A level grade boundaries - help!

[AuntGlegg]

Does anyone know what percentage is required for an A at A Level ( Eng Lit, OCR)? Is it roughly 90 per cent for A, 80 for A etc? I know you need an A average across A2 papers and an A average over AS and A2, but all the information I can find is expressed in UMS/ raw marks which make my head spin. I understand that grade boundaries slide about from year to year, but last year's posted boundaries suggested that for the Controlled Assessment 36 out of 40 ( ie 90 %) is an A, so I'm wondering what you'd need to be in the A* bracket.

Is there any kind of 'ready reckoner' for this? I'd be so grateful is someone could explain ( as if to very small, mathematically challenged
child...)

[AuntGlegg]

Sorry... 'if', not 'is'.

[AuntGlegg]

Sorry, "if", not "is".

[LeBearPolar]

In order to get an A as I understand it you have to score over 90% in both modules at A2. So you couldn't get an A for the coursework module alone - the grade only comes into being at subject level, not at module level.

So when I do the predicted grades for my U6, I can't predict an A for the coursework or an A for the exam module, but I can predict an A* for the A level as a whole.

The grade boundaries in Eng. Lit. are scarily high as you've already realised.

I found this which might help:

What mark do you need for an A*?

For subjects other than Maths, Further Maths and Additional Further Maths, to get an A*, you must meet the following two requirements:

80% UMS overall (i.e. the current requirements for an A).
90% UMS overall in the A2 units.
That's all there is to it. You don't get an A for 90% overall. Only the A2 units (i.e. the units normally taken in Year 13) count towards the award of an A. Even if you get 100% in your AS units, 89% in your A2 ones isn't enough for an A. Similarly, you don't need to get an A at AS to get an A at A2 if you get 90% in the A2 units, and assuming your A2 marks are high enough to pull your AS marks to an A grade overall.

[AuntGlegg]

Brilliant, thanks so much, LeBearPolar'. And does UMS usually equate roughly to percentage? My daughter's practice timed essays are being marked out of 30 so she's working on 27 ( ie 90%) as baseline for A Does that seem about right?

[AuntGlegg]

Oh for god's sake - am new to this, but will soon get hang of crazy keystrokes . Stressed as I am, the above was not meant to sound insanely emphatic....

[AuntGlegg]

And I meant "as baseline for A*).

[indigo18]

UMS can differ quite a bit from %. They are decided after marking is complete and the difficulty of the paper can be assessed. So 100% will be 100 UMS but 99% might be 97.

[AElfgifu]

There is no way to predict or calculate what the UMS equate to. It changes from year to year, from paper to paper and from exam board to exam board. The exam board decides between marking and grading.The information isn't always freely available afterwards.

[JustAQuickiePlease]

Yes, that's right, you have to have an overall A (AS and A2 combined) so if you had an E at AS you could never get an A. Then you have to get an A in each module at A2.

UMS is a nightmare. It can work in your favour but sometimes it doesn't.

[AuntGlegg]

A in each A2 module - not A across both? That's a bugger. We thought she'd scraped over the line with 90% in CA, but looks like that's a bit optimistic.

[AtiaoftheJulii]

No, I think it's averaged across the A2 modules.

[JustAQuickiePlease]

Sorry, it's not averaged. You have to have 90% in each of the A2 modules. That's why it's almost impossible to get!

[hench]

Unless its changed recently (and I'm fairly sure its one of the few things that hasn't), it is averaged over the A2 modules, so 100UMS on one and 80UMS on the other A2 module would still give the A* (as long as the AS UMS came to 140/200 to make the A average overall). That's assuming a 4 unit course, sciences and maths are slightly different but the same principle applies.

[AuntGlegg]

Heigh ho. Just have to pray the UMS adjustment falls her way.... does it ever go up - ie 90% can work out more than 90 UMS? Or is that just clutching at straws?

Very many thanks, all, for expert advice . Great to have a bit of clarity on the issue.

[JustAQuickiePlease]

Hence, are you sure about that? I'm an a level teacher and we have to get 90% in each module and an overall a. Someone with a B grade at AS can end up with an a star if the B grade is high enough. However without a 90% pass in each module, then none of my students can get an A star.

[JustAQuickiePlease]

Sorry, I mean Hench.

[AuntGlegg]

Another straw just drifted my way.... AS scores were highish - 194/200. While that won't affect final grade, might it carry weight with admissions tutor in the case of a 'near miss' on the A*? Any professional experience of this?

[hench]

yes, quite sure. I'm always amazed how many teachers don't fully understand this.

See here for example. (It's law, but works the same for all subjects).

Theoretically at least if you scrape a C at AS (70%) and then don't drop a mark at A2 (100%) you still get an A* as the average acroos the two is 80% and the A2 mark is over 90%. This is obviously highly unlikely.

[AElfgifu]

but you can't work it out Hench, because you can't predict what the UMS equates to, that will depend on how difficult the exam board judges the paper to be.

[AtiaoftheJulii]

I don't know what you teach Just, but according to the OCR Eng Lit spec: "Candidates achieving at least 320 UMS marks in their Advanced GCE, ie grade A, and who also gain at least 180 UMS in their two A2 units will receive an A* grade."

Which is clear that it's the combined total, not the separate modules. That's how I'd always understood it from maths specs, but wasn't sure if it was the same across all subjects.

[hench]

AElfgifu, no you can't know what UMS you have until the unit has been marked, but if you took any A2 units in your AS year then you would know the UMS for those.

I was responding to JustAQuickies assertion that ' You have to have 90% in each of the A2 modules' which is incorrect. It's 90% acroos the A2 units.

It's clarified again here "n a four-unit A Level which has 400 UMS and each unit has 100 UMS, you need to achieve at least 320 UMS overall and at least 180 UMS out of 200 on the A2 units."

[hench]

It is the same for all subjects Atia, but maths is a special case as only 2 of the 6 units (C1 and C2) count as A2 units, and for further maths it is the best 3 A2 units that count as then quite often more than 3 A2 units are taken.

[BeckAndCall]

Guys, it depends on the subject and it depends on the board.

I know it's different for maths A2 from biology A2 for my DD for example.

Best bet is to look up the detail of the subject and the exam board.

You sound panicked, OP, so going straight to the source here is your best bet.

[hench]

Actually all the boards are exactly the same for UMS and A* rules Beck. Biology is the same as all other 6 unit A levels except maths which is a special case. 4 unit A levels work the same way and with the same percentages.

[AElfgifu]

I teach A levels too, and in out case it is different, in fact, the exam board instructions are NEVER to give a grade on a pierce of coursework. We can only give a mark, the exam board works out the grade when they work out the UMS. Of course there are always students pushing and pushing to be told what grade the teacher predicts from course work, then angry and disappointed when the exam board changes it.