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What does mark equivalent mean on the GCSE results sheet?

Hi all,
Just picked up my GCSE results, but had a few questions about what everything means as it was never explained at our school.
1)What is mark equiv and how does it work?
2) What is 'points' in terms of your GCSE's?

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Following this question, we've now got an infographic that shows how to read your GCSE exam results slip
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(edited 6 years ago)

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Original post by eloise1998
Hi all,
Just picked up my GCSE results and am very happy (11a*s and 1b), but had a few questions about what everything means as it was never explained at our school.
1)What is mark equiv and how does it work?
2) What is 'points' in terms of your GCSE's?



1 - is UMS marks

2 - I have no clue.
Reply 2
Avatar for tohaaaa
tohaaaa
16
Original post by eloise1998
Hi all,
Just picked up my GCSE results and am very happy (11a*s and 1b), but had a few questions about what everything means as it was never explained at our school.
1)What is mark equiv and how does it work?
2) What is 'points' in terms of your GCSE's?


I think the second one is UMS, this is where your raw mark is converted into a value that is used to calculate grades. The reason they do this, is because the grade boundaries in terms of raw marks fluctuate each year due to varying difficulty. But the UMS boundaries ALWAYS are the same for a given qualification, this is done to make it easier to compare two exam scores from two different series.

e.g. A science qualfiction is out of 400 UMS.

Where 360 = A*, 320 = A and so on....

and for an individual exam, 90 = A*, 80 = A and so on....

You may take an exam and get 45/60, 35/60, 50/60 and 30/50 for ISA.
and these might be worth:
80/100
65/100
94/100
70/100 respectively.
In total this would get you 309/400 UMS which is a B.

Now, for a different series, another candidate might get the same raw marks, but because that exam was harder, the grade boundaries were lower and hence his marks got him more UMS. By converting his marks to UMS, as I said above it allows the board to compare results between series. :smile:

Not sure about the number 1 :smile: Sorry.
Hope this helps.
(if anyone sees a mistake, feel free to call it out :smile: )
Reply 3
Avatar for tohaaaa
tohaaaa
16
Original post by eloise1998
Ah ok. How do I know what my UMS points are out of?

To put it more into context: ImageUploadedByStudent Room1408632634.116084.jpg


Posted from TSR Mobile


Search up on google.

"Your exam board" UMS boundaries :smile:

AQA: http://store.aqa.org.uk/over/stat_pdf/UMS-GRADE-BOUNDARIES.PDF
OCR: http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/152964-unit-level-ums-grade-boundaries-november-2013-january-and-june-2014.pdf
Edexcel: http://pastpapers.edexcel.com/content/dam/pdf/Support/Grade-boundaries/GCSE/1406_GCSE_Grade_Boundaries_v5.pdf

Look for the overall qualification, e.g. Science A or Maths A! :smile:
Reply 4
Avatar for eloise1998
eloise1998
OP
2
Original post by tohaaaa


Thank you so much! Had heard of UMS but never had them fully explained. Have got it all worked out now for what i got in each:smile: You're a star!!!


Posted from TSR Mobile
Reply 5
Avatar for tohaaaa
tohaaaa
16
Original post by eloise1998
Thank you so much! Had heard of UMS but never had them fully explained. Have got it all worked out now for what i got in each:smile: You're a star!!!


Posted from TSR Mobile


No problems :smile: Glad I could help! :smile:
Bumping this as it's really useful info for everyone getting their results today! :smile:
Points is how many UCAS points you get for your grade e.g. a* is 58 points
Original post by eloise1998
Ah ok. How do I know what my UMS points are out of?

To put it more into context: ImageUploadedByStudent Room1408632634.116084.jpg


Posted from TSR Mobile

You just wanted to show off all those A*'s:teehee:

Spoiler

Has anyone found out what the "points" are yet?! And for speaking and listening, what is higher? A 5 or a 1?! Thanks
The "points" is used by school or college to sort all candidates in an order to see the performance of the whole school.
Original post by rndmtngr99
Has anyone found out what the "points" are yet?! And for speaking and listening, what is higher? A 5 or a 1?! Thanks


Depends on which Speaking and Listening you're on about. If it's English then 5 is the highest and 1 is the lowest. Not sure about the Foreign Languages though.
Some sixth forms or further education establishments use the points to calculate your average to see whether or not you are accepted.
Reply 13
Avatar for mxlodya
mxlodya
1
Wait why is it that the marks are out of 100 rather than the actual exam mark
Reply 14
Avatar for Sami_L4
Sami_L4
1
Original post by eloise1998
Ah ok. How do I know what my UMS points are out of?

To put it more into context: ImageUploadedByStudent Room1408632634.116084.jpg


Posted from TSR Mobile


Give me a results sheet like that next year and I'd be fine with dying the next day... At least I made my parents proud
Original post by Sami_L4
Give me a results sheet like that next year and I'd be fine with dying the next day... At least I made my parents proud


How do you have time to achieve all those. I revised 3 hours a day just to get a high A in Science lol, bring on Year 11 :frown:
Reply 16
Avatar for zak40
zak40
1
Here's my guide to GCSE results: http://oxbridgeblog.com/?p=520 Hope that helps:wink:
The points just means your overall score.

So for you your score would be 11*58=580+58=638+46=684

Then you do 684/12 (total no. Of subjects)= A mean avg of 57/58 points, which is A* level.

A*=58
A=52
B=46
C=40

These points can be used to get into colleges as some require an avg of 40+ some 46+ etc., but you got such high grades it shouldn't matter :smile:.
I think most people have already covered what the basic idea about "points" means, but I'd just like to add that they don't really matter to you as a student, as they are just used for the school's league tables, so that they can essentially use statistics to "sell" their school to prospective students thinking about starting in Year 7 etc. on open days.

While the "equivalent marks" are just the UMS conversions (not the raw marks). I've found that for whatever reason, Edexcel Maths have chosen to not display our UMS marks on the results sheet, and I've heard of how some English Language exam boards have also done the same. It's a little strange. :s
Original post by eloise1998
Hi all,
Just picked up my GCSE results and am very happy (11a*s and 1b), but had a few questions about what everything means as it was never explained at our school.
1)What is mark equiv and how does it work?
2) What is 'points' in terms of your GCSE's?


well done. that was so good. would u mind giving me some tips for revision and stuff?

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