This discussion is now closed.
Check out other Related discussions
- Accounting
- I feel like I failed educationally and need a clear sense of direction and advice
- I'm not sure what to study as my third A level
- Mature Student needing advice about what to study
- Accounting
- Life after University: finding a graduate job with bad a-levels and gcses
- Accounting but failing spanish
- accountant
- What should i know before starting an accounting degree?
- Economics at either Oxford or Cambridge #university #oxford #cambridge
- GCSE Results 2023: Didn't do as well as you hoped?
- what does manchester mean by Your qualifications/predicted grades do not meet our aca
- Foundation Year for any Uni
- What should I study with psychology and economics
- Looking to change course after my FY ends.
- Accounting Apprenticeships
- Will my lack of Alevels prevent me from getting a job even with a degree?
- Cambridge extenuating circumstances
- accounting and finance degree with no a level maths/business
- how will my gcse results affect my university choices
Are GCSE and A-level grades taken into account by the employers?
hi,
I was just wondering about the job prospects of graduates with lower GCSE and/or A-level grades. In many different professions, graduates with minimum 2.1 (or eqv. GPA) are generally eligible to get job offers from leading companies in UK and abroad. BUT what about the eligible graduates with lower GCSE/A-level grades? Are they discrimanated by employers when they apply for a job?
GCSE and A-level results of a student are normally taken into account by the universities/colleges for giving out offers of a place in a degree programme. However, since the graduates need to mention their GCSE/A-level grades in their CVs, I have a doubt whether the employers make any discriminations among the eligible prospective employees.
-Ashique
I was just wondering about the job prospects of graduates with lower GCSE and/or A-level grades. In many different professions, graduates with minimum 2.1 (or eqv. GPA) are generally eligible to get job offers from leading companies in UK and abroad. BUT what about the eligible graduates with lower GCSE/A-level grades? Are they discrimanated by employers when they apply for a job?
GCSE and A-level results of a student are normally taken into account by the universities/colleges for giving out offers of a place in a degree programme. However, since the graduates need to mention their GCSE/A-level grades in their CVs, I have a doubt whether the employers make any discriminations among the eligible prospective employees.
-Ashique
Scroll to see replies
yes yes yes
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
if you want to loook at what grad employers ask for loook at the prospects site or http://www.doctorjob.com
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
if you want to loook at what grad employers ask for loook at the prospects site or http://www.doctorjob.com
viviki
yes yes yes
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
Completey true. I have lots of friends who are having/had difficult since graduating as all employers at graduate fairs and the alike ask for A level points. They are as important as your class of degree.
viviki
if you want to loook at what grad employers ask for loook at the prospects site or http://www.doctorjob.com
From my signature you can see that I'm studying Civil Engineering and so I want to know the UK job prospects for graduates from this particular branch of engineering.
<A-S-H-I-Q-U-E>
Can you (or anyone) locate the specific web page from which I can find out the A' level grades/points required to get a specific job offer?
From my signature you can see that I'm studying Civil Engineering and so I want to know the UK job prospects for graduates from this particular branch of engineering.
From my signature you can see that I'm studying Civil Engineering and so I want to know the UK job prospects for graduates from this particular branch of engineering.
Most of the Magic Circle companies ask for a minimum of AAB.
yes yes, like everyone has said, you gcse's and a-levels are definitely taken into account. Quite a lot of jobs require i.e. C grades in english and math minimum
viviki
yes yes yes
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
silent ninja
Completey true. I have lots of friends who are having/had difficult since graduating as all employers at graduate fairs and the alike ask for A level points. They are as important as your class of degree.
Fluffy
Most of the Magic Circle companies ask for a minimum of AAB.
gordon2002
yes yes, like everyone has said, you gcse's and a-levels are definitely taken into account. Quite a lot of jobs require i.e. C grades in english and math minimum
There can be late developers who can work much harder in unis and achieve 1st class degrees in the end. Just because of lower A' level grades, they should not be overlooked by the employers.
Fluffy, I don't have any idea about the Magic Circle companies. Do they recruit Engineering graduates??
gordon2002
yes yes, like everyone has said, you gcse's and a-levels are definitely taken into account. Quite a lot of jobs require i.e. C grades in english and math minimum
If you start a job post A-level. No-one cares about GCSEs post-degree level, as to do A-levels you're usually expected to have Cs in English and Maths anyway.
If a particular employer asks for your academic grades, including GCSE and A-Level, they will obviously consider these. However, if you do not meet their stringent academic requirements, which for finance tends to be 280 UCAS points (or 22), I wouldn’t give up hope (degree-grade obviously matters more).
