Confused about the AS and A levels

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My dd is currently taking AS Level History and Sociology exams this week (and next) which, I believe, will lead on to her being able to progress on to the second year A2 level, to complete the A levels, if she passes these.
I'm now a little confused as, recently, I was speaking to a work colleague whose ds is also in year 12 at College , and also studying the same courses as my dd. We were discussing the exams and my colleague told me that her ds isn't taking the AS exam, but will be doing 'mocks' soon and the real A level exam at the end of next year. I'm just wondering why our dc are doing different exams to achieve their A levels?

Your daughter will do her AS exams but as far as I know, and certainly in the subject I teach, if your daughter continues at A Level, they will not count towards her grade. If she doesn’t continue then she will keep the AS grades.

Many colleges/schools have dropped AS exams for this reason.

A levels were changed recently to become 'linear' which means that only the A2 exams taken at the end of the second year 'count.'
In the past they were 'modular' and the AS exams taken at the end of Lower Sixth contributed towards 50% of the A level.
Now this isn't the case some schools don't bother doing AS levels, or they use them as 'mock' exams.

Thank you both, I understand why now!

DS's school cohort not generally doing AS Levels, although many of Year 12s are doing the Maths one.

What's the point if they don't contribute towards A Level grades? Or is it a hurdle to jump to continue studying the subject(s) into Yr 13?

Mostly the latter.

Good explanation here: www.whatuni.com/advice/guides/the-new-linear-a-levels-explained/64354/

The other to be aware of is that since some schools don't do AS levels, universities now look at GCSEs as the last set of public exams before UCAS which suddenly makes getting good GCSEs a little bit more important.

It makes GCSEs a LOT more important. For certain courses some unis won't even look at candidates without sufficient top GCSE grades

BitOut - y'know, I wrote 'a lot more important' at first then changed it, because I thought 'someone is going to wade in and say yes, but there are still predicted grades, internal exam results, references and personal statements...' and I decided I couldn't be bothered to argue!

You're right, GCSEs become A LOT more important, and having just seen DS1 go through the UCAS process, I can confirm that public exam results are mostly what they seem to look at, as they are the only consistent benchmark across all candidates.

NewModelArmy There are some benefits for students if they do well, as they can list the AS grades on their exams, which may help with uni entry if they are strong (obviously if they do badly, having to list them is a bit of an issue). It may give them confidence going into A2s and practice at the style of exam. If they drop a subject after Y12, they still have a formal qualification in it. It can also act as a bit of a wake up call for lazy students.

Obviously some of these things can be achieved through Y12 internal exams as well, but students may not take these quite as seriously.

Depends where you are. In Northern Ireland AS levels are taken and count as 40% of the final A level grade. But I don't think it's the same in England/Wales

Wonderwine I agree. A friend's DS was told not to even bother applying to one uni "with those GCSEs" (which were excellent btw, just not excellent enough for the course he wanted) as he wouldn't even get an offer.

I guess it's understandable really, internal exams can never be as impartial as external ones

That's a bit of a worry as DS's results weren't as stellar as we'd hoped, although he's doing massively better in the sixth form.

If GCSEs aren't great and your DC doesn't get the offers they were hoping for then they can always take a year off and reapply once they have actual A level results (assuming they do better in these) - we know a few families where the kids did this as they didn't 'mature' academically until A levels.

Wonderwine thanks for flagging up that option. Yes, DS definitely belongs to that camp - of not maturing until later on in school career. He has certainly turned over a new leaf in Year 12 (so far).

Dd’s sixth form will pay for students to sit one AS level at the end of year 12; i.e the subject they won’t continue with in Yr13 so that they have something to show for it. The drawback is that the student has to choose which subject they’ll drop relatively early so school can enter them for the exam. I think dd regrets her decision a bit but if she chooses something else to drop, she’ll have nothing to show for studying that subject for an academic yr and the AS she is doing won’t mean anything if she goes to the full A level.

I was brought up in Scotland so am not clear about the various formats A levels have taken over the years but I don’t really understand why a subject is started then dropped in yr 12?

It’s a financial and teaching time decision for us not to offer AS ( though if the odd student asks for a specific subject they want to drop then the answer would usually be yes) In addition, whilst the stronger students did well on AS, the weaker/lazier ones would often bomb them, with the attitude they would resit in Y13, putting them in the same position as current students.