Is doing 4 A-levels actually that hard?

8

Hi, I just started year 12 and decided to do 4 A-levels: Geography, Psychology, English literature and French. I like all my subjects and I got fairly good results for my gcse's so I really don't want to drop any of them. However people say that doing 4 A-levels is a lot lot harder than 3. I don't know what I want to study at university yet but maybe something to do with geography. Any advice on whether to stick with 4 or drop to 3 instead?

Reply 1

Popcornthepuppy

5

Original post

by zufi17dutchduck

Hi, I just started year 12 and decided to do 4 A-levels: Geography, Psychology, English literature and French. I like all my subjects and I got fairly good results for my gcse's so I really don't want to drop any of them. However people say that doing 4 A-levels is a lot lot harder than 3. I don't know what I want to study at university yet but maybe something to do with geography. Any advice on whether to stick with 4 or drop to 3 instead?

Some people cope fine, but for some people it's really difficult. Doing 4 a levels means you lose a lot of free periods at school so you have less time to study as well as another subject on top of this. However, if so far you are enjoying them all then maybe you'll be fine! It's always an option throughout 6th form to drop one if you wanted to! However, most unis don't value 4 a levels over 3, the grades are more important. E.g. it would be better to get AAB then ABBB for most unis. However, maybe wait till your first round of mocks and see how they go and if 4 seems too much and you're really struggling to get the grades you want id recommend dropping one and you can do this whenever you want, it's always an option especially as you're only at the start of year 12 just see how it works for you and make the decision when you're further on with your a levels to see how you find them in the long term!

Reply 2

zufi17dutchduck

OP

8

Thanks for the advice! Yeah I do think doing 4 a-levels plus a compulsory epq does sound like a lot despite liking all the subjects but I have no idea which one to drop if I was to drop one.

Reply 3

Popcornthepuppy

5

Original post

by zufi17dutchduck

Thanks for the advice! Yeah I do think doing 4 a-levels plus a compulsory epq does sound like a lot despite liking all the subjects but I have no idea which one to drop if I was to drop one.

Omg if you have to do epq compulsory as well that's crazy 😭😭 you'll probs had to drop out of one but you have plenty of time and I doubt you'll enjoy all four for 2 years 🤣

Reply 4

jasmineva3128

16

There's a girl/woman on YouTube/TikTok/Instagram called Tilly Taylor, and she explains how she achieved A*A*A*A* in her A-levels and an A* in her EPQ. Obviously, most people taking this workload wouldn't manage to get grades that high, but it shows that it's possible and her videos might be able to help.

Is doing 4 A-levels actually that hard?

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