Holiday at Easter of yr12 - AS Levels??

[sellingtrousers]

We have a biggish family 2 week holiday booked for Easter 2027. DS is yr11 and scouting around colleges and has settled on a plan which he is keen for which is 3 A levels which as we’ve just found out, are all AS levels at the of year 12. So a few weeks presumably after said holiday. Is this a disaster? I don’t really know much about AS Levels and what the exam structure would be - presumably as much work as GCSEs the year before and A Levels the year after??

Are you in England or Wales? AS levels are rarely done but I think more common in Wales.

If he will be doing AS for sure, then yes, an AS in my subject (for example – it's MFL) is about half the work of the full A level, with a slightly lower level in general expected if that makes sense. Certainly a big step up from GCSE in the subject.

So I don’t think I would go on a big holiday for two weeks the Easter before AS exams tbh.

Going away for the full Easter holidays in year 12 is not ideal.

AS levels count for 40% of the A level grade and ime form a big part of they’re predicted grades for ucas applications.

We’re in England and yes, had no idea AS would be such a thing at this college. DH is a teacher and they don’t do any AS levels at all at his school. This college seems to put a lot of stock into it as every A level is an AS first. Buggar. I guess we’ll have to cancel. Everyone is going to be devastated 🤦🏼‍♀️

eve if there aren’t as levels there will be end of year exams. As levels are usually in May and/or June. My DD’s both did as levels at the end of year 12

If you are in England, AS levels no longer count towards the final grade (they do in Wales which is why I asked). They might well be used as an indicator for a predicted grade tho which of course is important for uni.

Does the college ask students to take four with a view to dropping the weakest AS grade? Before cancelling the holiday (which I presume will have a massive cost implication) I would probe this further with the college. Why do all students take AS levels? How does the college use the data? Can a student opt out?