C3 Jan 2012 Edexcel - Post exam discussion - Solutions and paper in first post

You still need to get over 90 in C4 to get an A* despite your c3 grade. Rules of an A* 480 points average over all the units but achieving 90% and above in both c4 and c3.

Do you think when I cash in my A-level I should use my lowest possible units to get me the grade, thereby making it easy to get an A in F. Maths AS? I've heard unis look at AS averages, but will they look at the average for the whole A-level if I've got the A* or can I just concentrate on a high UMS for f. maths?

I would put your highest grades into your A level and your lowest grades into f.maths, as not all unis look at the further maths grade. Or at least if you can get an A* in maths, it's worth it.

I'll get an A* anyway (assuming I do well in c4! *touch wood*) regardless of which modules I put in, I'm just wondering if they will care about the average.

Surely the intelligent thing to do would be to use the least amount of UMS marks to get the A* in Maths, leaving it easier to get a good grade in F. maths too? If I put the high scores towards maths, great, I'd have a higher A*, but my further maths score would be pretty dire.

Guys where can i find the question paper?

I didn't do well 58 UMS, a D.
Looking at the mark scheme & grade boundaries I'm pretty sure I did better than that though, I'm thinking a B. May get it remarked.
Damn I was hoping to avoid having to do resits

I got the exact same!! I dont get it though. Im never 100% confident about exams but i swear i did better than a D. I mean i answered all the questions i did the right methods for each but i guess my answers were wrong and all calculated to a D.. but really... Yeah i want to get it remarked but i keep thinking is there really a point. I too wanted to avoid resits but i guess not. Didnt do very well in M1 either so yeah...

yeah but the boundaries were high so you did exactly as what you thought :/ because it was 87% for an A 77% for a B etc so you got about 66% which I believe is normally a high-mid C :/

I'll get an A* anyway (assuming I do well in c4! *touch wood*) regardless of which modules I put in, I'm just wondering if they will care about the average.

Surely the intelligent thing to do would be to use the least amount of UMS marks to get the A* in Maths, leaving it easier to get a good grade in F. maths too? If I put the high scores towards maths, great, I'd have a higher A*, but my further maths score would be pretty dire.

The exam board computer does this automatically. Within the restrictions of which pairs of applied units can go in A level Maths, they give you the best pair of grades for A level Maths and AS FM, where your A level Maths grade gets priority. Once the pair of grades is fixed, they then put as many UMS into your A level Maths as possible. This is because, if you narrowly miss your UCAS offer, the university may well look at your UMS in Maths without looking at your AS FM UMS.

Wait, are you sure?? I need to talk to the exam board then because there's no way they're doing that. There's no offer to miss - I'll have finished my A-level before I even apply, so I want maximum points towards my FM so that it's easier to get the grade in that when it does matter.

When you have finished your exams, they will get the highest grade that you can for A level Maths followed by the highest grade that you can for your FM. Isn't that what you want?