Should I do 5 a levels

I'm planning to do 5 A Levels (maths, fm, physics and chem all ocr, and music eduqas) as well as Goethe-Zertificat B2 (German language qualification). Do you think it will be too much? (context: im predicted all 9s and especially good at maths, grade 8 piano, grade 7 drum kit, grade 5 guitar, may go to uni in germany cos my uncle lives there, planning to do maths and phys joint honours)

Reply 1

totallyfine

12

Yes, I think it is too much. At most you should do 4 but Universities only take notice of 3. Quality beats quantity.

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 2

bumba123

11

Yeah just don't do 5, unless you want to do them all regardless of the impact on your uni application (it won't benefit it) and truly believe you will be able to manage it. A*A*A* is better than A*A*AAA, at least in the UK

Reply 3

teddy5839

OP

1

Original post by bumba123

Yeah just don't do 5, unless you want to do them all regardless of the impact on your uni application (it won't benefit it) and truly believe you will be able to manage it. A*A*A* is better than A*A*AAA, at least in the UK

I think i should be able to manage, i can do further maths rn and probs get an a or a*, which is why my one of my teachers suggested this

Reply 4

totallyfine

12

As a teacher, I would not suggest this. A levels are a massive step up and need a good amount of time devoted towards the study.
If you have spare time it would be better put towards extra curricular things

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 5

Muttley79

20

Original post by teddy5839

I think i should be able to manage, i can do further maths rn and probs get an a or a*, which is why my one of my teachers suggested this

It's not sensible - 4 is plenty with two being Maths/FMaths. You are better to spend time on super-curriculars and reading around your subjects for uni prep.

Reply 6

bumba123

11

Application wise, you would be wasting your time. Even if you can fit in everything else, I assure you there is no reason to do 5 beyond genuine love for the subjects. Think to yourself, would you rather be doing another A-level or reading, gaming, playing an instrument etc. If the answer is no, don't do 5 levels. Please

Reply 7

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper, Careers Forum Helper

19

Original post by teddy5839

I'm planning to do 5 A Levels (maths, fm, physics and chem all ocr, and music eduqas) as well as Goethe-Zertificat B2 (German language qualification). Do you think it will be too much? (context: im predicted all 9s and especially good at maths, grade 8 piano, grade 7 drum kit, grade 5 guitar, may go to uni in germany cos my uncle lives there, planning to do maths and phys joint honours)

I wouldnt do 5. Just stick to the 4 (maths, further maths, physics and chemistry). Then do your music stuff on the side, which still looks good/shows outside interest. The music stuff can be written about in personal statements/talked about in interviews.

Reply 8

ImaBeBillionaire

3

Original post by teddy5839

I'm planning to do 5 A Levels (maths, fm, physics and chem all ocr, and music eduqas) as well as Goethe-Zertificat B2 (German language qualification). Do you think it will be too much? (context: im predicted all 9s and especially good at maths, grade 8 piano, grade 7 drum kit, grade 5 guitar, may go to uni in germany cos my uncle lives there, planning to do maths and phys joint honours)

I do the first 4 you mentioned and there's no way its reasonable to add any more on to it unless you have constant free time for studying specifically and can maintain that consistently over the two years. It would better to stick to those 4 (or even just maths, fm, physics) if you know for certain that honours degree is what you want to do. That way you put all your eggs in the basket you care about most and can commit more reasonable amounts of time to it. It's all down to what you can manage though, but be careful. It's very easy to go full steam ahead and then burn out.

Reply 9

username7531572

0

10

I did 4 and found I havd literally no free time in school hours (everyone else had at least one free period a day) so you will have to do it entirely in your own time most likely. That or have shorter lessons on everything and more focus on independent study time. You only need 3 A levels to get into uni - 4 is a stretch at that. Don't burn yourself out before you even get to uni okay?

