Hey Studs, I know why you come on this Article, Don’t worry, you will clear all of your confusion about about A level course, In this article you’ll get to know about all details about A level exam. You know, A-level stands for Advanced Level qualification for students of ages 16 and above in the United Kingdom. It is a two-year course including 12th and 13th years of schooling. Generally, an A-level course is very tough. It is widely approved by various universities or institutions worldwide.
CONTENT INDEX
 UK Qualifications level
In the UK, GCSE is the main qualification for 14-16 years old students in schools and colleges in England, Northern Ireland, and Whales. GCSEs are subject-based qualifications. Usually, GCSE takes two years to complete the study full-time.
There are 5 Regional Examination Boards in UK are-
- AQA– AQA stands for Assessment and Qualifications Alliance. AQA examines various subjects at GCSE, AS, and A Level, and also offers vocational qualifications. It is the largest examination board for GCSEs and GCE.
- CCEA– CCEA stands for Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment. This examination board is in Northern Ireland.
- OCR– OCR stands for Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations. GCSE and A level examinations are delivered by OCR in the UK.
- Pearson Edexcel – ‘Edexcel’ word derives from the two words-Education and Excellence. In the UK, it is the only privately owned Regional Examination Board.
- WJEC– WJEC stands for Welsh Joint Education Committee, and is also called CBAC. It is the main examination board in Wales. WJEC provides Welsh examinations for Adult learners.
GCE (General Certificate of Education) takes two parts to complete. The first part includes the O level while the second part is the A level.
O level Exam (Qualification)
O level denotes the Ordinary level. It usually picks up either in the 11th year (age-17 years) or between the age group of 14-16. It is the final certification for secondary school and, also indicates a completion of formal education.
At O level, 40 subjects are available to choose and out of these, students usually take 6-7 subjects. The maximum number of subjects should be chosen is 14. There are 6 groups which include various subjects-
- Group I: Languages
- Group II: Humanities and Social Sciences
- Group III: Sciences
- Group IV: Mathematics
- Group V: Business, Technical, and Creative
- Group VI: English Language and Literature
The grades scored in the O level vary between A* to E. Grade A* considers the highest grade and grade E is the lowest grade. There is also a grade U (Ungraded) which means you fail in that subject.
The students can appear Cambridge O level exam twice a year in and November.
A-Level Exam (Qualification)
A level denotes Advanced level qualifications. A level is the second part of the GCE, after the O level. Students pick up A level in the 12th and 13th year at the age of 16-18. It is a two year course.
A level has divided into two years –
- AS Level/ AS year
- A2 Level/ A2 year
AS and A level exams are held twice a year in the month of June and November.
AS Level Exam
- AS stands for Advanced Subsidiary Qualification and is the first year under the A level.
- AS level contributes 40% marks towards the full A level.
- The syllabus content is half of the Cambridge International A level.
- For assessment, take the Cambridge International AS level in one examination series.
- AS level marks include in full A level within the 13-month period.
A2 Level Exam
- A2 level is the second year under the A level.
- The A2 level syllabus is more in-depth than AS level.
- The subjects of the A2 level are different from the AS level.
- Finally, both AS and A2 level marks were recorded for the full A level course.
A-Level grades
The grades in A level subjects can scale between A to E. Also in some institutions, Grade U is used. Students should score A* to C as the minimum grade in either GCSE or O level to qualify for the A level exam.
