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AS Levels - pressure?!
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I'm at the end of year 12 now, so I've just finished my AS level exams. Lately there has been quite alot of coverage in the press about students being under loads of stress and pressure due to the new AS level system at the expense of their social lives and everything.
I was just wondering how many of you agree with this? Personally I don't think it has put me under too much pressure. Yeah everyone hates exams and all the revision is a pain but surely it is better than having to revise the whole course at the end of two years? I can see why the government think it is beneficial ie. the idea that year 12 students will work harder throughout the year if they know important exams are at the end of year 12....cos I remember year 10 was a doss because there weren't any proper exams or coursework.
I don't think it has cut out my social life at all...yeah I've had homework and the odd bit of coursework that might have prevented me from going out one night but it hasn't proven to be much of a problem. I've still been able to see my friends and do just as much stuff.
I'm hoping the AS levels will relieve a bit of pressure from year 13, although I'm not sure as obviously I haven't been through year 13 yet! The school I go to hates the AS level system, probably becuase it forces the teachers to get through their syllabuses quicker and it is less relaxed.
So what do any of you think about it?
-x
I was just wondering how many of you agree with this? Personally I don't think it has put me under too much pressure. Yeah everyone hates exams and all the revision is a pain but surely it is better than having to revise the whole course at the end of two years? I can see why the government think it is beneficial ie. the idea that year 12 students will work harder throughout the year if they know important exams are at the end of year 12....cos I remember year 10 was a doss because there weren't any proper exams or coursework.
I don't think it has cut out my social life at all...yeah I've had homework and the odd bit of coursework that might have prevented me from going out one night but it hasn't proven to be much of a problem. I've still been able to see my friends and do just as much stuff.
I'm hoping the AS levels will relieve a bit of pressure from year 13, although I'm not sure as obviously I haven't been through year 13 yet! The school I go to hates the AS level system, probably becuase it forces the teachers to get through their syllabuses quicker and it is less relaxed.
So what do any of you think about it?
-x
Post edited by JustV on
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Year 12 again..... not bad at all. There was added pressure towards the exams, but AS is nothing compared to A2.
I'm glad I can take more subjects, because although I want to do medicine, the system has enabled me to do subjects like Politics and Philosophy which I wouldn't have been able to take under the old system. Plus the exams are modular and can be retaken in Jan.
As for social life, it didn't disrupt it at all
But I guess what you say about being able to take more subjects could be true although AS's did exist beforehand too.
I quite agree! I wish I'd have had the chance to do AS level too
However i wouldnt like to have to revise the whole two years then do the exam for the whole sylabus next year.
i dont know why but i have just found the whole thing very stressful yet GCSE i didnt at all - maybe its the fear of resitting with the yr below
I am glad that I got half of the course out of the way before my exams this year, because i've only got 7 exams this year (3 to go!!) which is really very little.
The good thing is that you get to do resits, don't be afraid to do themeven if you really wanted a b, but say got a c and you're OK with that. It all adds onto points in the A2 year. For thos of you who've done AS levels this year, I would reccomend that the day before results day you work out what grade you would be happy with in each subject so you can decide easily if you want to do resits as soon as you get ur results.
Just don't worry - with AS levels you get a 2nd chance!
xxx
Private school by any chance?!
I just want to clarify that 'Mentionitis' is my ultimate pet hate! Was being ironic
Nope, it's shameless elitism and oppression of the proletariat by the wealthy by introduction of a wealth-based two-track education system.
State education for all. Abolish the private schools.
I'm sure the AS system is fantastic in schools that were able to afford all the new materials and extra teaching hours required. quel suprise that it was suggested by the head of a fee paying school.
The Oxbridge entrance does seem to me to be entirely elitist, I think it is the colleges rather than actual academic schools who operate like this, and they are entirely non-meritocratic.
I'd better stop here.....I could easily get into a great big rant. Interesting topic though.
Whose is it then?
Voice of the People, VOice of God -nice name
right, our Higher Still, the same as your AS, as far as I can gather, is split into modules and there is an exam at the end. so even if you fail the exam, as long as you passed all the coursework bits, you can resit the exam at a future date.
Well, I did find this very advantageous as it means you don't have to resit a whole course.
Now, our CSYS (certificate of sixth year studies) is basically a more specicfic course in the subject, more depth. Unlike you guys though I think, these are not modular, just one year, exams at the end types, as these were not changed when higher stills were brought in.
I know these may be slightly different, but the point I was gonna ask about was the organisation? I did these the first year the changed, when i was in 6th year (2000) and the organisation was appalling. teachers didn't know how to mark the module course tests, people were allowed to resit the same course test papers if they failed, and the materials were not available in time for the start of the course, and quite honestly, students were confused! Fair enough, this was probably just down to teething problems, but I do believe they are changing the system again! (so Kiezo was telling me )
I was just curious about how your system was running? Maybe I should have just asked that straight off! Is it effective enough to keep in place?
That's a blatant lie. A friend of mine, much cleverer than me obviously.. who got mostly a*'s and a's at GCSE level and then 4 a's at AS level was rejected by Durham and Manchester without so much of as interview. Needless to say that the fact that he came from Teesside had nothing to do with it.. Yeah right.:mad:
Everyone kicked up a huge fuss when Laura Spence got rejected from Magdalen Oxford. I know someone who beat her to one of the places to read medecine at that college and he said that one of the things that NONE of the papers even paid any attention to was the fact that she may not have interviewed very well. It is the policy of just about all of the Oxbridge colleges to give everyone who applies an interview and so the interview is the basis for an offer or not.
I know a few really nice, animated, interesting people from a state school who got 5 As at AS level who were turned down by the colleges. I also know of some people from a private school who got 4 As at AS and have the personality of dead ants who have been accepted.
I think state schools work much harder on trying to get people accepted to Oxbridge. In my experience private schools do not provide individuals who are as well rounded, and they place less emphasis on personal development, yet they still get more people past the interview stage.
I don't think, furry friend, that on the basis of a few people you know you can safely say that the system stinks, and I think your generalisations are just plain stupid.
What is bad is the number of people who apply from state schools: there should be more done by govt to enocurage applications from good people at crap schools, and more done to prepare them for the interview process: it's unfair that, for example, at my school we got interview guidance and help preparing personal statements which you might not get elsewhere. But in general that isn't something you cna blame the universities for, and given the applicants they get the proportiosn of people who get in are about right. So can everyone just grow up and stop looking for discrimination one way or the other when basically almost none exists?
'tis the way life is indeed, and 'tis unfair too... but I do think good people will get in regardless of preparation etc. and I do think tey make some allowances.