Advice on number of A levels for Uni admissions

[bigboned]

Ds has sat an A level a year early and achieved a B. His school does not do AS levels. He was sitting 3 other subjects but wants to give up 1 - he hates it. How will uni admissions view the fact he has done 1 A level early, and is now only sitting 2 A levels with no AS levels? School advice is to speak to admissions tutors but he has absolutely no idea what he wants to study. Any feedback would be appreciated, thanks.

Talkinpeace - but that doesn't make any sense. If BOY A and BOY B attained the same grades and applied after a gap year, the universities wouldn't know which order they'd sat the AS and A2 modules so both boys would satisfy the admissions criteria as they'd have completed their A levels within two years, not three.

Admissions tutors aren't into producing obtuse results and that would be an obtuse result.

But why would you do an A2 before an AS?

Because at some schools that's the way it's organised.

I'd love to have the name of a school that does A2 before AS in a particular subject

after that I'll have the name of the schools that do AS before GCSE

Never heard of that! Live and learn, eh!

Pol read the OP - boy has done AS in all his subjects already - not taken the exam, but has been taught all four subjects. In addition he has done an A2 in one subject. So in year 13 all he will be doing is the second year of two subjects, not the usual three.

Additionally a university would assume the A2 taken at the endof year 12 would have been started in year 11, and with no AS to show for the dropped subject he doesn't even demonstrate an ability to do a normal year 12 load of 4 ASs. It will look like he's done 2 ASs and an A2 instead.

I remain to be convinced that any school does A2 before AS. It would be daft.

Talkinpeace - well at some schools they teach the entire A level in one year. For example. At one school I know, they teach A level maths in Yr 12 and then A level further maths in Yr 13 for those who are doing further maths.

The university of Bath don't mind this and they are one of the top universities for mathematics.

www.bath.ac.uk/math-sci/admissions/faq/

Who said anyone does A2 before AS?

I thought you did.

Where?

the universities wouldn't know which order they'd sat the AS and A2 modules
for sane timetabling, AS in first year and A2 in 2nd, unless kids are really really accelerated and doing both in a year (which is only really in Maths subjects)

Talkinpeace I've known students who've sat entire A levels in one year in: maths, further maths, physics, economics, chemistry (someone who decided at the end of yr12 he wanted to apply for medicine), French, German, Spanish, Greek, Russian, music, art, computing, and English literature.

Yes, and if you sit an A level in 2000 (even if you do it in one year) and another 2 in 2001, you have 3 A levels in two didfferent sittings. Which in some cases might be an issue. (Note- not will automatically be an issue- might be an issue)

This is really important- the is so much misinformation around about University entrance, please let's not add another layer.

Hakluyt - Are you thick? in the circumstances you describe, the student sits 3 A levels over the standard A level cycle of 2 years. when universities talk about sitting exams earliy, they mean doing AS in yr 11, then or doing another year aFTER year 13, so that the standard A level sitting is extended beyond the two year period. Universities will not penalise students for the school's time tabling constraints.

If the student you describe above applied to university in 2001, with AAA (taken in a two year window) you are saying he could be rejected. But if another student sat the same subjects and achieved AAA in he same 2 year window he would not. A four minute mile is a four minute mile no matter how fast or slow you go at the beginning.

The workload across two years is identical and in fact sitting AS, AS, A2 & A2 is a bigger workload than A2, A2, A2.

Pol you are really not getting it are you (and VERY rude to call another poster thick) - yes I agree the workload is the same in that case, but as that is such an unusual pattern universities would reasonably assume the applicant had done the first A level over two years, and thus done a lower than normal workload.

In the OPs case the dc had done all subjects in the first year, and so their workload in the second year is indeed lower than normal.

A sitting refers to what year the A2 exams are taken, not the period in which they were studied.

On OPs other post chemenger, an admissions tutor, confirms this.

Polonium, no I am not thick. You, however are wrong. And extremely rude, and you have demonstrated on this and other threads.

Response from unis - many RG, was that sitting 3 in one go wasn't necessary. But not considering law. Thanks for replies

Bigboned- just remember that the minimum requirements for university entry are rarely enough. Please don't let him close off options he may want to take up later.........

Hakluyt - you talk a lot of nonsense. The minimum requirements as stated by a selecting university are always enough to be considered for selection.

Big boned - good luck to your son for the future.

"Hakluyt - you talk a lot of nonsense. The minimum requirements as stated by a selecting university are always enough to be considered for selection."

Of course. And to be automatically rejected if, as there will be, there are other candidates who have understood the concept of "minimum requirements"

Hakluyt - minimum requirements is self explanatory. It certainly does not mean that if you apply with the minimum requirements, you'll be automatically rejected. I really don't understand your discouraging agenda at all.

For some programmes it is the case that the having only the minimum requirements would result in automatic rejection. Some (most?) universities now publish typical offers which will give better idea of what qualifications are likely to be successful. For example Glasgow University Economics has a minimum entry requirement of BBB at A-level but the standard academic requirement is AAB. This means that they think someone with BBB would be able to complete the programme successfully but that demand for places means that they are only likely to make AAB offers.

It seems there is a move away from stating minimum requirements in many places to giving an idea of the actual requirements, which seems sensible. I see many potential applicants at open days who are very disappointed to hear that although they hold the minimum required they have little hope of getting a place (Scotland so post-qualification applications).

Just to add I am not at Glasgow, I have extrapolated from my own institution in an increasingly futile effort to maintain some mystique around who and where I am!