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Original poster

Does DC really need A grades at A'level to study at a good uni?

78 replies

Helpuschoose · 28/10/2014 11:37

Totally new to this uni application lark as eldest DC has just started Yr 12 and it's a million years long time since DH and I went to uni. So this is all very confusing.
DC has no idea what to study or where at the moment ("Ffs leave me alone Mum. I've only just finished GCSEs and I've got a party to be at") but is likely to end up doing some kind of humanities degree. I did a quick random trawl through various uni's admission requirements for some standard degrees, English, history, economics, geography etc and was shocked to see that standard offers seem to require at least 1 and sometimes 3 A's at A2. DC is targeted to achieve B's at AS and that's assuming she achieves her highest scores. By the way she thinks these predictions are teachers' kidology but that is a whole different issue!

So here's my question I suppose. Is it no longer possible to go to a "good" uni to do a standard subject with B's at A level. And by "good" I suppose I mean a place that was a uni in the 1980's ie not a former poly and by 'standard subject' I mean History, geography, English etc not law or medicine or something very competitive.

Please don't flame me on my definitions. Of course former polys are good, but I'm just trying to establish a yardstick and manage my DCs expectations.

OP posts:
jeanne16 · 28/10/2014 12:09

Unis get extra government funding for students with ABB. So I would suggest this is the minimum grades to get into a reasonable Uni, such as Leeds or Newcastle. They may ask for AAA but will probably take students for a Humanities degree with ABB. Quite frankly, they now 'pile them up' in the lecture theatres. It is a bit different for science and engineering degrees as lab space restricts numbers.

This does then lead onto the question 'are such degrees worth doing?', but that is another matter.

IrianofWay · 28/10/2014 12:02

Define 'good'. My DD is likely to be going to a university that I am sure wouldn't be classed as 'good' in the traditional sense because she wants to do a course that very few places offer. She is (fingers crossed) likely to get As at A level.

dapoxen · 28/10/2014 11:58

The inflation in the A-level grades required by 'good' universities is partly a consquence of the larger numbers of students getting high grades.

In the early 1990s, according to this ~70, 000 students took A-levels and roughly equal percentages (~18%), got each of the five pass grades, or failed (N or U). Since then the overall number of student has increased by ~10, 000 and the grade distribution has changed significantly: 8% get A*, 18% A, 26% B, 24% C, 15% D, 6% E and only 2% fail.

The drop in the fraction of low grades and fails is probably, at least partly, due to league tables and schools not entering candidates who are likely to do badly. However the bottom line is that there are now at lot more students getting high grades at A-level.

The other issue is that in some subjects (I don't know whether or not this is the case for humanities) offers are set high as a marketing strategy. And students who miss their offer are often still accepted.

So in summary:
i) A B isn't as good a grade as it used to be.
ii) Get some subject specific advice about what grades are actually accepted for the courses she's interested in.