Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Leaving Cert.. A-Levels?

Options
  • 25-08-2015 4:24am
    #1
    jackkeating
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    I'm strongly thinking of moving from Ireland to England as soon as possible and I'm wondering what are my options..

    I have finished my Junior Certificate, so is that the Irish equivalent to the GCSE's?

    If so, does that mean I can move over, and go straight into studying my 3 A-level subjects?

    please help...
    Tagged:


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    Bazinga_N
    Registered Users Posts: 3,232 ✭✭✭Bazinga_N


    jackkeating wrote: »
    I'm strongly thinking of moving from Ireland to England as soon as possible and I'm wondering what are my options..

    I have finished my Junior Certificate, so is that the Irish equivalent to the GCSE's?

    If so, does that mean I can move over, and go straight into studying my 3 A-level subjects?

    please help...

    Pretty sure you do a year of As Levels and then a year of A2 levels. At least that's what I gathered from my friend who moved to England after TY with her family.


  • Options
    #3
    BlueWolf16
    Registered Users Posts: 126 ✭✭BlueWolf16


    I don't have experience with your situation, however I did apply to study in England so maybe I can be of some help..

    GCSE are similar to JC, however they aren't the equivalent of, atleast in terms of applying to unis in UK. One major difference is that unlike GCSE's, your Junior Cert grades will not (well not entirely, they may be used as an indicator of your ability though that's mostly for the top10 unis) be a part of the decision in whether to admit you to uni or not. So I think that after finishing JC you can go in to A-Levels (I think they are split up in 2 years, AS which is the first year, and A-Levels which is the 2nd year and the most important one, aka. LC)

    May I ask why you intend to move? Your post makes it sound to me that this is your decision, and considering you said that you finished your JC, I'm not sure how a 16-year old can decide himself to move to a different country. I also hope that this isn't because you are fed up of the Irish education system.. Studying just 3 A-Level subjects is in no way twice easier than doing 6 LC subjects, I hope you know that. The level at which they study is much, much tougher than the one here, and the average grades for going into uni are around ABB if I recall correctly. Can you see yourself getting that versus like just 420 points in LC? Also the whole education system is very different in England, and to move at such a fragile time is a wrong decision in my opinion. By the time you get used to it, you will be sitting your final exams. You will have to do entirely new courses from scratch, even if you did them at JC, and that's going to be near impossible to achieve good grades in. LC builds up from JC, I think you are better off putting your head down and going for the LC rather than making such a drastic decision. You can always move after LC, in fact it will be a lot easier.


  • Options
    #4
    qweerty
    Closed Accounts Posts: 367 ✭✭qweerty


    BlueWolf16 wrote: »
    GCSE are similar to JC, however they aren't the equivalent of, atleast in terms of applying to unis in UK. One major difference is that unlike GCSE's, your Junior Cert grades will not (well not entirely, they may be used as an indicator of your ability though that's mostly for the top10 unis) be a part of the decision in whether to admit you to uni or not.

    What makes you think that Junior Cert results would be treated any differently by UK universities when applying?

    The level at which they study is much, much tougher than the one here, and the average grades for going into uni are around ABB if I recall correctly. Can you see yourself getting that versus like just 420 points in LC? Also the whole education system is very different in England, and to move at such a fragile time is a wrong decision in my opinion. By the time you get used to it, you will be sitting your final exams. You will have to do entirely new courses from scratch, even if you did them at JC, and that's going to be near impossible to achieve good grades in.

    The level is not considerably higher considering students there study three or four fewer subjects. Biology, Chemistry, the old maths syllabus, History and others, all compare favourably with their A Level equivalents. There's also, unsurprisingly, much overlap in syllabuses, so it's certainyl not the case that the challenge of moving from Junior Cert to A Level would be significantly more difficult than from GCSE.

    Seemingly-high grades are a lot easier to come by over there: the A*-B rate in almost all subjects is above 50%.

    I understand concern for someone considering such a move, but I think the negatives are overstated.


Advertisement