<p>Is anyone taking A-levels?
Do you think they are harder than APs?
Are they harder or easier than the IB?</p>
<p>Ptf, A-Levels are a joke, the Brits are trying to get rid of them and replacing them with either IB or SAT's, perhaps AP.</p>
<p>Gumball look at this, <a href="http://www.cie.org.uk/CIE/WebSite/WorkingWithCIE/regional/US/index1.jsp%5B/url%5D">http://www.cie.org.uk/CIE/WebSite/WorkingWithCIE/regional/US/index1.jsp</a> and <a href="http://www.edexcel.org.uk/home/%5B/url%5D">http://www.edexcel.org.uk/home/</a> than compare material on the exams.</p>
<p>kp - is your point that they're hard? What do they compare to? If daughter preps for AP English Language, SAT II Math 2 and AP Euro would that prepare her for any A-levels?</p>
<p>My point is A-levels are not a joke. They maybe harder than APs and are much harder than the SATIIs. A-level I suppose they compare to APs pretty well. Except you write more for the A-levels.</p>
<p>Yikes. Do those websites have sample A-levels? Can you get a book on them like the APs?</p>
<p>You can either at the links through the post or just go to anazon.co.uk and click on books and than click A and AS level and lasty click on the subject(s) of interest. </p>
<p>basically they are different tests. Most students can et above 700 on SATS whereas the design of A-levels made close-to-perfect scores impossible.</p>
<p>But let's put it this way.</p>
<p>If a person scores 70 percentile on SAT II's, but get a 85 percentile on A-levels, then the comparison would be easily made. And vice versa.</p>
<p>-Compare Percentiles !!</p>
<p>As a student who took the "O" level, I am can tell with certainty that A levels are VERY hard to study for. Based on my experience, studying for one A level is like studying for 3 APs. The tests dont have multiple choice questions and a B in an A level exam is harder to attain than a 5 in an AP.</p>
<p>If you are serious about studying long hours, take A levels. If not, go with AP. British students stress more on academics than the American students, and standardized tests scores are extremely important there as well (Oxford don't accept HS transcripts). So, dont scew up on the A levels if you plan to take them.</p>
<p>Mo Missile , may I please ask you how many A-levels are you takeing 1 or 2 Diplomas?</p>
<p>A-level is harder than APs..
As far as I know, A-level pure maths is harder than AP Cal.</p>
<p>A Level Pure Math is hell. I remember doing O Level Pure Math and THAT is comparable to AP Calc.</p>
<p>Kpusa, I studied for the GCSE exam. I didnt sit for the A Levels, although many of my close friends did. All-nighters 5 nights a week was normal for him lol.</p>
<p>Why do you all think that GCSE and A-levels aren't more?
Why is that so many more schools here do the IB?</p>
<p>Because students in America perfer a social life, which is drastically limited if A levels were the standard exams.</p>
<p>Someone just told me that England is debating about moving away from the A-levels because too many people are passing. Almost everyone passes so they think they're too easy.</p>
<p>should american students take the a-levels...would that help them become a strong candidate?</p>
<p>
[quote]
should american students take the a-levels...would that help them become a strong candidate?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If you're applying to UK schools, yes. However, A Levels is some hard ****.</p>
<p>Everyone look at this. See "all" students in the UK are passing the A-levels.
Here we would consider only A-C passes there they condsider A-E passes.
<a href="http://www.bstubbs.co.uk/natfig.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.bstubbs.co.uk/natfig.htm</a></p>
<p>A C is a very respectable score in A levels.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
See "all" students in the UK are passing the A-levels.
Here we would consider only A-C passes there they condsider A-E passes.
[/QUOTE]
</p>
<p>Only about half of students do well enough in GCSEs, the exams UK students take age 16, to continue to A-levels. It's nowhere near all students even at the best schools.</p>
<p>C is the average grade in the UK. If a student gets EE they can still get into university, albeit not a highly ranked one. Someone who got CCC in their A-levels, an average grade, would still get into a decent university. </p>
<p>The other issue is that UK schools are put into league tables based on the grades their students get. If a student fails, they pull their school down the league table. Hence if it looks likely that a student will fail, they are often encouraged to leave by the school. So they never take the final exam and affect the school ranking.</p>