Reply 10

Kingston Eve

Official Rep

11

Original post by teddy5839

I'm planning to do 5 A Levels (maths, fm, physics and chem all ocr, and music eduqas) as well as Goethe-Zertificat B2 (German language qualification). Do you think it will be too much? (context: im predicted all 9s and especially good at maths, grade 8 piano, grade 7 drum kit, grade 5 guitar, may go to uni in germany cos my uncle lives there, planning to do maths and phys joint honours)

Hey @teddy5839!

After achieving all A*'s at GCSE, I studied 5 A-Levels: English Lit, Art and Design, Economics, Chemistry and History of Art. Whilst I enjoyed studying them all, it's really not necessary for university applications; four A-Levels is more than enough for top universities both in the UK and throughout Europe. I'd recommend focusing on getting the best three/four A-Levels you possibly can rather than potentially overwhelming yourself with five - after all, most students and universities would consider three A*'s a much better result than five B's.

Best of luck with your A-Levels next year!
Eve (Kingston Rep).

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 11

HitTheZzzzz

2

Doing 5 A-levels is just excessive. Unless you want to spend your free time doing independent study, do 4.

Reply 12

Kingston Jenifer

Official Rep

9

Original post by teddy5839

I'm planning to do 5 A Levels (maths, fm, physics and chem all ocr, and music eduqas) as well as Goethe-Zertificat B2 (German language qualification). Do you think it will be too much? (context: im predicted all 9s and especially good at maths, grade 8 piano, grade 7 drum kit, grade 5 guitar, may go to uni in germany cos my uncle lives there, planning to do maths and phys joint honours)

Good Morning,

Where do you want to go in the future? University? Apprenticeship? Most uni's look at 3 levels however some of the higher education institutes may look at 4 - so a 4th A-Level may be useful.

However, A-Level is a massive step up from GCSE. Taking on too many will lead to burn out. Do not underestimate how challenging you may initially find your A-Levels.

I recommend taking a quality over quantity approach - it is better to have AAA than BBBBB.

Hope this helps!

Kind regards, Jenifer (Kingston rep)

Reply 13

UCLan_Sophia

Official Rep

8

Original post by teddy5839

I'm planning to do 5 A Levels (maths, fm, physics and chem all ocr, and music eduqas) as well as Goethe-Zertificat B2 (German language qualification). Do you think it will be too much? (context: im predicted all 9s and especially good at maths, grade 8 piano, grade 7 drum kit, grade 5 guitar, may go to uni in germany cos my uncle lives there, planning to do maths and phys joint honours)

Hi @teddy5839 👋,

It's great to see your eager to further develop your education and you already have so much extra to offer! However I would not recommend doing five A levels. Compared to GCSE, the workload is much higher for A-levels and you are expected to do more independent work. I would not recommend doing over three-four as it's much better if you achieve higher with less A-levels, than get mid-range grades across five A-levels. 📚️

To help your decision, I recommend checking out the grade requirements for the universities your interested in. This way you can look at their expectations and align your decision with this. 📑

I hope this helps, please feel free to ask me any questions,
-Sophia (University of Central Lancashire)

Reply 14

charlie200000

12

Original post by teddy5839

I think i should be able to manage, i can do further maths rn and probs get an a or a*, which is why my one of my teachers suggested this

You think you may get a A or A* in FM & Maths? You'd be better doing 3 or 4 and stand a better chance of an A* in both

Reply 15

charlie200000

12

Original post by teddy5839

I'm planning to do 5 A Levels (maths, fm, physics and chem all ocr, and music eduqas) as well as Goethe-Zertificat B2 (German language qualification). Do you think it will be too much? (context: im predicted all 9s and especially good at maths, grade 8 piano, grade 7 drum kit, grade 5 guitar, may go to uni in germany cos my uncle lives there, planning to do maths and phys joint honours)

Also you say that you're predicted "All 9s" so I assume you haven't even taken your GCSEs yet? If so you have time so maybe wait and see what you do get in GCSEs and go from there? My son was predicted mostly 9s and a few 8s but ended up with 3 x9s 4 x8s, 3 x7s and 1 x6 even though he was consistently working much higher than that, the 6 was predicted to be a 9!

Should I do 5 a levels

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