What is A levels?

Question

the college that i want to attend is asking for A levels.what do that mean? im homeschool by the way

Answer 1

The A-Level (short for Advanced Level) is a General Certificate of Education exam taken in the United Kingdom; they are usually taken at the end of high school (during Years 12 and 13).

Each A-Level course covers a single subject; and is usually split into six parts/units, each with its own exam. Most people study either three or four A-Levels, with the examination results going to determine if a student is good enough to get into a particular university or college (or onto a particular course). For example: to get a university place to study medicine or veterinary science, a person would likely need to have A Levels in maths, biology & chemistry.

They (A levels) serve as both school-leaving exams and university entrance exams (altho. increasing numbers of UK unis and colleges are also setting their own entrance exams in addition to A Levels).

You don't say where you're from but they're the UK equivalent of the HSC, le bac, das abitur, matriculation, matura, high school diploma etc etc.

Incidentally, you can either contact the college in question, explain that you are home-educated and ask them about the details of their 'special admissions procedure' OR you could look into doing some A Levels either privately, by Distance Education or at a College of Further Education. There are also equivalent qualifications such as Cambridge University's Pre-U exams or courses from the OU (Open University) that you might prefer to do as a substitute for A Levels.