A level points scores - please explain

[MosEisley]

I've been looking at lists of secondary schools and these are listed according to an A level points score. Scores are coming out in the 700s and 800s.

Can anyone explain what these numbers mean?

many thanks!

Good question!

UCAS's tariff list says an A* is worth 140 points but this says 300 points. I presume that schools are using the latter system.

Don't forget that schools have been known to bump up their results by including General Studies, which no-one else takes seriously.

The points for the tables are :
A-level grade A* scores 300 points, A = 270, B = 240, C = 210, D = 180, E = 150.

For AS levels the points are halved (there is no A* at AS level though), A =135, B = 120, C = 105, D = 90, E = 75.

The number given in the 700s/800s is the average points score per child. Most kids have 3 full A levels and 1 AS level.

Thanks very much. I think I understand now.

So if I got, say, ABB at A level plus an A at AS level, then I'd have
270 + 240 + 240 + 135 = 885

Wow. So does that mean that schools averaging in the upper 800s are doing really well then? Or are they perhaps encouraging more children to sit an additional A or AS level? Hmm.

As Senua says, some schools will be putting a lot of students through subjects such as General Studies, Critical Thinking and so on which universities tend to disregard. So a school averaging in the upper 800s may actually be failing its students by pushing them towards low value subjects. The school may also, as you say, be encouraging pupils to sit additional subjects. You need to drill into the detail to figure out whether the school is really doing well or artificially inflating its results.

Are there tables with average score per exam? I did 5 A levels so would have helped bump the average up just by what I did. Also is it always the best grade a year 13 has achieved - they may have resat I suppose.

My A Levels did include General Studies. If you did 4 other A levels you didn't have to go to the lessons. People who didn't go to the lessons generally got higher grades

Thanks again. How do I drill into the detail?

I found this site but it doesn't have detail on A levels.