Am I going mad or was it like this for everyone at A Level?

[LuckyNumberFive]

I'm early-mid 30s and when I was choosing A Levels it was expected that those with good GCSE results would do 4 A Levels, but there was no expectation that you'd drop 1 in the second year.

This was back when it was an AS Level in one year and the second year counted as your full A Level. If you did well at GCSEs but not amazingly well you did 3 A Levels.

It seems now (and I agree with this approach) that you start with 3 or 4 but if the latter you'd usually drop one at the end of the first year?

Further maths at the time (whether a widespread view or just my school) wasn't classed as a full subject, you'd do 3 A Levels plus further maths, rather than 3 including FM which seems to be an accepted option now.

We were only allowed to do 3, for 1990 exams. I'm still a little bitter about it - but they did let just 2 of us do Latin, so didn't argue.

I think it depends on the school in question though.

Universities, Inc,uding Oxbridge, only ask for three A levels. For most people, it makes no sense to take four. Why spread yourself so thinly when you don't have to? I have never come across a school advising three A levels including further maths. Such a choice would severely limit degree options as you would be offering only two subjects, maths and one other. Your school was unusual in expecting high-performing GCSE students to do four A levels.

I think this would be massively school dependant - I took A Levels in the late 80s and everyone just took 3. My 3 included Further Maths, although you could take it as a fourth A Level.

For a short time when AS exams counted towards A level, there was a tendency to do 4.
Either side of that the standard has been 3.

There’s no need to do 4. Better off getting excellent grades in 3

I was at a local college rather than a sixth form, unsure if that made a difference. I remember feeling extremely jealous of friends doing 3 A Levels and me having to do 4 with a crappy timetable. I remember universities only asked for 3, but there was the expectation we'd do 4 and get to pick our top 3 grades, almost like having a backup option.

I wonder if my year group fell into this bracket?

I did 4 A Levels in 2007. Some of my friends left with 3 A Levels and one AS Level but I don’t think it was unusual that I stuck with 4. I found school straightforward and didn’t compromise my results. I’m glad I stuck with 4 as I often wonder whether my French A Level still counts when I scarcely remember any of it!

I should say the local college served the entire city, it was huge which is why I feel it can't possibly be some random outlier of the time.

I started A Levels in 2009, finished in 2011.

This was the case for my year - AS level was topped up to an A level.

I’m a similar age to you and most people at my school did 4 AS, 3 A2. They’d then do something else on the side that was a bit lower intensity than an A level like EPQ, a club/sport or an extra GCSE. I don’t remember anyone not dropping a subject between AS and A2.

Most people who I recall did 5 AS, 4 A2 had further maths as the extra one, we also didn’t consider it a full subject. Nor did DH’s school - he technically has 3 maths A levels as he did extra modules but did physics and chemistry as well. I did 5 AS, 4 A2 but FM wasn’t one of them, plus EPQ, which was more unusual.

EPQ was offered, and I remember there was General Studies in the second year offered as an A Level, or perhaps it was just an additional AS?

We had to choose 3 subjects (not sure if anyone was allowed to do 4) but also we did general studies. We didn't have lessons in it, but at the end of year 12 we took mock exams and if you got an E or above you were put in for the A level. Also, a lot of people dropped a subject at some point so ended up only doing two A levels.

A Levels were ‘reformed’ under Michael Gove’s management on a phased programme from 2017 and made more difficult and with more content, if we are referring to England. This is when, in England, an A/S stopped being worth 50% of an A-Level. Most schools between 1999 to 2015 operated a 4 x A/S in Yr 12 and 3 x A level arrangement in Yr 13 - doing 4 full A-Levels until the end was quite unusual. As you note, Further Maths was a bit different, as it shared modules with Maths A-Level. As noted by PPs, universities’ offers are based on three A-Levels so unless the student is very able, then they tend to not be best -served by going your. Also, more schools offer EPQ ( half an A-Level and graded)and/ or Core Maths which can be used for university entrance.

Early mid 30s 😁 me too, I’m 35 and at my school it was definitely expected that you’d drop an A Level after AS back in my day 👵🏻

The school I work at doesn't let any students do four anymore, only 3 subjects, as that's all they need to get in Uni.
I disagree with this and prefer what I did which was start with 4 then drop one in the second year (usually the one you did worst at in AS level). I dropped maths which was my 4th subject but even just doing it for 1 year was so valuable and can at least say I have an AS level in maths!

We were expected to do 3 in the late 90s. I took up a 4th after the first week as I felt a bit lonely during free periods so preferred to have an extra lesson but I was only allowed because I did do pretty well at GCSE. Then in upper 6th I did General Studies as well so ended up with 5. Though one of them I did quite badly in so don’t include that one on my CV!

This. I did my A Levels in 1990 at grammar school, then went to Oxford. I only did 3 A Levels, partly because there were only 3 subjects I was interested in doing, and partly because 4 sounded like too much work! Some people did 4. Some did an extra GCSE instead.

Further maths is was an additional subject for us. I did 4 A levels (not including further maths) and my friend did 5 (including further maths). This was at a comprehensive school so nothing out of this world. My DH’s private school encouraged less subjects. We also did more GCSEs. I did 11 and she did 13! There was no point at all. I’m still resentful!

Yes, it was probably less burdensome to do 4 when you could get 50% of each out of the way in first year.

Additionally iirc you could retake the AS exams alongside the A2s.

I did 4 in 1986, but only took up the 4th after I had my Oxford offer in place. DD’s school requires them to start with 4, but many drop the 4th in the second half of Y12 once they have settled into them and done their first set of mocks.

This is true. You had 50% of the marks in the bag by the end of y12 back then.

Did A levels in the late 90s, grammar school. Everyone did 4 but that included General Studies. Some super boffs may have done 5 including GS.