Has anybody got a dc who fluffed AS then went on to do well at A?

This thread has been really useful. We have spent this afternoon looking at DSs revised options. He is now resigned to the fact that his Plan A is virtually unachievable, his Plan B is in place and he has even been to look at a lesser Uni today which is his absolute Plan C. Just hope the school agree with it and that he gets predicted grades which at least give him a chance at Plan B. He does not want to resit the whole of Yr 12 but has earmarked some modules to resit next year alongside his A2s. I hope his strategy pays off!

Soooooo, what exactly does "work your socks off" mean? Does DD have to work several hours every night, or is it that she's supposed to be doing the work set, plus independent study, plus extra reading? I have a feeling that she appeared to work hard at AS but not work smart and her lack of organisation let her down. What's the magic ingredient?

if you work at the same level for A2s then you can expect to get a grade lower than in AS, if you work harder for your A2s then you can expect to maintain your AS grades, if you work your socks off for your A2s then you may improve on your AS results by one grade

stonecircle That's what I was trying to say but your son's teacher put it so much better.

DS1 has just got his A levels and among all his friends that pattern has proved to be accurate.

I just want to say my dd got, bcdu and I'm super proud of her, she is also happy with that, so much pressure on thread poor kids, it's also normal and good to achieve less than perceived perfection!

For what it's worth, the crude measure a teacher at my sons' school gave us was that -

if you work at the same level for A2s then you can expect to get a grade lower than in AS
if you work harder for your A2s then you can expect to maintain your AS grades
if you work your socks off for your A2s then you may improve on your AS results by one grade

He also felt that in general (though clearly not always) any improvement on AS grades by resitting AS exams alongside A2s was at the expense of A2 grades. Sadly DS1 proved him right!

Ah - no I didn't know about the 6 modules for maths

Thanks, frogs

Exactly so in certain scenarios don't rush to retake AS at the expense of those A2 marks.

*to

Once a student has 70% or above at AS they all have the same requirement of 90% for an A. Getting 100% at AS in itself gives them no advantage. The student that gets 200 at AS and 179 at A2 (so 379 in total) gets an A. The one who got 140 at AS and 180 at A2 (so 320 in total) gets an A. Those with 100% at AS do however have a huge advantage at the A/B boundary (would have to score less than 120 too miss the A)

I was just about to post that about the 80% overall being enough to get A* at the end, provided that A2 papers are over 90% (apart from the maths where other rules apply).

So for example, you must aim to get say 92% in the A2 papers (as mentioned you have to get over 90% at A2 anyway for the overall A*) then you could have got 72% in the AS.

My understanding is that you shouldn't necessarily rush to retake at say 75% or above.

Does this sound correct or make sense on the numbers?

Yes TheOne, exactly that. In fact 60% at AS and 100% at A2 would also be an A, so (in theory at least) it is possible to get an A after getting a bare 'C' at AS without resits, although of course someone who got just 60% at AS is highly unlikely to achieve a perfect score on the harder A" units.

For maths, because of the flexibility in the units actually taken (not everyone sits the same combination), you need 90% across C3 and C4, and 80% across all six units (so one of the A2 units effectively counts as another AS unit for grading purposes). You need to realise there are 6 units for a maths A level to appreciate why the rules are different.

So does that mean 70% at AS plus 90+% at A2 would still get A - someone with a B at AS could still come out with A without resitting?

(Also could someone please explain the differentiation between how to get an A* in maths & how to get one in any other subject?

'in A level maths one must obtain 80% of the available UMS in the whole A level and at least 90% (180 UMS marks) across the two required A2 modules C3 and C4'

'For all subjects this requires a student to obtain 80% of all the UMS available in addition to 90% of the UMS available in the A2 modules'

Those both sound the same to me )

It's impossible to know what the effects of dropping the January exams is going to be. You have to presume that the overall grades of A2's will go down?? Time will tell.

My DD's experience:

DD got BCC at AS.

Much doom and gloom as was told that most students dropped a grade at A2. She needed ABB at A2 if she wanted hope of getting into first choice RG uni.

Had chat with school who said she would have to work really really hard to resit AS's and get required A2s.

There was no option to repeat Y12. It would be either work socks off or go elsewhere.

She resat 5 AS papers at the same time as her A2s.

Yes it was hard for her and there were tears, but it paid off as she's just completed first year at Birmingham.

So it is doable.

Oh yes, sorry - I read it wrong!

Theas18 is right.
The fact is that you need to be looking at 80% in AS to be in with a hope of A* at A2. You then need 90% in the A2. This allows very little flexibility for a bad day or a weakness in a particular module.

It's also the case that A2s are tougher than AS levels.

If you are re-sitting the ASs at the same time as A levels it's a risky strategy. A better plan, I think, is to repeat year 12. If that results in decent AS grades then you can aim high.

Michael Gove chose to remove the January re-sits as he wanted to toughen up the A level system. He has doomed many young people into a 3 year sixth form.

I don't think that asking for the school to predict high does the student any favours. One of DS's friends just got a clutch of Ds where he needed As for his RG uni offer. His mother blames the school for predicting wrongly .

No it doesn't.It says 80% UMS overall and 90% at A2 for an A*

DS pulled a B in chemistry up to an A. Not quite the same senario but it took Trojan work ( and nigh perfect UMS in many of the A2 modules to do it).

Easier - sort if - in a subject with definite answers eg maths than a narrative subject eg history I reckon.

\link{http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Mark_Scheme\this wiki article explains raw marks & UMS percentages}

It says 80% at AS & 90% at A2 for A*

There might be a minimum mark too for A* - will look

They are cumulative (or they were for DS2 who did A2s 3 years ago)

An A* requires an average of 90 (? Or even 95?) across all modules, so really poor ASs must be sat again for high grades. Tbf the friend's DD I mentioned earlier was able to resit in January - it'll be a lot harder for those who have to take them all at once

Can I just ask something that is probably really obvious to others but I am uncertain about.
A number of you have said that getting good grades in A2 after poor AS results is a tall order. What is the reason for this? Are the marks cumulative or are the A2 exams completely separate. Is it just because the work done for AS is the building blocks for A2 and therefore a student who didn't learn the AS work well will struggle at A2, or is it something else completely.

DS is not doing any subjects which have a coursework element.

DS too with the RG obsession. It seems to be drilled into the predicted high er achievers that only an RG uni is worth considering. Unfortunately his passions are science and maths so As and A stars are needed.

We had a talk at the school last term from an admissions tutor from an RG uni. He explained all the entrance quals etc for his uni only in terms of getting A or A star grades. Eventually one of the parents put up their hand and asked if a B grade in anything was seen as useless these days. The uni guy made an extremely disparaging comment that one B ' might be OK if you applied to do one of the courses that nobody wants to do - like archaeology '

DS wont even discuss a plan B.

Oh yes, my DD has her heart set on a RG uni. Won't even consider something else snob :) so she needs to shit or get off the pot.