Is General Studies AS worth taking?

[hellsbells99]

Also posted under Secondary Education Topic.
DD1 has been asked today if she wants to take it. Is it worth the time and effort? They are going to be told more tomorrow.
She is taking maths & sciences at A level so a heavy workload already.
Most uni courses she has looked at say things like ABB at A level. A couple of the lower ones say 300-320 points - would this include AS points do you think (in which case it may be worthwhile doing it)?
She is not widely read, doesn't particularly keep updated with current affairs but can write a reasonable essay.

[BackforGood]

My ds is taking it (at A-level too) but they all do, and don't do a huge amount of prep for it.
Most of the universities we looked at actually state "not including General Studies" as part of the offer, but may see it as an additional bit I suppose when looking at the application ?
ds is doing subjects that fit very nicely with Gen Studies anyway,, so it's not any extra work, and, he is capable of writing good essays I hope or he's stuffed with the other subjects.

[hellsbells99]

Thanks for your replies.
I think school are quite laid back about whether they take it or not.
She will find out a bit more tomorrow and we will look at a past paper at the weekend before she makes any decision!
I wouldn't call her particularly well read. She spends a lot of time on music and school work .....and the internet!...and a bit of sport...

[senua]

There is a case when General Studies can be useful but you need it all the way to A2, not just AS.
Most departments will not specify GS but the University as a whole may like it because it is acceptable under the Outside Number Control rules. So if you feel that your DC may be marginal or in clearing or adjustment, it could be a useful thing to have up your sleeve. But that's a lot of ifs and imponderables to be thinking about before you've even started sixthform!

[hellsbells99]

Hi senua. Thanks. DD is currently in year 12 doing maths and sciences.

[UptheChimney]

We don't count it as one of the A2 results towards an offer. But we often have applicants coming to us with 4 A2 levels, one of which is General Studies (RG university in a department which never goes into Clearing!).

OTOH, an administrative admissions person once told me that in the tracking they did, the GS result at A2 level was a very good predictor of coping/success at university ...

[titchy]

Student number controls won't be an issue for current year 12s senua. Creamteas makes a good point about points score being useful for institution's league table position though.

[LeapingOverTheWall]

I'd've thought the Extended Project would be a better use of time (assuming the GS is actually timetabled) than GS AS (or even GS A2), and although it's essay/presentation based, can fit in nicely with science/maths A levels, by picking your topic carefully.

[hellsbells99]

Thanks for replies everyone.
I don't think DD's school offer the extended project.
DD has a heavy workload with the subjects she is doing and also plays 2 instruments (so does concert band, ensembles etc) as well as voluntary work and a couple of hours paid work - in view of this, she doesn't want to do anything that would add to the pressure but does want to do the maximum she can to help her university application particularly if she misses her grades

[LittleBearPad]

I work for a large professional services company. Thinking beyond university we'd always ignore it when calculating A level points for graduate entry requirements (AS and A level qualifications).

[Stellaface]

Almost everyone in my school did A-Level General Studies. We had maybe two 1hr classes looking at a few past papers, and then sat the exam. Most people got an A. I do have it on my CV and mention it in job application forms, but it's never been brought up or asked for (in 10yrs), so tbh whilst it might be a nice boost to have another good grade to bulk things out, it didn't do me any particular favours. If your DD can be bothered with another exam, then yes, do it, as you never know if it might one day be useful (even just to bulk out a CV) but if she can't be bothered, it's not going to get her into a uni so I wouldn't lose any sleep over not doing it.

[UptheChimney]

Almost everyone in my school did A-Level General Studies. We had maybe two 1hr classes looking at a few past papers, and then sat the exam. Most people got an A

This is why the universities I work/ed at discount it for entry purposes.

[MrsBright]

Don't waste time doing General Studies -its the classic league table booster used by schools and it has no academic value whatsoever!
Most Unis explicitly state they won't accept it.

[RedToothBrush]

I didn't get the grades I thought I needed for uni and cried my eyes out.

The next day I received an acceptance letter - on the basis of my general studies - tipping the balance. I got the course and university I wanted because of general studies.

Given that we had about 2hrs of classes and it was just a couple of exams, it was a good payoff.

[Confitdecanard]

I know of several students who have got into university thanks to their General Studies grade at A2. It is true that lots of unis don't accept it or only accept it for certain courses. However, it can be particularly useful in a clearing situation. It has also been shown that results, as a previous poster said, can help to predict future academic success. I know some current Y13 students who have offers from prestigious universities which will accept General Studies. As already said, most schools and colleges will only timetable a small amount of lessons for it with little homework, so it doesn't impinge too much on other subjects. IME it is a good thing to do.

[titchy]

Which prestigious universities confit?

[mindgone]

It may be useful for getting a scholarship! We were at Birmingham Uni recently, at an interview day, and were told of a scholarship based on the student with the highest number of UCAS points!
At DS's school, everyone just does it at AS, with no lessons or prep, and they can decide at A2 whether they want to do it or not. DS did the AS and got 98% for the first module, and an A overall! He is very opinionated, and it seemed this helped with the essays!

[hench]

Universities like their entrants to have high ucas points as that's something that they are judged against in their league tables, so even if they don't care about general studies per say, all other things being equal they will prefer someone with a higher UCAS score. So it can useful in clearing situations.

Example of a prestigeous course where it could be useful: Barts medicine needs a very high UCAS score to get an interview (usually higher than possible with 3A2s and 1AS), so if you don't have extra music exams or equiv then General studies could provide the extra points needed.

[somedizzywhore1804]

I did it ten years ago. Entered for exam but never had a single lesson in it. I got an A so it can't be hard....But I never put it in my CV as no one takes it seriously.