Easiest A-Levels to achieve?

My experience has been that Maths devours a huge amount of time though. The syllabuses are really really demanding these days (I couldn't pass Maths A-level nowadays and I HAVE Maths A-level at an A in old money pre grade inflation...) So it's not a great choice for a student who has time limitations. They could end up with CCC or something due to not being all that fab at Maths (grade 8 at GCSE is not fab at Maths these days) and the Maths distracting them from the other subjects, especially new ones like Econ and Psych.

I've been teaching sixth form for 14 years and Chemistry is consistently the subject that most students come to me about weeping. Having lost the plot with it myself around age 15 I can empathise...

Honestly, I think she is approaching this all wrong. If her only concern is not to have too much work, why do A levels at all? She must have some sort of preference about her future, jobs etc. I'd try to get her to engage properly with the choice.

FWIW in terms of workload, I think maths can be a good choice for an able pupil as there is not a huge amount of revision provided she keeps on top of the course throughout- no large volume of information to commit to memory so long as she actually understands what she is doing. So all that she'll need to do at the end is some past papers to get a sense of the pace.

But no A level is easy objectively- it depends on her aptitudes. Trying to choose based on what someone else found easy is a very bad idea.

Chemistry is a lot harder at a level - conceptually more challenging and biology has a huge amount of content.
I don’t think any a level is ‘easy’ and agree with pp that if you love the subject the workload doesn’t seem so onerous.

DS2 is doing drama A Level. He clearly thought it would be somewhat of a "doss".

He now realises that a significant amount of it is effectively like A Level English Lit. The other part of it is frustrating since a lot is group work and your mark is therefore linked in part to how others perform/contribute/bother to turn up etc.

So I would agree that no A Level is easy.

I don't think any a levels are easier as such. Although it makes a big difference if you are passionate about the subject. Also there are some level 3 courses that are continued assessment rather than exams and that suits some people better. My DS1 is doing a btec in something he is passionate about and he is on track to get a distinction (equivalent of 3 A's at alevel). He says none of it feels like work at all.

Chemistry is considered to be the hardest A level.
Psychology is a lot of retaining knowledge of case studies and theories so if she's good at memorising then that would be the easiest I think.

Politics was the most popular A level with my kids, although you don't mention it as an option.

Meant to say I also agree with @Shortfatsuit that resilience is a really important skill. She is clearly bright, so picking the easiest things doesn't seem like a very healthy way to go about it. What does she enjoy? Take that.

Interesting that a couple of PPs flag MFL as the easiest for their DC - as I say, DD spent more time on French (which tbf was a late change) than her other two put together (geog and Eng lit, which is her passion). SO it really does depend on the candidate.

So annoying when schools insist on a 4th A level or EPQ. Ours does and students often end up wasting an inordinate amount of time on them only to drop them when things get tough. 4th Alevel can be handy if you are unsure and want to try 4 subjects, with the aim of dropping one.
Epq made no measurable difference to the students we know (apart from having something to discuss at an Oxbridge interview), a couple got reduced offers, but then found others still got their places after missing a grade so they'd probably have got in regardless.
Otherwise just put your effort into 3 good grades and extracurriculars for balance.

The school requires 4 A levels or 4 plus EPQ.

I actually think if she plays the sport at an elite level she should approach the school about varying the requirement. Maybe offer to do a sports leadership qualification if they'd support that.

No-one needs 4 A levels for university (Further Maths excepted) and doing 4 massively reduces study periods/study time, so it's a silly strategy for all but the most academic. Does cut down on staff supervision and boosts subject enrolments though!

No A-Levels are easy. If you aren't feeling overwhelmed by the workload you are either doing it wrong and are on track for a D grade, or you are some kind of genius prodigy who should be doing their A levels over 1 year rather than 2 and going to uni early.

She shoukd drop the EPQ if her sport is important to her.

DD has just sat psychology exams, she really enjoyed the course but found it was a lot of content.