Let us see, how these grades can be given in a given subject as shown below-
- A*- Scoring between 90% and above
- A- Scoring between 80%-89%
- B- Scoring between 70%-79%
- C- Scoring between 60%-69%
- D- Scoring between 50%-59%
- E- Scoring between 40%-49%
- U- Scoring between 0%-40% is considered to be fail
A-Level subjects
Students have to choose four to six subjects out of these all over the subjects as shown below-
   | Subjects | Subjects | |
1.      | Accounting | 2. | Africaans |
3.      | Ancient history | 4.      | Art and Design |
5.      | Arabic | 6.      | Bengali |
7.      | Biblical Hebrew | 8.      | Biblical Studies |
9.      | Biology | 10.  | Built Environment |
11.  | Business | 12.  | Chemistry |
13.  | Chinese | 14.  | Classical Civilization |
15.  | Classical Greek | 16.  | Computer Science |
17.  | Dance | 18.  | Design and Technology |
19.  | Design and Textiles | 20.  | |
21.  | Digital Media and Design | 22.  | Digital Technology |
23.  | Divinity | 24.  | Drama |
25.  | Drama and Theatre | 26.  | Economics |
27.  | Electronics | 28.  | English Language |
29.  | English Language and Literature | 30.  | English Literature |
31.  | Environmental Management | 32.  | Environmental Science |
33.  | Environmental Technology | 34.  | Fashion and Textiles |
35.  | Food Science and Nutrition | 36.  | Film Studies |
37.  | French | 38.  | Further Mathematics |
39.  | Geography | 40.  | Geology |
41.  | German | 42.  | Global Perspectives and Research |
43.  | Greek | 44.  | Gujarati |
45.  | Health and Social Care | 46.  | Hindi |
47.  | Hinduism | 48.  | History |
49.  | History of Art | 50.  | Information Technology |
51.  | Irish | 52.  | Islamic Studies |
53.  | Italian | 54.  | Japanese |
55.  | Journalism | 56.  | Latin |
57.  | Law | 58.  | Life and Health Sciences |
59.  | Marine Sciences | 60.  | Mathematics |
61. | Media Studies | 62.  | Modern Hebrew |
63. | Moving Image Arts | 64.  | Music |
65. | Music Technology | 66.  | Punjabi |
67. | Performing Arts | 68.  | Persian |
69. | Philosophy | 70.  | Physical Education |
71. | Physics | 72.  | Polish |
73. | Politics | 74.  | Portuguese |
75. | Product Design | 76.  | Psychology |
77. | Religious Studies | 78.  | Russian |
79. | Sociology | 80.  | Software Systems Development |
81. | Spanish | 82.  | Sports Science |
83. | Statistics | 84.  | Tamil |
85. | Thinking Skills | 86.  | Travel and Tourism |
87. | Turkish | 88.  | Urdu |
89. | Welsh | Â |
 A-Level equivalent
A level equivalent in India
- ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education) is considered to be equivalent of GCSE.
- A Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) is equivalent to the overall AS level standard.
- A Diploma from a State Board of Technical Education is considered to be equivalent to BTEC Level 3 Diploma (3 years). Many students confuse about the BTEC, it is not B.Tech (Bachelor of Technology) which is a undergraduate degree in engineering course. BTEC stands for Business and Technology Education Council which is a secondary school leaving qualification in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales.
- BTEC Level 2 is considered vocational equivalent to the GCSE level.
A level equivalent in Australia
- AQF Certificates III and IV are considered to be equivalent to NVQ (National Vocational Qualifications) levels 2 to 3 as GCSE equivalent.
- AQF Certificate IV and the AQF Diploma are considered to be equivalent to NVQ levels 3 to 4 as A Level equivalent.
Requirements to Get admission in the US as a UK student
Various schools in the US have different requirements to get admission for UK students such as-
- High-level performance- High-level performance or A level performance includes GCSEs, AP scores, A levels, or their equivalents are used to raise your academic ability to enter a higher level of education. Moreover, participation in extra-curricular activities enhances your performance level, also.
- SAT or ACT- Scores of both ACT and SATs test are used to get in admission to colleges and merit-based scholarships are awarded by them.
SAT stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test which includes one SAT Math section. Most importantly, SAT score should be above 1400 to get admission to the top universities.
ACT stands for American College Testing which includes a science section. Indeed, ACT scores should be above 32 to get admission in universities.
You can go through the link to get syllabus and exam pattern of SAT and ACT in detail.Â
- English Language Proficiency test- It is one of the necessary language skills to apply for admission. International English Language Testing Service (IELTS) is the most recognized English language test. C1 Advanced test is also included in it.
- Cumulative GPA score- Cumulative GPA score of an applicant should be a minimum of 2.0. While, for more competitive universities, it should be more than 3.5.
How To Get Admission In Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT (USA)
Queries
Query1: What is the minimum grade achieved by the students in O level examinations in the US?
Ans.: Grade C is the minimum grade achieved by the students in all five subjects of the O level exam in the US and Canada.
Query2: Can I study A level in India?
Ans.: In India, A level is equivalent to Indian Senior Secondary Qualifications. After that you can apply for the degree course in which you are interested.
Query3: Can I go to the UK without A level qualification?
Ans.: Yes.
Query4: How to increase your chances of getting into US universities?
Ans.: First, spend some time researching the schools and their environments. Also, you can take reviews from the students, so that you can get an idea of that school.
Second, take time to prepare your application. Applicants should include all the entry requirements and upload their CV/Resume.
Apply to different universities as a large number of students seek admission every year.
Query5: What is the A level in the UK is equivalent in America?
Ans.: There is no A level equivalent in America (USA). But, according to the British Council, A level is comparable to the American Advanced Placement (AP) courses in their first-year courses of the American four-year bachelor’s degree program. AP is graded on a scale of 1 to 5 and Grade 5 considers the best.
Query6: Is Grade 12 equivalent to A Level?
Ans.: AS Level is equivalent to Grade 12 in South Africa.
Query7: Is SAT or ACT equivalent to A level?
Ans.: The SAT or ACT are different exams from A level. SAT or ACT is easier than A level exam.
Hope, we’ve covered All your queries above about a level exam
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