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

[supersop60]

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

A levels were harder because they were full time and I had to learn 4 different subjects. The content of my degree was harder but there was less active work and teaching time.

So it's a balance, I preferred doing my degrees, but my employers didn't give a shit about my Alevels

I don’t think degrees are very important anymore in getting a good job

Statistics indicate otherwise. Though of course, what we define as a 'good job' is variable. Still, going by the normal metrics of employability and salary, there seems to be a correlation between the types of degree being reported on this thread as being harder than A levels and earning. (And typically these are also the subjects which require good A levels in 'hard' subjects).

www.gov.uk/government/statistics/graduate-outcomes-by-degree-subject-and-university

A levels were harder because they were full time

Some degrees are also full time ... again, typically the ones in the higher ranges of the stats, the ones noted as being hard.
Unsurprising but again undermines the 'all degrees are equally hard' notion.

I don’t think degrees are very important anymore in getting a good job

Depends what you mean. Many employers want the University experience rather than the degree itself. Some employers don't care about the degree subject, i.e. those with Music degrees getting Law jobs etc. I've certainly seen a lot of job advertisements stating graduates required but not specifying subject nor grade. So to that extent, the "degree" may not be considered important by some/many employers, but they certainly value to overall university experience. Of course, there are also some employers who care more about which university rather than the degree, i.e. those who insist on a red-brick or RG university and don't care about course nor grade.

Many employers want the University experience rather than the degree itself. Some employers don't care about the degree subject,

I suspect people's perceptions on this may be inaccurate because there's huge sectors which absolutely require the right sort of 'vocational' degrees, which if you've not done you won't even be looking at. Those 'vocational' degrees also tend to be accredited by professional bodies, which maintains some level of consistency as to content and quality. Other types of degree may not have this and therefore I'm sure recruiters do look at A levels as they can be compared more accurately.

It depends on what kind of learner you are.

I excelled at college and uni with straight distinctions and As because I'm a good essayist and self-motivated researcher.

But I didn't do well enough in my GCSEs to get into the sixth form because I'm not good at exams (don't retain information as well, and perform badly under that type of pressure).

I preferred A-levels to O-levels (yes I'm that old!) despite them being academically harder, because there was less accumulating facts, and more developing my own view on things. (Let's be honest, I never held back at the O-level stage!) Also, I was focusing on my preferred subjects.
And to some extent, the same applied to my degree studies. Not criticizing the school, they knew what spread of O-levels I needed to progress, to keep my options open, but what made it a slog was having to be up to the mark in less favoured subjects. Studying Music was never a hardship.
It can be so sad to see youngsters realising that they are not studying for the A-levels they need for the degree course they are aiming for.
I think subjects can make a huge difference, and natural aptitude; some people would find Maths A-level really challenging, but if it's your thing....but it's true that some subjects are not an obvious fit; one of my esteemed colleagues excelled at teaching Design & Technology, a subject which always baffled me, having gained a degree in Theology.

I have the equivalent of straight As at a levels. That was very easy to do even taking a long holiday in the middle. I only managed a 2:1 at university. Admittedly I wasn’t putting in much time/effort (had young children to raise, was working a bit, had other things going on in life). I guess the difference was that you hit the ceiling of maximum attainment in school level exams much quicker than you do at university. I was getting 100% regularly in my a levels equivalent. The highest percentage grade I got at university was 83%.

Degree in physiological sciences and another one in medicine here. A levels in maths, chemistry, biology, English lit abs AS German. Both degrees far harder than A levels. Physiological sciences required reading a lot of original papers- like 20/ week and analysing them, preferably with some original thoughts thrown in there. Medicine is just a phenomenal amount to learn.
Plus in medical degrees people with 3 x A or A* at A levels regularly fail exams and have to leave the course.
So in my field, degree harder.

My degree was harder in terms of content, but I actually found the workload easier than A levels.

Interestingly, I found GCSEs harder than both, mainly because of the sort of learning you do. GCSEs rely heavily on rote learning, whereas A-Levels and degrees bring in more critical and abstract reasoning which I'm better at.

I think that really depends on what you do for A-levels vs what you do for your degree. If the subjects are corresponding in both, so, for example, you did Physics and Maths for your A-levels and then choose a degree with a high Maths and/or Physics content, it's highly unlikely that you would find that your degree is easier than your A-levels. If, on the other hand, you did really hard A-levels and then choose something easy for your degree, then it is possible that you might find that your A-levels were harder than your degree.

@tiggerkid

Totally agree.
My teaching degree was a breeze compared to Chem/ bio/math/English a levels!

My degree was easier than 4 full time alevels with workload and subjects to cover in a shorter amount of time.

Depends entirely what and where and when you studied. If you're talking medicine, science or engineering, then A-levels are a piece of cake in comparison. Medicine and veterinary studies have very high entry requirements for good reason (and not just because they are popular courses). They are content-heavy and unforgiving.

But if you're talking about essay or dissertation based courses, then you may well find them easier than learning proper essay technique and writing skills for the first time at A-level.

Interesting someone mentioned GCSE's being hardest.
I'm a July baby (so was 15)and sat 14 GCSE's. I've never worked harder in my life than trying to split myself across learning so many subjects.

Obviously the content wasn't as hard as the law, tax, economics side of my Masters and professional qualifications, but the sheer volume of information was overwhelming.

That was me Sasha, it was brutal wasn’t it. One thing going all out for subjects you enjoy or at least understand. Quite another trying to scrape through with a pass on something awful like physics where we had 3 teachers in 2 years and it was like a foreign language.

I said GCSEs were harder to me too.

So many subjects with different information, some of which (languages-I'm glaring at you!) which I was very going to be good at. Hours of past papers and revision.
A-levels otoh I hardly did any work outside school and even revision wasn't much over what the school gave us. Granted, I only did 3 (plus general studies) which were maths, further maths and physics so a fair amount of overlap, but I never felt stretched by them.
The degree, yes things did go over my head, but it never felt as all consuming as GCSEs (but the degree was harder than A-levels)

I found A levels harder, I didn’t find my degree nearly as difficult because I enjoyed the subject so much.

I found a-levels much harder than my medical degree. It’s probably interest and motivation related for me. Much easier to enjoy something I was interested in and saw a direct future in.

If the subjects are corresponding in both, so, for example, you did Physics and Maths for your A-levels and then choose a degree with a high Maths and/or Physics content, it's highly unlikely that you would find that your degree is easier than your A-levels.

Certainly my experience but that was very much “back in the day”...

Same as Pyjamas
Chemistry A level is much harder than a vet degree

It's all about context. A physics a level will be harder than an interior design degree, but a drama a level will be easier than a physics degree

I said the same. I was told by several lecturers the same as well. Apparently its because there is (or at least was when I studied) a massive difference between GCSE and A level, in terms of what you learn and the expectations. Whereas the difference between A level and degree is much less.

I found A levels harder than my degree but agree that the type of degree means its not always the case. Certainly when I was looking for graduate jobs they were more interested in A level results than your degree results. That said they still wanted the degree too!

I did psychology, law, sociology and English language at A level and personally found it harder than my midwifery degree.

That may be because I was 10 years older when I did it but personally believe it was due to me being passionate about the degree and loving it whereas I did my A levels because 'I had to' even though I just wanted to work. Plus half my midwifery degree was placement which comes with it's own struggles but much easier than being in a lecture theatre imo.

My DH thinks the other way around and found A levels easier and his politics degree incredibly difficult.