As/A level Advice

[Pensby]

Hi
A few questions for anyone whose DC have been through A levels -thanks

Just wondered what is the usual progression in grades from As to A2 ,do they stay the same or do most students go up a grade ?

How do teachers "come up with" predicted grades ?

Are the offers most student receive from uni's the same as the one's in the prospectus ?

any other advice for about A2/applying to uni greatfully received !!

thamks Pensby

[hermanmunster]

Hi - just in the middle of all this ...

The offers are generally what is says in the prospectus though some (eg Edinburgh) might say BBB, get zillions applying and then ask AAA.... you might get BBB if there are mega extenuating circumstances.

Where is your DC thinking of applying and what for?

re the progression of scores - the AS module / paper scores are added to the A2 to give the final score / grade. To get an A* you have to get >90 marks in each A2 paper.. So if you get C at A2, mighty tricky to get enough to get up to A at A2...

the predicted grades will come from work done in class, tests etc. DS does tests / essays and these are marked as though they are AS exams and he gets a grade for this .. so the teacher can predict the AS scores, they get to know they see a lot of kids going the process

Re getting an A*:

What mark do you need to be able to receive an A*?

*80% UMS overall
*90% UMS Overall for the A2 units

You can't get an A* at AS and you don't get it for getting 90% overall. Only the A2 units count towards an A* meaning even if you get 100% in your AS units, if you get 89% in your A2 units you won't get an A*.

For Maths you need to get 90% avaerage in C3 and C4 and not 3 A2 units like the others. The 80% overall still stands.

[zee]

My DS1 is in year 12 at a grammar school.

Staff have stressed to parents and students that AS are easier than A2 but make up half the marks (though note Herman's point about A*) and that predictions and offers are based on AS, rather than A2.

So they press the importance of doing really well at AS and also warn that it's rare to go up a grade between AS and A2.

I take the first point, but wonder if the second is exaggerated to get the students to study hard!

[Pensby]

hi
Thanks for the replys ,DD is in year 12 and hoping to do law-she was predicted 2 a's and 2b's at AS but has consistantly got A's in all her marks and got an a in politics module in Jan(she got 96%) so hopeful she will get a's at AS

All good uni's ask for 3 a's for law ,so wondering what sort of lee way there is and does she need a uni asking for a lot lower.

What are you DC hoping to apply for ?

thanks pensby

[Belinda]

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[Belinda]

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[hermanmunster]

I think the A level predictions used to be more important before the days of AS exams - at least now the universities can see real exam results with the application - even if the A2 is harder..