How do some students get 540 UCAS points?

How do some students get 540 UCAS points? I was checking the average UCAS Points for first year students at Warwick University doing Mathematics and they average out 540 between them. Take note, that this is only the 'average' meaning some people will have scored higher than 540 (unless by 'average' they use the 'mode' and 540 is the most common number, as well as being the highest). On top of that, first year students doing Physics at Durham University average out 555 UCAS points. Introduction out the way, I was wondering if someone could clear this up for me. Are these students, students with no social that study 24/7 or have they taken out more than 2 years to achieve these high scores? :confused:

I mean surely they do not achieve this in the typical 2 year span of college? I mean if they included a third year or something to top up their ucas points I could understand that but... 540 UCAS points is like 3 A*'s and an A, if I'm not mistaken.. and 555 would require 4 A*'s 'minimum' :s-smilie:

Reply 1

ellasmith

12

they are cray motha ****as

Reply 2

Juno

20

It will include things like general studies which are generally not accepted by unis, but schools make students take them. So 3 A's at A Level, with an additional A in general studies, and then an A in the AS they dropped is 540. That's not actually that amazing.

Some students will also have taken music exams that are given UCAS points, although again generally aren't accepted by unis. And A* grades exist now.

Reply 3

JessicaW

1

You get points for Key Skills and AEAs and a bunch of other stuff.

Reply 4

Icycandle

OP

16

So they actually do manage to pull it off in two years then?

Reply 5

Robyn1204

2

A lot of people that apply to places like Durham, are getting really high grades, like 3A* and an A! :/

Reply 6

apcpyo

2

Original post by Icycandle

How do some students get 540 UCAS points? I was checking the average UCAS Points for first year students at Warwick University doing Mathematics and they average out 540 between them. Take note, that this is only the 'average' meaning some people will have scored higher than 540 (unless by 'average' they use the 'mode' and 540 is the most common number, as well as being the highest).

You can also see the percentage of students with points in each range (at least on unistats). Just click on the name of the subject and select the "UCAS points & entry info" tab.

Reply 7

makaveli33

15

I have 570 UCAS points, but I did not do it before the age of 18.

Reply 8

onda

1

They're just really good at managing time and have excellent organisational skills. It Is perfectly possible to get 540 UCAS points whiles have social life e.g. tea and coffee

Reply 9

Quackers93

8

Original post by Icycandle

So they actually do manage to pull it off in two years then?

It is do-able and it can be done with just A's at a-level rather than A* given you take enough AS levels.

eg. You can get 580 points by getting AAAa*abc done within the two years and I had a decentish social life too

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 10

Tom722

In my case lots of AS levels. 4 A2 and 3 AS

IB

If you get an A level in (for example) Geography, you get two qualifications. An AS in Geography and an A level in Geography (i.e. getting the full A level doesn't negate the fact that the AS is also a qualification in itself, contrary to what others have been implying), therefore if you got As in all modules you would get:
AS points + full A level point = 60 + 120 = 180
and that is for just one A grade at A level. 3 A levels at A grade is 540 points, plus most people do a fourth subject at AS. Say you get an A, that brings your total to 600 points. Then you have General Studies etc. meaning that you could easilly get 540 points without getting all As or taking any more qualifications than normal.

EDIT:
To anyone confused by this post, I was in fact wrong - the overall A level cancels out the corresponding AS as far as UCAS points are concerned (as long as the points for the overall A level are more than the points for the AS - there are some counterexamples to this in which the AS points cancel out the overall A level points). This leads to loopholes where you can get more points more easily (by sitting more ASs instead of A2s in year 13), so the current system is flawed and they should change it to take into account that A2s are harder.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 13

StacFace

18

Original post by When you see it...

If you get an A level in (for example) Geography, you get two qualifications. An AS in Geography and an A level in Geography (i.e. getting the full A level doesn't negate the fact that the AS is also a qualification in itself, contrary to what others have been implying), therefore if you got As in all modules you would get:
AS points + full A level point = 60 + 120 = 180
and that is for just one A grade at A level. 3 A levels at A grade is 540 points, plus most people do a fourth subject at AS. Say you get an A, that brings your total to 600 points. Then you have General Studies etc. meaning that you could easilly get 540 points without getting all As or taking any more qualifications than normal.

The UCAS website states specifically that you can't do this, as it would be counting the qualification twice.

However you could have 4 full A levels along with 5th AS you dropped, which if you got AAAAa would give you 540 points. Then some music and other extra curricular qualifications count etc.

Reply 14

Dnibara

Maybe some of them are international students? I have 960 UCAS points, and that is around the average score most other international students would have

Reply 15

When you see it...

16

Original post by StacFace

The UCAS website states specifically that you can't do this, as it would be counting the qualification twice.

However you could have 4 full A levels along with 5th AS you dropped, which if you got AAAAa would give you 540 points. Then some music and other extra curricular qualifications count etc.

Really? Where does it say that? I suppose it is counting the same thing twice though.

Reply 16

StacFace

18

Original post by When you see it...

Really? Where does it say that? I suppose it is counting the same thing twice though.

It says it if you click on "How does the Tariff work?" under "UCAS Tariff".

http://www.ucas.com/students/ucas_tariff/how

There is no double counting. Certain qualifications within the Tariff build on qualifications in the same subject. In these cases only the qualification with the higher Tariff score will be counted. This principle applies to:

BTEC National Award, Certificate and Diploma (NQF)
BTEC National Certificate, Subsidiary Diploma, Diploma and Extended Diploma (QCF)
CACHE Award, Certificate and Diploma in Child Care and Education
Essential Skills Wales at levels 2 and 3
GCE Advanced Subsidiary level and GCE Advanced level
OCR iMedia level 3 Certificate and Diploma
Irish Leaving Certificate at Ordinary and Higher levels
OCR iPRO Certificate and Diploma
Key Skills at level 2, 3 and 4
OCR National Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diploma
Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers
Speech, drama and music awards at grades 6, 7 and 8.

Reply 17

lcsurfer

18

I have 240 UCAS points, a 1st class honors degree and really good international job.... Don't worry about UCAS points, I spent too much time having fun in school :P

Reply 18

hawkzzter

Yeah the international students skew it. I got over 540 UCAS points just this year. So it definitely seems to be inflated by us AP/IB people.

Reply 19

nexttime

22

Taking lots of ASs and including music qualifications and general studies counts for most of it.

Clearly an exceptional case but, one person in my uni course had 10As at A-level plus AEAs and some music qualifications - must be over 1400 points? All done in 2 years :eek:

How do some students get 540 UCAS points?

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