Are A-Levels Just Too Hard?
– Yes
A-levels are too hard. This is partly due to the immense jump between GCSE and AS, as pre-reading and essays replace group work and happiness. This sudden imposition of solely independent working is a shock to the system. This is not a positive and exciting shock such as a surprise Birthday party. Oh no no no no no, more like a traumatic shock like if you were sunbathing and soaking up the British summer on a pleasant afternoon moments before the tectonic plates beneath you arbitrarily part and your swallowed by an earthquake.
The syllabus hurls at you new abstract theories by Marx and other critical thinkers in which the teenage brain can find zero interest. A student is required to know almost all of the elements that that make up the human condition such as world politics and linguistics… basically the goal is omniscience. Those unfortunate times when even yahoo answers doesn’t understand my homework- I think if I ingested Wikipedia I’d still get an E.
Coupled with the complexity of A-Levels the pressure and expectation to know which post-18 path to take, which degree study or which career to enter, sounds ludicrous when I think about how deeply I struggle to pick between the two breakfast cereals in my cupboard every single morning. Pressure is the buzz word at A-Level, the pressure to understand concepts, to write perceptively, to do well in exams, to gain work experience and to succeed makes A-Levels way to hard.
Young Reporter
Shani Thomas
St Philomena’s Catholic High School for Girls
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