The Student Room Group
Use the one in the examiners report if you want the acurate mark.

A-level actual marks are converted into Uniform Marks which are what your grade is based on. These vary depending on how hard the exam is, so if it was a particularly hard exam then theoretically you might only need 44/45 marks for an A where as if it was an easy one it could go the other way and require 49/50 for an A.

Hope that makes some sense
Reply 2
Perhaps people didn't do too well that year? Don't think there's a standard percentage you need to get a particular grade as they mess with them every year to get the Uniform marks. Correct me if i'm wrong anyone.

Edit: ^^ yeah, what she said.
Reply 3
Well once all the candiates took the exam, there is strict guidelines that the top 20% get an A and the bottom 20% fail. This means if it was a hard paper then it would be a lower grade boundaries but if it was easy then the boundaries would rise. This why critics saying grade inflaion is rising due to the fact that schools are intensley just giving information to the pupil just recite in the exam. Not teaching the skills needed to suceed at Uni, hence your more likly to drop out if you are a Grammar school pupil rather than a comprehensive pupil. I was just talking to my Eco teacher about this a few weeks ago.
Reply 4
It's true that it depends on how well everyone does in the exam, but it's not true that 20% get an A and 20% fail. At the end of the examiners report it shows you the exact percentages of each exam and how many % got which grade etc. Usually only about 2% fail overall.
The A grade boundary for AQA Chemistry is usually around 80% and doesn't vary much from that (over the past 5 years its been between 70% and 83%)
Other subjects, it could be as low as 60% for an A grade.
Reply 5
potspansamy
Use the one in the examiners report if you want the acurate mark.

A-level actual marks are converted into Uniform Marks which are what your grade is based on. These vary depending on how hard the exam is, so if it was a particularly hard exam then theoretically you might only need 44/45 marks for an A where as if it was an easy one it could go the other way and require 49/50 for an A.

Hope that makes some sense


What the hell? :eek: 44/45 is 97% and 49/50 is 98%!

and the paper will be out of 60 btw.
Reply 6
perhaps meaning 49 or 50....
Yes I was talking about 44 or 45, and 49 or 50 sorrry
There isn't really much conversion with Maths because of it's nature, i.e. definite answers. The more essay orientated exams tend to be scaled up more when converted to UMS.
Xrypto
Well once all the candiates took the exam, there is strict guidelines that the top 20% get an A and the bottom 20% fail.
Don't think they do that anymore ;no;
Reply 10
Hiya,
I'm wordering if anyone can ease my confusion :confused:
Say for instance on my results statement from AQA for my biology module Core Prinicples my UMS is 57 out of 90 so I got a C.
How do they work out the UMS as the maxium marks you can get on the exam paper is 54!

Thanks alot :smile:

Steph
Reply 11
yeah good question, i got 59/60 for psych coursework, how many UMS would that be?
Mikey67
yeah good question, i got 59/60 for psych coursework, how many UMS would that be?


What exam board and Unit?

If out of 90, probably around 88 :smile:
The mark you get in the exam (your raw mark) is adjusted depending on how everyone did, so if it's a hard paper, you may need less than 80% for an A, but if it's easy, you may need more.
Your raw mark out of 60 is adjusted to a UMS mark out of 90 depending on how everyone else did, so you don't need as many marks to get an A on a difficult paper as you do on an easier one.

Latest