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I got BBB... But I need ABB!

So 2 weeks ago I got BBBD (and a B in General Studies) in AS. I am very happy with this, I thought that I would do worse but I didn't!
However, the University I desire to go to next year is Sheffield and it has the grade boundries of ABB-AAB for my course. So at the very least, I need ABB. (They did tell me that sometimes they make exceptions.)
I don't need an A in any particular subject, just any of them.

Is it possible to, for A2, dramatically boost my grade in a subject so that I can achieve an ABB for my overall A Level's next year? I'm worried that I won't be able to turn a B into an A for the overall grade. I don't want to resit any of my exams!

If you need details:
Philosophy - Unit 1 = B Unit 2 = B Overall = B
English Lit - Coursework = C Exam = E Overall = D
Art - Coursework = C Exam = A Overall = B
Psychology - Exam 1 = A Exam 2 = D Overall = B
Reply 1
I didn't do any of these subjects, but it's certainly possible to improve a grade in year. How much UMS did you get in each of them and are you planning on dropping english so you can focus on the other subjects?

Be careful when you're given a grade range, I think the lower offer is usually for people from disadvantaged backgrounds or people with extenuating circumstances, this isn't always true, but you should aim for the higher offer.

Original post by ChloeJM

Psychology - Exam 1 = A Exam 2 = D Overall = B


What happened in exam 2?
Reply 2
I don't have the info on the overall UMS points you can get (I don't really get how it all works), but these are the marks I got:
ART - 149
PSYCHOLOGY - 148
ENGLISH - 106
PHILOSOPHY - 156

I don't know what happened in Exam 2... I think I was just weaker in that Unit. In the psychology mock I also got A and D in the same units funnily enough. Maybe I should retake that one?

I'm not going to drop English though... I may resit the english exam but I just don't want to go through the trouble of it if that one subject isn't going to help me.
Reply 3
With those grades you can easily get your teacher to predict you ABB. My History teacher predicted me a C, but I worked very hard and pulled up that grade to a B, which I needed to get onto my course; it's worth revising lots for the exam and possibly doing retakes in order to improve your grade.
Reply 4
It's difficult to tell how close you are to your next grades without knowing the maximum possible UMS (It should say on your exam board's website) but a B is 70% UMS and an A is 80%. Looking at your grades it looks like the easiest way to improve is to retake the D in Psychology and focussing on getting that subject to an A standard over the next year. I'd really recommend improving on your second best subject as well though, just in case you get the higher offer. That's the best advice I can give since I didn't take those subjects.
Reply 5
Original post by __Adam__
It's difficult to tell how close you are to your next grades without knowing the maximum possible UMS (It should say on your exam board's website) but a B is 70% UMS and an A is 80%. Looking at your grades it looks like the easiest way to improve is to retake the D in Psychology and focussing on getting that subject to an A standard over the next year. I'd really recommend improving on your second best subject as well though, just in case you get the higher offer. That's the best advice I can give since I didn't take those subjects.


Okay thanks, I'll talk to my psychology teacher about doing that. I also just worked out the max UMS for all of my subjects!

PSYCHOLOGY:
PY1: 47/80 – 1 mark off a C = D
PY2: 101/120 = A

ART:
Art 1: 83/120 1 mark off a B = C
Art 2: 66/80 = A

RELIGIOUS STUDIES:
1: 78/100 – 2 marks off an A = B
2: 78/100 – 2 marks off an A = B

ENGLISH LITERATURE:
1: 56/120 = E
2:50/80 = C
Reply 6
Original post by Ndella
With those grades you can easily get your teacher to predict you ABB. My History teacher predicted me a C, but I worked very hard and pulled up that grade to a B, which I needed to get onto my course; it's worth revising lots for the exam and possibly doing retakes in order to improve your grade.


Thanks, I'll ask some of my subject teachers to raise my predicted grade! I think I might do some retakes and work hard to pull my grades up too...
Reply 7
I'm pretty sure even if you had BBB they would give you an offer for ABB, You don't have to have ABB for them to offer you ABB.
Reply 8
Thanks, it's much easier to tell how you did with UMS scores included.

So 74% in Psych
74.5% in Art
78% in RE
53% in English

As 80% is an A you're really not that far off ABBD here..

Original post by ChloeJM


RELIGIOUS STUDIES:
1: 78/100 – 2 marks off an A = B
2: 78/100 – 2 marks off an A = B


This looks good, 2 very high B grades are much easier to get an A from than the A and D in Psych you mentioned earlier, you're only 4 UMS off an overall A there so you need to do a little better (2 low A grades) at A2 to get an A in RS. I would still recommend resitting the Psych D if you get an AAB offer though.
(edited 9 years ago)
Reply 9
Original post by __Adam__
This looks good, 2 very high B grades are much easier to get an A from than the A and D in Psych you mentioned earlier, you're only 4 UMS off an overall A there so you need to do a little better (2 low A grades) at A2 to get an A in RS. I would still recommend resitting the Psych D if you get an AAB offer though.


Oh okay that should be okay! So I just need to push extra hard in Philosophy to get strong A's so that my grade goes up? I'll still resit the psychology I think... I don't want to bet my chances solely on Philosophy. Thanks for the advice!
Reply 10
Your AS grades really do not have to meet the entry requirements to get an offer.

A couple of resits and you'll be fine.
Reply 11
Oh really? Awesome! I just hope that if I do end up getting BBB that they'll accept me too! Thank you for the good news! I'll still try my hardest at A2 though, don't want to give myself false hope.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by ChloeJM
Oh okay that should be okay! So I just need to push extra hard in Philosophy to get strong A's so that my grade goes up? I'll still resit the psychology I think... I don't want to bet my chances solely on Philosophy. Thanks for the advice!


:smile: Aim for the strong A's, the minimum you need in RS is 82% in your A2 modules for an A, which is very close to the 78% you got in it this year. If you do aim for strong A's, remember you can get an A* if you get 90% at A2 and an A overall.
Also you can add your UMS to your university application, so your choices will know that you got 2 solid B grades and a near A grade

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