If you can impress them by showing initiative and demonstrating the skills needed for the job, to essentially outweigh the academic deficiency, then I don't see any reasonable employer rejecting you an interview or admission to the next stage. At the end of the day, applications are not passed through the criteria of a system; a human being at the other end individually assesses all, and if they like what they see as a person and potential candidate for the job, then it’s all down to you.
If you can impress them by showing initiative and demonstrating the skills needed for the job, to essentially outweigh the academic deficiency, then I don't see any reasonable employer rejecting you an interview or admission to the next stage. At the end of the day, applications are not passed through the criteria of a system; a human being at the other end individually assesses all, and if they like what they see as a person and potential candidate for the job, then it’s all down to you.
I've just read the following info in Doctorjob.com and now posting the links here. Do you also agree with what they say?
<A-S-H-I-Q-U-E>
I've just read the following info in Doctorjob.com and now posting the links here. Do you also agree with what they say?
Yes, precisely what I was getting to. Don't let your UCAS points hold fire... :ts:
Poica
If you start a job post A-level. No-one cares about GCSEs post-degree level, as to do A-levels you're usually expected to have Cs in English and Maths anyway.
I wasn't talking about post A-level jobs
Today, I've got some more questions about this topic.
Hope someone can give me the accurate answers.
Cheers
•
What about graduates with MSc degrees and lower A' level grades? Are they also discriminated by the employers when they apply for jobs?
•
Undergraduate students, who spend a year in industry as part of their sandwich degree programmes, are usually guaranteed jobs (from the same companies, in most cases) soon after their graduation. So, in this case, do they really need to worry about lower A' level grades?
•
Suppose, a 2:1 graduate, who had obtained 260 UCAS points from four A' levels, mentions his/her UCAS points (not A' level grades) in his/her CV. Will the employers reject his/her application due to the absence of A' level grades in the CV?
Cheers
Having an MSc only gives you a very marginal advantage. Most companies only consider your first degree which is more important than the Masters. Although having a masters may open doors with regards of extra opportunities (an arts grad with a comp sci masters makes for easier entry into IT for example).
Undergrads who do sandwich years are not guaranteed a job on graduation. Some who impress on the job may receive a job offer but this may be conditional on degree performance - i.e. need to obtain a 2.1. You most likely wouldn't have got the job in company x if you didn't meet it's company criteria so UCAS if specified does matter. If they want 320 UCAS points and you only have 220 then it will be extremely hard to get a position in a grad/intern/placement role. However, some companies do allow you to specify mitigating circumstances as to why you have lower grades. But if you have low UCAS points then rather than worry about that you should be focusing on developing your skills so that you can bargain with employers and say despite not having the stipulated UCAS points you have these additional skills which you feel compensate for that.
You can only use scores from 3 A levels to determine your UCAS points and this always invariably excludes general studies. So if you have 320 points from 4 A levels but from 3 you only have 240, then 240 is your UCAS points not 320. In the vast majority of cases this involves in your 1st sitting. So if you redid your A Levels after 2 years to boost the score thennot all firms will accept this, some may.
You need to check with the specific employer as to how they screen applications. Some employers who specify a certain amount of UCAS points may have some leniency if you have other skills or mitigating circumstances whereas others will reject you there and then. There are sizable amount of grad recruiters who don't consider A levels just degree result.
Most graduate recruiters require you to fill in an online application and therefore you will not be able to hide your A Level course grades as they want a breakdown of what you got rather than total score.
There are ways to make up for low UCAS scores such as doing a masters at a top university, good work experience, interesting extracurriculars and developing skills that differentiate you as a candidate.
Undergrads who do sandwich years are not guaranteed a job on graduation. Some who impress on the job may receive a job offer but this may be conditional on degree performance - i.e. need to obtain a 2.1. You most likely wouldn't have got the job in company x if you didn't meet it's company criteria so UCAS if specified does matter. If they want 320 UCAS points and you only have 220 then it will be extremely hard to get a position in a grad/intern/placement role. However, some companies do allow you to specify mitigating circumstances as to why you have lower grades. But if you have low UCAS points then rather than worry about that you should be focusing on developing your skills so that you can bargain with employers and say despite not having the stipulated UCAS points you have these additional skills which you feel compensate for that.
You can only use scores from 3 A levels to determine your UCAS points and this always invariably excludes general studies. So if you have 320 points from 4 A levels but from 3 you only have 240, then 240 is your UCAS points not 320. In the vast majority of cases this involves in your 1st sitting. So if you redid your A Levels after 2 years to boost the score thennot all firms will accept this, some may.
You need to check with the specific employer as to how they screen applications. Some employers who specify a certain amount of UCAS points may have some leniency if you have other skills or mitigating circumstances whereas others will reject you there and then. There are sizable amount of grad recruiters who don't consider A levels just degree result.
