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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

DP has just declared that A'levels are harder than a degree.

301 replies

supersop60 · 02/03/2020 19:27

And that's what employers are looking for.
AIBU to think he's a twit?

OP posts:
lazylinguist · 02/03/2020 19:29

If you're degree is easier than A Levels, it must be a really shit degree at a crap university!

HollowTalk · 02/03/2020 19:29

Does he have both?

HollowTalk · 02/03/2020 19:30

It sounds as though he found A levels too hard, didn't get good grades and couldn't go to university.

BrimfulofSasha · 02/03/2020 19:30

depends on the a levels and the degree I suppose. I'd say advanced maths A level is probably harder than a drama degree- in general he is probably wrong.

Cherrysoup · 02/03/2020 19:30

I’ve employed a lot of people as a departmental head. I look at A levels and they might influence me, but that’s because I employ language teachers. Thing is, I interviewed someone a few years back and her Spanish A level was an A. You’d think her language skills would be great, but she could barely answer basic questions. Having re-done an A level a few years ago, I can’t understand how the heck she got an A (Scotland, not England)

raspberryk · 02/03/2020 19:30

It depends which degree and which a levels, also on what type of learner you and and if you do ok at exams or better at coursework and essays.
I can't do exams so I picked a degree with no exams other than multiple choice, its all coursework and essays which you just have to know how to put together as there's no memory involved.

Pentium85 · 02/03/2020 19:31

Having done both, a levels were much harder

PinkiOcelot · 02/03/2020 19:31

Is there a reason he thinks that?
I’ve got neither, but I wouldn’t have thought A levels were harder than a degree.

Pukkatea · 02/03/2020 19:31

I had to work harder at my A Levels than my degree for sure, but don't know how he's reached that conclusion about employers...

meow1989 · 02/03/2020 19:32

I actually left sixth form after as levels (got an a and a b) after having dropped several subjects because I was getting terrible grades. I went to uni at 17 to do a professional diploma which I did well in and topped up to a degree a few years later.

I know others in my field who have had a similar path and I wonder what it says about a levels or how they're taught.

leghairdontcare · 02/03/2020 19:32

Well, no. Although I personally thought the transition between gsce and a-level was bigger than that between a-level and a degree. So maybe there's an element of that.

KitKatKit · 02/03/2020 19:32

I have both. A Levels were much harder. Employers are looking for a degree, not A Levels.

fishonabicycle · 02/03/2020 19:32

My stepdaughter said the same.

CommunistLegoBloc · 02/03/2020 19:32

I've got two Oxbridge degrees and I still think the hardest I worked was GCSE / A levels. There was such a variety of subjects and knowledge to stretch yourself across.

Boom45 · 02/03/2020 19:32

Some employers don't require a degree, but most people with degrees have A levels or their equivalent so I'm sure employers would be satisfied with a degree.
I found my A Levels harder than my degree in some ways tho - being away at university made it easier for me to learn.

Haz1516 · 02/03/2020 19:33

I found A-Levels harder than a degree (over 10 years ago). Studying multiple subjects with multiple deadlines at any given point. I did history at a Russell Group uni.

Alsohuman · 02/03/2020 19:33

Definitely depends on which degree and which A levels as pp have said. I’d definitely find Maths A level much more challenging than my English degree!

Sertchgi123 · 02/03/2020 19:33

I have both. They are different, I found A levels a bit of a shock after GCSEs they are hard and you have to work hard.

A degree is something else. At first a degree isn't that bad, after A Levels but it gets harder, especially into your final year and your dissertation. A degree teaches you to think, question and analyse. These are skills employers value. A Levels don't do that.

IceColdCat · 02/03/2020 19:33

I found my degree massively harder than A Levels.

nocoolnamesleft · 02/03/2020 19:34

Depends on the degree. Medicine was far harder than A levels.

Skittlesss · 02/03/2020 19:34

I found A levels harder as well. That was knocking on 20 years ago.

Having seen and taught some of the A Level syllabus nowadays, I think A levels are even harder than they once were. More like year 1/undergrad level.

honeyloops · 02/03/2020 19:34

I think studying 4/5 things at a fairly advanced level at once is harder than one thing at a high level, so I don't disagree with him in that sense. The mental space needed to study History, Maths, French, English Language and English Lit all at once was enormous and I found A level year really stressful (and I am pretty smart and got As - nothing humble about this brag haha) - first year of uni was a breeze by comparison!

Redlocks30 · 02/03/2020 19:34

I have both (and several post grad qualifications)-I can actually see where your DH is coming from to a certain extent. My degree (2.1 from a RG university) was no harder than my A levels. I disagree with him saying that you don’t need a degree though.

EduCated · 02/03/2020 19:35

I found my degree an easier experience than A Levels, but I’m not enough of a prat to think that employers are looking for A Levels over a degree.

Everycloud12 · 02/03/2020 19:36

Not sure about employers.

I found A levels a lot harder than my degree.