecisive and want to see which you like best to narrow your choices down.

Agreed - my school 'wants' everyone to start with 4 or (or 5 including FM) at the start of the year, and there's no apparent impact on grades. Little to no harm in starting with 'too many' subjects if you drop one...

Reply 9

Sichwünschen

Thank you very much everyone for the advice.

Yes, I think I'll just do four when I go to college (Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Politics) so I can spend the amount of time I'd have spent on my fifth A-Level on supercurriculars instead.

Does anyone know any good supercurricular activities for economics? Also are there absolutely any I can do now (in Year 10)?

Reply 10

UoL Students

Official Rep

Original post by Sichwünschen

How feasible is it to take 5 A-Levels at a normal college and how much better is it than 4 if you want to apply to Oxford?
How many GCSEs would you suggest is an equivalent workload to 5 A-Levels?

Hello,

Doing 5 A Levels won't necessarily make you or your application any better any someone who is only doing 3 A Levels. A Levels are difficult and so it's best that you do ideally 3 and do really well in them rather than doing just an average job in 5.

In order to stand out in your University applications you need to do extracurriculars. Maybe an EPQ as these are one of the best ways to prepare for university and I would highly recommend! Do volunteering, the Duke or Edinburgh's award if you haven't done so already. Start a new hobby to show that you have a life outside of academia.

Many colleges are probably unlikely to let you do 5 A Levels for a wide range of reasons. It is difficult even to compare how many GCSEs are equivalent to A Levels as both these qualifications are entirely different.

I hope this helps, if you have any further questions please do let me know.

Charlie
Law LLB Student

Reply 11

mqb2766

Original post by Sichwünschen

Thank you very much everyone for the advice.
Yes, I think I'll just do four when I go to college (Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Politics) so I can spend the amount of time I'd have spent on my fifth A-Level on supercurriculars instead.
Does anyone know any good supercurricular activities for economics? Also are there absolutely any I can do now (in Year 10)?

https://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/files/publications/super-curricular_suggestions.pdf
https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Completing-the-UCAS-form/Personal-Statement
(academic interest, ....). For competitive unis, theyre fairly explicit that supercurriculars/academic stuff is vastly preferred over extracurriculars, and the latter really takes personal statement space away from the former. Also note that most people would (seriously) start supercurriculars after gces, so dont feel the need to rush into it/concentrate on your gcses.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 12

sdfj

Original post by Sichwünschen

Thank you very much everyone for the advice.
Yes, I think I'll just do four when I go to college (Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Politics) so I can spend the amount of time I'd have spent on my fifth A-Level on supercurriculars instead.
Does anyone know any good supercurricular activities for economics? Also are there absolutely any I can do now (in Year 10)?