Can I lose a critical A*?

Hey I went through some trouble with UCAS, and I ended up not going to uni, but getting an A* in maths and some other A levels (didnt do Further maths). This year I applied for physics and got into imperial colllege london uncondionally and i have firmed them, which was a beacon of hope for me actually doing what i want to do. To take up some time this year i did an AS in further maths. Ive been a bit ill over the last few months and been bed ridden, being very restricted in the time I have available to revise. Im not just doing AS, I'm doing M3 as well, so in total im doing M2 M3 D2 and FP1. so if i were to perform badly in these exams, I'm aware some switching of units goes on maths/f.maths combinations, im worried that OCR may switch it that my A* goes down to an A, hence my once unconditional becomes invalid. I know this sounds like a stupid idea, but I've been through quite a lot of trouble to get this offer hence I'm worried about everything. Can anyone who knows more about such situations shed some light on what may happen in terms of my grades going down or not if i perform badly in these exams that have nothing to do with my offer, please, im just paranoid i guess.

Thanks so much

Reply 1

TenaciousMonkey

I might be wrong, but I believe once your A Level has been cashed, they can't switch out modules. So I don;t think you'll lost your A* in Maths :smile:

Reply 2

see-are

dont do the exams if you are worried they'll stop you from going to uni..

Reply 3

Mr Ben

I think that they only switch modules around if they haven't already been "cashed in". So if you've already got an A* in maths, and have received the qualification for it, then they won't be able to rearrange those modules and there's not way doing badly in these new ones could effect your old maths grade.

Reply 4

Seanyboy57

Assuming you're only certificating the Further Maths AS, there will be no change to the A* you already achieved - TenaciousMonkey is right ^ :smile:

Reply 5

diggingforfish

If your A2 Maths is cashed in it couldn't happen anyway, however, your strongest applied unit results go to Maths and the weaker ones are used for Further Maths, no need to worry. :smile:

Reply 6

the real viper

Your A* in OCR Maths is only determined by your Core 3 and Core 4 (average 90%) therefore the modules you are taking additionally this year will leave your mark unaffected therefore do not fret, you are fine and congratulations on the offer!

Reply 7

Martik

Cheers people, made me at ease for a bit, though I'm still cramming for these exam since it's good practice and I could use being familiar with this material, and of course for pride :P

So what I've learned out of this is because i cashed in my A level Maths, the further maths modules I do can't effect the balance. My teacher mentioned that they could get re-cashed, but didnt get chance to ask him what he meant.

I read that OCR first get the combination to get me the best Maths grade, which is A*, but I haven't done the full A level so none of it really counts anyway, and if it has an effect it needs recertification of my A levels.

Is there an option NOT to recertificate? Will I be given the choice straight up or will it be automatic and to stop recertification I have to make a phone call or something?

Why on earth did you bother spending a year doing an AS in further maths when you already have your A Levels?

Reply 10

Martik

Original post by M1011

Why on earth did you bother spending a year doing an AS in further maths when you already have your A Levels?

I thought it may help with my physics course and didn't want the possibility of being behind at all.
I had too much time and not much money or health to do anything else.
May have tipped my application over the edge.
Not to be so rusty on my exam revision technique :wink:

And actually, the stuff I learned in M3 in the first term actually was used in the interview, and my quick response may have been what got me the offer.

Reply 11

Intriguing Alias

Original post by Martik

2 reasons you're fine:

If you've 'cashed in' they won't swap anything.

They always organise it so A-level Maths (not further maths) gets the best grade. So if you already have an A* they'd never change it to make it worse.