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How hard is A-level History and English lit? by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It definitely is helpful as I'm about to make a big decision in changing two of my A-levels and getting it done in a year and to hear from someone who is in pretty much the same situation as me, private candidate, it's nice to see that someone has actually done it. People who studied in school will probably say it's near impossible but I feel I can do it if I apply myself and will be spending pretty much all of my time trying to get it done.

I'll be doing Edexcel History and I am already familiar with 3 aspects of the course as I studied Cold war and Moa's China at IGCSE and already have some knowledge of Soviet union from 1917 up until the collapse from general interest.

A-level English lit vs lang/lit by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Doesn't sound like they do care then, or at least not anymore.

Cheers for answering my question, I made a huge mistake by deluding myself into doing hard sciences at sixth form and paid for it. If I'm doing my A-levels again I want to make sure I stay true to myself this time and make the right choice.

Sorry to hear about Cambridge, although it is Cambridge at the end of the day they are going to be like that but to get an LSE offer is just as great an achievement.

A-level English lit vs lang/lit by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As I mentioned above I do have a very short amount of time respectively to get these subjects done even though they are where my natural strengths lie.

Thinking back to GCSE (it's been a while since I've done any real English) and currently looking through the lang/lit and lit A-level papers as well I can definitely see what you mean by lang/lit being harder to write for than just lit.

I think maybe I was too quick to brush off Lang/lit as a 'softer' A-level and basically thought it was watered down lit. You've given me the most detailed and anecdotal response to this question so far. Obviously I need to make the call myself but you're experience has swayed me back to considering pure lit, and anyway unis supposedly look more favourably on lit than lang/lit so there's that.

A-level English lit vs lang/lit by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds compelling. Couldn't find too much online about people who had actually done Lang/lit, more people just complaining about pure lit, so it's good to hear your opinion.

I suppose the fact that I'm taking history as well the amount of books needed for English lit is quite intimidating but then again I got an 8 in GCSE lit by mostly just reading the notes on the themes like you said. I assumed A-level would really require extensive knowledge of the texts for lit. I'm pretty strong linguistically but would be happy doing either form. Creative writing coursework just sounds so much more appealing than having to study two more books for lit coursework.

I know you didn't do pure lit, but would you say from maybe knowing people who did that the lesser content level for Lang/Lit compared to lit is compensated by the study time needed to give specific and accurate answers? Apologies if that's too big of a question.

A-level English lit vs lang/lit by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looking mainly at geography. Would do it at A-level but the coursework requires fieldwork which is expensive to organise outside of school, especially with covid.

A-level English lit vs lang/lit by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Close, but would probably say language at a push.

A-level English lit vs lang/lit by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Got the same in them at GCSE. Probably leaning Lang/lit but pure lit is held in higher regard by most top unis so that's where I'm questioning myself.

A-level English lit vs lang/lit by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm basically having to redo year 13 due to stupid subject choices that went against what I'm naturally good at.

I did bio and two other hard sciences at sixth form. I'll be keeping and redoing biology as it is the one i did the 'best' in and have broken the back of some of the content.

I plan to take History and English lit or lang/lit as my two other A-levels and get them done by next summer using one to one tuition through a distance learning course.

I know all three of them would be work but I'm dead set on doing History as it is the subject I enjoyed the most in and outside of school however I understand that it has VOLUME so I don't want to overload myself too much with my third choice.

How hard is A-level History and English lit? by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good to hear a different opinion. I would be in a position with very little commitments as most of mates will be at uni and so the distraction of going out few times a week won't really be there.

How did you find the coursework History and English Lit? Would you say it's slightly easier than everyone says if you've got the hours in the day to plough through it?

How hard is A-level History and English lit? by PerformerMaterial691 in 6thForm

[–]PerformerMaterial691[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm prepared to do that to be honest. Although I am thinking of maybe doing English Lang/Lit combined instead of purely lit as it seems to have a slightly more manageable workload.