A-levels vs. american curriculum?

Question

Can anyone tell me what they know about a-levels vs. the american curriculum? I spent up to high school in an american school and then did my GCSE's at an english school and am at the point where I have to decide whether I want to continue 6th form and do a-levels in england or switch back to an american curriculum. I've had mixed reviews on both and I'm curious to see if anyone has experienced both and can tell me the differences. Is one harder than the other? I'm thinking of doing humanities like english, history, philosophy and I've heard it's tons of essays. Can anyone give me any insight?!

Answer 1

Neither is easier nor harder. The U.K. education system is much in-depth since you spend the entire year on a subject rather than just a semester, so yes there will be more homework, essays and quizzes in the U.K. due to the length per class.

However A'levels are not even the equivilent of an associates degree in the United States. When I completed my A'levels (English, History, Psychology, Philosophy and Political Science) they were only worth about 37 credits in the U.S. - so while all of that studying gave me a head start in my U.S. educational life, it still left me needing around 23 credits for my Associates Degree before I could start on my Bachelor's Degree.

It really depends on what you want to do afterwards, remain in the U.K. complete your A'levels and then either go to university or find employment or do you wish to move back to the United States and hope that your A'levels translates into credits, finish your associates and then go on to complete your Bachelor's.

It is hard to say what you should since not all A-levels will transfer into the same amount of credits that it did for me. You might end up studying A-levels for two years and it only be worth 20 odd credits or you could get lucky and have the A'levels worth over 1/2 of your Associates degree.

It my case it was worth it, my transfered into 37 credits, leaving me 23 remaining and in two semesters and one summer class (I dropped Intro to Theatre in my 2nd semester - hated it.) I was done with my associates.