Most graduate recruiters require you to fill in an online application and therefore you will not be able to hide your A Level course grades as they want a breakdown of what you got rather than total score.
There are ways to make up for low UCAS scores such as doing a masters at a top university, good work experience, interesting extracurriculars and developing skills that differentiate you as a candidate.
viviki
yes yes yes
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
if you want to loook at what grad employers ask for loook at the prospects site or http://www.doctorjob.com
Alot of graduate employers you can't even get beyond the first stage of their recruitment i.e. the online app if you don't have xxx amount of A Level points. Noones that bothered about GCSEs though.
if you want to loook at what grad employers ask for loook at the prospects site or http://www.doctorjob.com
Most employers really don't give a **** about your A level results if you have a degree.
As a general rule of thumb they will look at:
experince, if no experince degree, if no degree A levels, if no A levels GCSEs
Obviously people applying for graduate entry level jobs don't usually have experince, but do have degrees.
If then you are judging people by your degrees you face the problem that the quality of dgrees vary hugely from university to university and subject to subject and knowing how much a certain degree is really worth requires expertise way beyond what even the largets compny could expect to have. Some companies it would seem then try to judge the quality of your dgree course on our A level results, the thinking being that someone with good A level results would generally go ionto a good degree course.
idoit
Most employers really don't give a **** about your A level results if you have a degree.
That is wrong! Most 'graduate' level employers (those offereing graduate positions) do stipulate a degree classification and number of UCAS points required- pretty much all city law firms do, almost all (investment) banks, almost all consultancies, all accountancy firms, all professional service firms etc.
i got crap gcse results i got 2 Cs, 4D,s 1 E and 3Fs and i never stood foot in a uni
none gives me a chance, ive gone for over 300 jobs and not even a quater has contacted me1!
why would i need an A-level in media or biology to make conversation with customers!! ive done perfectly well for2 years without it!!
none gives me a chance, ive gone for over 300 jobs and not even a quater has contacted me1!
why would i need an A-level in media or biology to make conversation with customers!! ive done perfectly well for2 years without it!!
idoit
Most employers really don't give a **** about your A level results if you have a degree.
As a general rule of thumb they will look at:
experince, if no experince degree, if no degree A levels, if no A levels GCSEs
Obviously people applying for graduate entry level jobs don't usually have experince, but do have degrees.
If then you are judging people by your degrees you face the problem that the quality of dgrees vary hugely from university to university and subject to subject and knowing how much a certain degree is really worth requires expertise way beyond what even the largets compny could expect to have. Some companies it would seem then try to judge the quality of your dgree course on our A level results, the thinking being that someone with good A level results would generally go ionto a good degree course.
As a general rule of thumb they will look at:
experince, if no experince degree, if no degree A levels, if no A levels GCSEs
Obviously people applying for graduate entry level jobs don't usually have experince, but do have degrees.
If then you are judging people by your degrees you face the problem that the quality of dgrees vary hugely from university to university and subject to subject and knowing how much a certain degree is really worth requires expertise way beyond what even the largets compny could expect to have. Some companies it would seem then try to judge the quality of your dgree course on our A level results, the thinking being that someone with good A level results would generally go ionto a good degree course.
Yes they do, they really do I know this because I've experienced it i wish it wasn't the case.
And yes they normally check how many A Levels your ucas points are from.
Alot of application forms they even want to know module results for A levels and details of any resits.
Related discussions
- Accounting
- I feel like I failed educationally and need a clear sense of direction and advice
- I'm not sure what to study as my third A level
- Mature Student needing advice about what to study
- Accounting
- Life after University: finding a graduate job with bad a-levels and gcses
- Accounting but failing spanish
- accountant
- What should i know before starting an accounting degree?
- Economics at either Oxford or Cambridge #university #oxford #cambridge
- GCSE Results 2023: Didn't do as well as you hoped?
- what does manchester mean by Your qualifications/predicted grades do not meet our aca
- Foundation Year for any Uni
- What should I study with psychology and economics
- Looking to change course after my FY ends.
- Accounting Apprenticeships
- Will my lack of Alevels prevent me from getting a job even with a degree?
- Cambridge extenuating circumstances
- accounting and finance degree with no a level maths/business
- how will my gcse results affect my university choices
Latest
Trending
Last reply 2 hours ago
Government Social Research - Research Officer Scheme 2024Last reply 6 days ago
So I made the worst decision of my life. I chose Biochemistry as my degree.Last reply 1 week ago
Issues with jobs because I cannot driveTrending
Last reply 2 hours ago
Government Social Research - Research Officer Scheme 2024Last reply 6 days ago
So I made the worst decision of my life. I chose Biochemistry as my degree.Last reply 1 week ago
Issues with jobs because I cannot drive
