History students GCSE's?

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JohnStuartMill

Do you honestly think that A-levels are that much better in assessing the abilities of candidates? Technique is everything to excelling at A-level, all it is about is jumping through the hoops (the "Assessment Objectives"). A-levels aren't really a test of intelligence as the whole thing is rather formulaic, it is all about assimilation and repetition. It is perfectly feasible to do well at them simply by going through a textbook and effectively regurgitating a number of points in essay form (at least in arts subjects) and I've known many people to excel that way.

I would partly agree. Passing A-Levels can invlove an exercise in learning formulas. You do need to "jump through the right hoops". But what i would also says is, these forumulas aren't always simple to learn. I remember for Unit 6 of my history A-Level we had to learn a very specific style of essay writing to pass the exam but it wasn't necessarily an easy forumla to learn and required a degree of persistence and committment. Also, it's no good learning these forumlas without a very solid understand of the subject material and concepts involved. To pass your A-Level you may need to write your essay in a certain forumla but what you end up writing should not be the regurgitation of "a number of points" - i would argue that to get an A in any subject it takes a much deeper understanding of the subject material.

The point is, A-Levels are a better assessment of University candidates than GCSEs and, more importantly, A-Levels assess 17 and 18 year olds and not 16 year olds.

Reply 41

JohnStuartMill

Phil_D

i would argue that to get an A in any subject it takes a much deeper understanding of the subject material.

Ever taken Economics A-level? :p:

Reply 42

Dionysus

I got 2A* 2A 5B 1C for GCSE but am predicted somewhere between AAAA and AABB for A2. I really don't think GCSEs are a good indicator of A2 performance tbh.

Reply 43

thegreatstupendo

pzych0

I got 2A* 2A 5B 1C for GCSE but am predicted somewhere between AAAA and AABB for A2. I really don't think GCSEs are a good indicator of A2 performance tbh.

Ah but are they a good indicator of undergraduate performance?

Reply 44

nettle7

I got 4 A*s, 4 As and 3 Bs and offers from York, Warwick, Royal Holloway, Nottingham and Sheffield.
Obviously Durham rejected me, but I had to find out from here exactly why that was.

Looking at GCSEs is stupid yes, if only for the reason that not doing so well at GCSEs and then exceeding at A Level demonstrates motivation and hard work and should be respected. It isn't that hard to get an A* at GCSE in History- I know people who did but wouldn't be able to hack it at A Level, not least because they don't have the aptitude for subjects like history.

I think the best lesson is not to apply to Durham if you don't have a zillion or whatever A*s. Personally, with such awful ideals and selection policies I wouldn't want to go there anyway.

Reply 45

sylvester

i got 4A* 5A 2Bs and i received offers from Cambridge, Manchester and Queen Mary and was rejected from Edinburgh, Durham and UCL

Reply 46

elvliz

2A*s, 7As, 2B's, predicted 3A's @ A2 and warwick was the highest up in the history rankings that i got in to for history and scoiology. I wouldnt have got in to Durham because of their A* policy. I got offers from Reading, sussex, southampton, exeter and east anglia

Reply 47

belle_27

Originally posted by DaintyDuck!
Similarly, I know one girl who got 8A*s and went on to get ABBC, which is by no means rubbish but considering she was the brightest girl in our year, something obviously went a bit wrong! But, she still got Medicine offers because of GCSEs, in fact she got 2/4. Whilst, a student with AAAAA at AS level (high module scores too), but with 3A*s etc only got into Leicester. This, in itself shows GCSEs are quite important to unis, especially because when you apply, unis only know your predicted grades and not ASs unless you cash in?

GCSEs may have been a consideration in the second person's application but its far more likely that interviews played a key part instead of anything else really. Most medicine applicants have great GCSE results so the 8A*s were probably not a huge deciding factor with admission tutors, what matters most greatly is interview performance and personal statement. I know someone who applied for medicine with 9A*s 2As yet she only got one offer, which was from Leicester (she applied to Imperial, Nottingham and Kings as well and had interviews from all of them but she didn't perform well enough to get offers from them). GCSEs for a subject as competitive as medicine don't really carry much weight as most applicants will be great students anyway. I know loads of medicine applicants with 7/8/9A*s and 4As at AS and 3A predictions who only got one offer or even one interview simply because its such a competitive subject so they have to have the very best personal statement and excel at interview.

GCSEs are important but where they are important and to whom is what varies and often they are outdone by other factors. We both applied to Warwick but for slightly different courses (you for History and I for History and Politics) and compared to you my grades are mediocre, so the question is why weren't you accepted earlier than March and why wasn't i rejected earlier than mid-March? (My GCSEs are 2A*s 3As 4Bs 1C. 4As at AS but not cashed in so no-one knew that. A A A/B predication at A2 with the A/B in History).

The fact is that for competitive courses at competitive universities (except Durham) other factors are taken into consideration, most importantly personal statements and interviews. If it was all down to grades then you would have been accepted in December and I rejected. (Please take no offence from this comparison).