As others say, there is no easy A level. IME there is one that eats up a lot of your time – for DD it was French, for DS2 it was maths for me it was ancient Greek (don’t ask!). But that’s not to say that A level is difficult or more work – just it was harder for you.

Actually with maths and physics your DS should have had a lot of crossover. For your DD I would suggest that there is a good deal of crossover with PE and biology (according to DS2 who took those with maths). Also PE, biology, geography is actually regarded as three sciences for the purpose of a lot of uni admissions.

But your DD should take what interests and engages her. That’s what she will find more accessible and do better in. If there are possible new subjects she doesn’t know about, look at the spec, look at past papers, get the revision guide – see if it looks interesting. And there is nothing wrong, in “academic” terms, with PE, biology, psychology, as a PP says. They are as acceptable as A level choices as any other. Although if she really isn’t sure, I would suggest that biology keeps more uni options open (a degree in biology for example) than psychology, which is not needed for any degree (not even psychology – tho of course for that it must be useful, if only to see if you like it!)

I also think that an EPQ is pointless. unless there is a subject that the student really wants to work on that is not on their A level spec. Not at all convinced the possible grade reduction for uni is worth the work.

I work in marketing - hardly anyone I know has a marketing degree but it is healthcare marketing so quite niche. There’s a lot of people with English and Business degrees, plus science degrees. It’s really varies though. I did Biology, Psychology and Chemistry. Psychology definitely easiest so would suggest that but we did have a really great department. Would also consider Business Studies. Biology I just have a natural interest in, so I never felt it had too much content as it was all fascinating and I actually did that as a degree.

I did Politics as an ‘extra’ A level to broaden my skills with an essay writing subject. Compared to my ‘main’ A levels of Maths, Physics & Economics it was very straightforward, although I did have an interest in the subject. I did little more than read the broadsheets, listen to R4 & read a couple of books and I got an A.

Dorling! Thank you autocorrect.

I teach Economics A-level. It is a misconception that it is Maths-y. It is an essay writing subject. That's the key skill, along with an interest in current affairs and the ability to hit the ground running with a new subject (also the case with Psychology).

The confusion arises because many University Economics courses do require a high level of Maths competence. But it doesn't sound like the OP's DD would have that issue if she wants to do "something general like marketing".

If I were her I'd go with Biology and then either Psychology or Economics for the 4th (browse the Dorking Kindersley Big Ideas Explained Simply books for Psychology and Economics to see which appeals more). Avoid EPQ which is a time suck, and Chemistry as it's v hard especially without Maths.

All my kids did 4 a levels including maths and 3 did physics.i really don't think they are that work intensive.
Biology has LOADS of content.

Dd in thick of it now and definitely doing least work for Spanish.

ALL A levels are a huge step up from gcse and it’s very subjective. If you ‘get’ maths it’s an easy win, if you don’t it’s going to be a nightmare.

DD is starting with maths, economics, geography and biology with a a view to dropping whichever turns out to be the most difficult. Her school recommends that tactic as often the a level isn’t what the student expected.

I’d take her aptitude for the GCSE subjects as a guide.

Looking at the number of NEAs i (and when they need to be completed) is a good idea.

My DD picked subjects with 4 NEAs in total and the main bulk of work ended up being in one very busy term.

None of those are easy, and geography has field trips. Sociology I found very easy but it because I found it interesting and I'm a natural essay writer whereas maths I would have found impossible.

Maths physics and history aren't particularly demanding on work load, average I would say. I think she needs to rethink her situation as it will be a big step up

It's a great subject but I would have thought maths chemistry or physics a leveks would be favoured by unis no?

The easiest would be the subjects she's best at? It's so individual. I found maths the easiest. I never needed to do much for it as it's not a subject with lots to memorise. Physics is slightly more work. The other two sciences are much more work. I know most will disagree with my preference.

What I'm saying is your daughter needs to choose what she likes and what she's good at.