What is the point of AS Levels?

[Jewel1968]

DD got her AS levels results which were very good but all feels a bit anticlimactic for her. Lots of work and stress and not sure if there is any benefit to her having done them.

I have done research but can't see any logical reason to do AS levels. Thought I would ask mn in case there is a benefit I am missing.

My son did AS Further Maths last year (in England). It is misleading to say they don't count towards UCAS as they are worth UCAS points, and he also had several offers with one grade lower than the standard offer, on the proviso that he got an A. That was for a STEM subject though, not sure what other AS levels are available and if the equivalent happens in other subject areas.

Dd did one AS level. It was in a subject that her school had never offered before. Her GCSE teacher offered to put her through the A level and was mentored by a teacher from another school. The AS level was a useful indicator that they were on the right track.

AS levels only existed from 2000 to 2015.

Three years of public exams on the bounce always seemed too much to me (and of course took up teaching time, so even in the 'step up' system there was less depth).

They only existed as "step up" qualifications until 2015. They are still very much around as stand-alones. (Some schools still use them as progress indicators at the end of Y12 but I can't honestly see the point, mainly for teaching-time reasons.)

Apologies, I should have said “in England”.