it sounds like you've chosen your a-levels extremely well, and it's great that you're trying to prepare for architecture school so early. getting into the habit of sketching often (buildings, people, mechanical objects, nature) will be super helpful, especially if you pay as much attention as possible to the play of light in your sketches.

on the other end of things, it wouldn't hurt to start learning some programming too. computation is becoming more and more important in architectural practice, and you have time to establish a real foundation of knowledge that you'll definitely be able to apply later.

Definitely practice sketching.  Creating formally composed drawings is a great skill, but it is also important to know how to take a sketchbook, some pens/pencils, and draw what you see.  It's often the hardest skill for people to pick up so the more you practice, the better.

If you find an opportunity to shadow an architect in your area, that would also be awesome.  It would give you a chance to see what the typical day-to-day is like, ask questions about the profession, and potentially get a contact for future advice.  If you could intern, that would be better, but even if you can't yet, that's ok too. Never intern for free!  

Read "Architect?" by Roger Lewis.

Look at all the buildings you like and ask yourself why?  Ask others the same question, and take them seriously.  When you get to school, remember who you're working for and draw with your hands, not with a computer.  Good luck.

Check out our EMBAC program at UC Berkeley~ https://ced.berkeley.edu/acade...

Make sure you read and understand most of the posts of the industry on the forum.  Gain as much insights into the daily grind, lost hopes, angst and marginal accomplishments by many in the industry.  Make sure you understand your role in this industry and decide if it should your profession or hobby.  If money and status are what you're looking for you've got to be incredibly talented as a designer, or become a builder or developer. Just trying to give you some reality and long term insight.

I'm sure you have some good teachers that recognise the fact you are on your path and will help you. Good luck and respect. (ignore the trolls because they've never built a bridge)

And try paying close attention to your surroundings, look up once in a while when walking in the city, go around corners, take detours and don't use the same routes all the time, get to know your environment without using apps to get from a to b. Touch buildings, run your hand along the walls, knock on stuff, feel their textures. When you enter a building try visualising your route through the building, wander around and explore, pay attention and don't take anything for granted, there were people involved designing almost everything you see and use, try understanding why things are done the way they are and if you would do things different what would you change. Also, besides the sketching and the programming, make things with your hands, maybe wood working or furniture or learning how to cook and learn how to put different materials or ingredients together into something that gives you pleasure, the pleasure of how it looks, feels, can be used or tastes. Something like that. And read and travel, experience other perspectives than your own.

When you see a building out in the real world, slowly and carefully approach it from a distance, take small steps at first, then pick up speed as you walk along and you'll be going towards architecture.

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It sounds like you're on the right track. The only thing I would add is to learn technical drawing, by hand, with a straightedge and triangles. We do most of our work on computers, but the people who know how to draw a set of working drawings by hand are almost universally better at CAD/BIM than those that don't.