Comparison between A-Levels and Gcse

10

Hi, i’m going into year 12 this september and was wondering what the jump from gcse to a level would be like? For subjects like Bio, Chem and Maths? Im predicted 9’s for all of them. Thanks!!

Reply 1

chloemxyo

2

Hi! Firstly well done on your predictions they are incredible and I hope you achieve what you wish for!
I took Biology for a few months at the beginning of year 12 and I must admit the workload does seem very daunting at first as it is a lot heavier than GCSE but I did find a lot of crossover. For Biology, there was a lot of Chemistry that came into the work but if you are taking Chem alongside that will definitely help, same with maths. Although i didn't stick with biology and didn't take chem or maths, these are the subjects of one of my close friends who also achieved a lot of 9s and she definitely had to work hard but managed very well as long as you stay on top of revision materials, making summarised notes throughout the year helps. Like I said, i didn't take these subjects specifically but I think i can speak for most subjects when i say it is a big leap but you do get used to the workload pretty fast and if it is something you enjoy you won't mind too much as you will be interested in the content. But do not panic you will settle in and if you struggle too much, speak to your teachers for advice, don't be afraid to speak up if you don't understand something as they are always there to help you :smile:

Reply 2

danhern0808

3

Maths is virtually the same. Only a few new topics but they’re really simple in year 1. And when you get to year 2 it just takes a little bit of practise !

Reply 3

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

22

Original post

by ea007

Hi, i’m going into year 12 this september and was wondering what the jump from gcse to a level would be like? For subjects like Bio, Chem and Maths? Im predicted 9’s for all of them. Thanks!!

4th year medicine student here

Did those A levels you mentioned and got A*A*A (bio, maths, chem)

The jump into year 12 from gcse isn’t that bad tbh - I found the jump from year 12 to year 13 much worse if I recall correctly…

As expected though, the subjects will be way more intense and harder than gcse. With enough support and focus, you should be fine though.

Best of luck.

Reply 4

ea007

OP

10

thank you 👍

Reply 5

katla1

8

Original post

by ea007

Hi, i’m going into year 12 this september and was wondering what the jump from gcse to a level would be like? For subjects like Bio, Chem and Maths? Im predicted 9’s for all of them. Thanks!!

Hi Im going into y13 and I do maths and chemistry and a lot of my friends also do biology. For maths for the first half of the year (for us at least) we didn't learn much, mainly just higher gcse level but we have now started learning new stuff although if you find gcse easy, the AS content is not that big of a step, just new. For chemistry my teachers completely overwhelm all of us with work, giving us like 10 hours a week which is loads!!! The actual content isn't that hard just the amount of it and some new ideas make it hard! My friends seem to also find biology a lot of content although not too hard conceptually? They keep up with the work and I think they are managing fine though!

Reply 6

ea007

OP

10

Original post

by katla1

Hi Im going into y13 and I do maths and chemistry and a lot of my friends also do biology. For maths for the first half of the year (for us at least) we didn't learn much, mainly just higher gcse level but we have now started learning new stuff although if you find gcse easy, the AS content is not that big of a step, just new. For chemistry my teachers completely overwhelm all of us with work, giving us like 10 hours a week which is loads!!! The actual content isn't that hard just the amount of it and some new ideas make it hard! My friends seem to also find biology a lot of content although not too hard conceptually? They keep up with the work and I think they are managing fine though!

I actually did further maths at gcse and got an 8 .. u think that wil help at a level? For first year?

Reply 7

katla1

8

Original post

by ea007

I actually did further maths at gcse and got an 8 .. u think that wil help at a level? For first year?

I didn't do further maths gcse(I didn't have the option) but a few of my friends from different schools did and they have basically learnt nothing all year as most of the new stuff like differentiation thy had already covered! I know y13 does get a bit harder though! There is some stuff like matrices which is only covered in further maths not regular maths too!

Reply 8

ea007

OP

10

Yeah!! I know there is something called integration (basically opposite of differentiation) that you learn in Yr 1, But not sure about any more topics. Thats good to know though, because i could focus more on bio and chem then

Comparison between A-Levels and Gcse

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