Leaving Cert/ A-Levels at home

Ana27

Hi

Has anyone sat the a levels after studying at home here in Ireland?
Any info would be brill

Also, i am considering repeating the leaving and studying at home for the year. Any tips on the best subjects to do this with? I should be able to get the points I need with 5 subjects, with 4 A's and a B.

Atm, I think id take:
Biology
History
Geography
Maths
Economics
Business Studies

I know geography and history involve projects, would this be allowed at home.

Thanks in advance!

jrmb

A levels are quite expensive to study at home. They take a lot of discipline and arranging exams can be very awkward. The UK doesn't have an equivalent of the SEC; rather it has numerous exam boards including the Assessment & Qualifications Alliance (AQA) and Edexcel. The majority of exams can only be taken within the UK and you have to show up in person to register a few months in advance. It's a lot more straightforward if you actually live in the UK.

An A level in a particular subject is an equal qualification regardless of the board that examines you but it's essential that you find a college that's willing to accept external students, affiliated with the appropriate exam board and examining the exact syllabus you have studied. It's possible for one exam board to have several variants of one subject and this can seriously narrow down the number of exam centres available to you.

The main benefit of A levels is that exams are held twice each year (January and June) and each subject consists of four modules (or six for subjects with a laboratory element). Ordinarily, students take one exam per subject every six months for two years. You don't have to matriculate until three years have passed from the date of your first exam and if a particular module goes badly, you only have to repeat that module. This means the stakes aren't as high as they are for the leaving cert.

Distance learning has its positives but for the leaving cert or A levels, I really think that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. It's very hard to build the social life everyone needs without a workplace, school or college to attend. It's also hard to get guidance from someone who has never met you and you won't be able to provide references for your leaving cert years.

I hate the leaving cert as a system but from experience, you're bound to end up having to do it sooner or later. It's faster just to get it over with and a traditional school is the least of many evils.

Ana27

jrmb wrote: »

A levels are quite expensive to study at home. They take a lot of discipline and arranging exams can be very awkward. The UK doesn't have an equivalent of the SEC; rather it has numerous exam boards including the Assessment & Qualifications Alliance (AQA) and Edexcel. The majority of exams can only be taken within the UK and you have to show up in person to register a few months in advance. It's a lot more straightforward if you actually live in the UK.

An A level in a particular subject is an equal qualification regardless of the board that examines you but it's essential that you find a college that's willing to accept external students, affiliated with the appropriate exam board and examining the exact syllabus you have studied. It's possible for one exam board to have several variants of one subject and this can seriously narrow down the number of exam centres available to you.

The main benefit of A levels is that exams are held twice each year (January and June) and each subject consists of four modules (or six for subjects with a laboratory element). Ordinarily, students take one exam per subject every six months for two years. You don't have to matriculate until three years have passed from the date of your first exam and if a particular module goes badly, you only have to repeat that module. This means the stakes aren't as high as they are for the leaving cert.

Distance learning has its positives but for the leaving cert or A levels, I really think that the drawbacks outweigh the benefits. It's very hard to build the social life everyone needs without a workplace, school or college to attend. It's also hard to get guidance from someone who has never met you and you won't be able to provide references for your leaving cert years.

I hate the leaving cert as a system but from experience, you're bound to end up having to do it sooner or later. It's faster just to get it over with and a traditional school is the least of many evils.

Thanks,

I have already sat the leaving this year and would be repeating. I already have refefences and a social life so this isnt an issue.

I see what you mean about the A Level route, thanks for your advice!

spurious

Ana27 wrote: »

Hi
I know geography and history involve projects, would this be allowed at home.

You need to get a teacher to sign off on your project/essay saying that they have supervised you dong it and know it is your unaided work, so you'd need to schedule some meetings with your previous teachers, if they were willing to do this for you.
You can't re-use the Geography project or History essay.

The Red Lad

Hello im looking to do the same too repeat at home just wondering what your going to do for the geog project as i do geog too but wondering will i have to drop it?