How A Levels work

A Level is the national examination system taken by the vast majority of Sixth Form students. It is by far the most popular and effective route into university and employment at 18.

Changes have been brought in over the last few years and are now complete. If you have an older sibling, you may find your A Levels are different from the ones they sat. The reforms have not affected the difficulty or usefulness of each subject but they do mean that the AS qualifications have been decoupled from the A Levels.

You will not need to sit external exams in Year 12 in your A Level subjects. However, AS qualifications still exist and some of these are offered at AHS as Extension Studies. See here for the full list of Extension Study choices we offer at AHS.

The new A Levels involve less non-examination assessment, ie less coursework, and fewer assessed practicals.

Implications of Reformed A Levels

• They are fully linear, ie all of your A Level exams will be taken in 2022
• AS qualifications are equivalent in value to 40% of an A Level
• You need to be confident in your subject choices from the outset
• For two-year courses, you now get the opportunity to develop your skills in each subject in Year 12 and then refine them before the public examinations in Year 13
• You get more teaching time in Year 12 without the need to stop for a significant period of time for public examinations
• There is no opportunity to resit modules as older students may have done which means you need to develop excellent study habits very quickly, we will of course assist you with this

“The curriculum and provision for students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are outstanding, including in the Sixth Form. [Students] make outstanding progress in all years. ...students are very well prepared for their future lives...” (Ofsted)