The A-level is a grade of education offered by educational institutions and its full title is the Advanced level. It is generally taken after completing a previous level of course such as a GCSE in a subject and is usually a two-year course.

Most students take their A-levels at the age of 16-18, as a prequel to application to applying to university and it is normal for a university to require a certain level of grade and subject of A-level to be accepted on to the further education course.

The A-level is most well known in the UK, excluding Scotland where students sit Highers, but there are many other countries worldwide that also use the A-level as a grading and course structure in academia.

Many countries in the Commonwealth and British territories such as Gibraltar, Malta and New Zealand to name just a few have adopted the A-level system thought the content and structure of the courses do vary with the country.As well as the traditional academic courses such as math and English, student can choose to go to tertiary colleges to sit a wider choice of A-level, which tend to be more vocation based.