Is A*AA harder to get than AAAA at A level?

[dolgellau]

I understand that AAA is better than AAAA for the vast majority of university applications as courses only require 3 A levels.

But in terms of academic ability is AAAA better than AAA, as surely it takes a lot more to manage a whole extra A level over one grade higher in one subject.

Which is objectively more difficult to get?

I can't decide. What do you reckon ?

[user546425732]

My daughter did no extras due to lack of cash, so no d of e, no music lessons , not anything. She got top grades and is at a top uni who presumably are,as they said at the open day, all about the grades.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

It is really interesting :)

[LoniceraJaponica]

The language one is interesting. I wonder how many of those taking languages have French and German as a first language anyway?

I also think that some people have a natural aptitude for languages so it is probably a self selecting subject as well. The same goes for art subjects.

[LoniceraJaponica]

Thank you kitten

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

Results by subject are on this link.
www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/08/18/a-level-results-2016-which-subjects-did-students-do-the-best-and/

There's a rather old discussion on which subjects are the 'hardest' www.score-education.org/media/3194/relativedifficulty.pdf

[LoniceraJaponica]

"Chemistry & FM tend to have high grade boundaries because it is a self-selecting group who take these A levels."

I find that interesting. Do more students who aren't as high achieving tend to opt for humanities subjects then? And does this mean it is easier to achieve an A* in history or English lit say than chemistry or FM?

[Palavra]

I would say AAAA is harder in terms of work. But AAA shows better aptitude, potentially talent etc and may be more difficult To achieve despite working very hard because it can be very difficult for an A student to get over a barrier to A.

[user2222018]

It is for the top universities was my point. For most its simply achieving the grades.

I guess that however many academics from top universities tell you that this is not true you won't believe us.

Why on earth should I, as a scientist, care less about whether somebody plays rugby? Why should I want to teach that student more than one who doesn't play rugby? Why would I choose students who've had more opportunities for extra curriculars over higher ability students who haven't?

[bengalcat]

A*AA would be best as in reality you only need three levels - and the more stars on your three subjects if you're aiming for the most competitive subjects and courses at the top universities the better - 4 A's in four unrelated subjects unless one is a second language you speak at home would definately be more challenging

[GnomeDePlume]

In terms of which is actually harder to achieve you have to look at grade boundaries for different subjects. Where the grade boundaries are quite high it can be very easy to drop the odd mark and drop into 'strong A' rather than A*.

Chemistry & FM tend to have high grade boundaries because it is a self-selecting group who take these A levels.

[Chuckle65]

I don't think so because the workload added because of an extra subject would be much much bigger than the workload required to turn an A into an A*

[BasiliskStare]

DS wrote one sentence on his PS re an extra curricular which was somewhat related to his subject. Other than that , they only wanted to know how good he was at X ( his) subject. That said , his subject was not medicine , veterinary etc which I believe is different & EC activities are more important. Ds also dropped from 4 a levels to 3 as his course required 3. doing the 4th may have compromised him getting better results in the 3. I do not believe , and I have heard an admissions tutor say so that "other activities" do not help with a place ( certain courses aside) . I speak of a fairly standard humanities course here.

[raspberryrippleicecream]

Cambridge and Oxford are quite clear that they don't care about extra--curricular, just about the passion for your subject (and your results, obviously).

[Thesearepearls]

It depends as others have said. I asked DS and he said it depends on the A levels.

The OP commented that “as courses only require 3 A levels....”. DS is doing 4 and his offer was based on 4. So courses may only require 3 A levels, but if you’re doing 4, the offer may be based on 4.

[boys3]

it is for the top universities was my point

both of them? www.hepi.ac.uk/2018/05/24/5825/

Flippancy aside, well partial flippancy given the content of the above report :) , even at the non oxbridge elite end for most courses the ratio of offers to anticipated places is likely to be 4/5:1. Durham publishes quite a few stats on this.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

dd didn't have room for most of the stuff she's done and it wasn't relevant anyway. Personal statements are really short! The trick is to try and fit everything you need to say into them.

[Battleax]

Does it matter which is “harder”?

So many variables and it’s not the point for most sixth formers’ purposes.

[gambaspilpilmyfav]

It is for the top universities was my point. For most its simply achieving the grades.

[titchy]

Uni is highly competitive now

It's not actually, bar a few courses at a few universities.

[titchy]

won a number of essay writing awards

As I said, if the extras are relevant to the degree, then yes they're useful to demonstrate ability and genuine interest.

Unless your ds was doing Sport Science, I can assure you the rugby wasn't even looked at by the admissions tutor - they really do only care about who will do best in their subject, for good reason. I can well believe that once he was made his offer however Varsity were all over him!

[gambaspilpilmyfav]

Certainly not the case with my DN. Who is top of her class, won a number of essay writing awards, and has done alot of 'extras' and has been offered a place in the top college for her chosen subject. Uni is highly competitive now and you need to stand out with some of the unis. My DS was invited to join the rugby team for his chosen Uni, invited to training/trials and was offered money off if he chose the uni. This was simply as his rugby was mentioned in his personal statement. So the extras do matter

[LorelaiVictoriaGilmore]

When I was applying to Cambridge, (admittedly quite a few years ago) I was told to pretty much hide or at least down play any 'extras'. The view was that Cambridge were looking for someone who was going to be totally dedicated to their subject and not someone who was going to spend most of their time doing drama and be happy with a 2:2!

[titchy]

there will be a large number of DC competing for the same uni with the same results it is important to have extras. These are what make you stand out above the competition

No. Utterly incorrect. Not allowed to be part of of decision making in fact. Extra-curriculars that are relevant to the degree are great. Lamda, DofE, Grade 8 piano - totally ignored.

[gambaspilpilmyfav]

Your right my error in relation to UCAS and D Of E! However my issue is with any Uni are whilst results are clearly the priority there will be a large number of DC competing for the same uni with the same results it is important to have extras. These are what make you stand out above the competition

[thisagain]

Nobody cares about UCAS points past those from your A Levels. You just get an offer of AAA for example. My kids have UCAS points from grade 6+ in instruments but that doesn't come in to it for the top Unis.