hey, i was just wondering if any of you have done P.E. as an 'A' level or biology, as i need these to get into uni for the job i want to do. could you tell me if the courses are worth taking, and what the structure of the P.E. course consists of. thanks in advance.
I dont know about either first hand, but I have heard from others in the year who do Biology that its not bad. Our college doesnt offer PE at A Level, but we can do something called CSLA (Community Sports Leaders Award) instead in our own time. However, knowing what A Levels are like, expect a serious jump in work-load, and remember that PE will have a lot of theory in too, such as how the body works (which will probably tie-in well with Biology). You could try checking the exam-board web-sites for course specifications to find out what you will need to learn
i know what they involve, but i just want some general, truthful thought on how good they are from people that have done the course. when i went to an evening about A levels the other night the teachers were all glamming up there subjects and people could tell.
Biology consists of a lot of reading, a hell of a lot, PE does too really, people often take it because they see it as a soft touch, but its not. You need to talk to the college you plan on studying at, people here can only give generic answers.
thanks. by the way, i'm also going to study maths and ICT/English Lit (not sure which) apparantly ICT is the most boring A level ever invented, and that there is no point in me taking it as i would already no 90% of the stuff they teach(according to my business teacher)
I take Biology and Mechanical maths, currently at AS level. Biology is cool because it really shows you how everything works in nature etc, but as previously posted there is loads of reading/learning to do, as on average, biology is the hardest A level you can do (mainly due to the medical profession wanting top students, so the difficulty of biology has stayed pretty constant since the 1960s). Maths is also much better than GCSE because you can actually see the applications of it (dunno about you, but all through my maths GCSE course I was constantly just thinking, "but why, what is the point in this?"). Hope this helps.
As everyone else has said, I am finding biology an awful lot of content, and in these past few months (i'm coming up to the end of my A2s now) it has also got alot more applied (having to use the knowledge you have learnt to answer questions on what appear to be compleataly different subjects!). What examining body does your school use? Talk to upper 6th who have been on the cource if you know any, they should be able to give you a better idea on how it is taught at your school. Afraid I cant help you on P.E., though I do know quite a bit of it crosses over to biology. Hope I was of some help Ian As an after note, Biology is great fun and by the way, what cource are you looking at dooing at uni?
I am doing A2 ICT now, and you are pretty much correct about it being boring. The first AS unit is mainly laws and legislation (make that the entire exam). Data Protection Act 1998, Computer Misuse Act etc. The second is basic networking (topologies, basic hardware in it), security, and back-ups (strategies). 3rd is coursework, handed in at easter, and is (for most people) either a spreadsheet or database system. Sounds easy, but the amount of paperwork you have to do is OTT. The A2 follows on from AS, with unit 4 being a continuation of 1, 5 a continuation of 2 and 6 of 3. From what mates have said when reading our notes and comparing it with their Lit ones, it is indeed more boring than that
I remember my Ex did A2 ICT, and her unit 5 "folder" was actually about 6 folders... It was a very stressful time...
I'll just stick my qualifications of for ya, BSc and PGCE, just in case that you didnt know that makes me a qualified teacher, biology to 'A' Level and physics and chemistry to GCSE level.
i did A level Biology (and a BSc in it) was good lots of how organs work and the micro - level of life as well as whole organisms and ecological interactions As far as PE goes.. my friend did sports science which i guess is roughly the same thing, she enjoyed it found it to be a more applied biology course that just biology. But i would think you should check to see if you need them both as pre requisits to your Uni course if you do then that your problem solved. If you need only one.. as much as it pains me to say it.. i'd pick PE *cry* everyone should do biology it's fun!
I'm doing A2 English lit at the moment, it's good at AS level but then they really push up the workload at A2 where you have to do a lot of outside reading, not just books directly linked with the exam but books about the general topics as well for background. To a degree however you can't really know what the course is going to be like without knowing the specific course and the teacher as well as what kind of resources they have available. In my school there are absolutely tons of funds devoted entirely to sports because we are a sports college/rugby academy. On the other hand if you want to study drama for example then you will get almost no funding for your department and may not get the grade you feel you deserve as a result of it.
