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Reply 60
Original post by fire_and_ice
Bloody hell. Calm down. Drink some water. There's nothing you can do about it, so get over it. Tough luck.


So what?Does GCSE matter a lot(like AS) now?Is it more important then predicted grades.WHAT1
Reply 61
Original post by AGBF
Link?
Also what is "STEP"


Cambridge's view of GCSEs (this is just one example of a view stated many times by ATs on TSR):
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3164815&page=56&highlight=GCSEs&p=62251033#post62251033

STEP
http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/entrance-requirements/step

And info about their Pre- and At-Interview Assessments:
http://www.undergraduate.study.cam.ac.uk/applying/admissions-assessments
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by 999tigger
Boo hooo if its that importnat then why arent all the Unis asking for only GCSE's.
Can anyone confirm that GCSE's are now more importnat than A levels? Not convinced.


Can confirm. (Mandatory) AS's are gone. What else can they base your prediced grades on? Mock exams that no one takes seriously?

It'll be GCSE's. Which is better because GCSEs are piss easy in compariosn. I remember staying up until midnight the day before my maths exam playing GTA with my friends. The exam was still a walk in the park.

I could never even think of doing that for a levels. I had to put away my consoles like a month in advance and study constantly. If anything, you guys are lucky. More people do well in GCSE's and mediocre at A levels than the other way around. I don't know why people are complaining.

It's why i think the change is so stupid. AS's are much better at predicting how you'll do at the end of your a levels than GCSE'S are.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Lawliettt
Can confirm. (Mandatory) AS's are gone. What else can they base your prediced grades on? Mock exams that no one takes seriously?


Not even the Higher Education sector knows this, so how the heck can you 'confirm' this?!
I'm doing 4 a-levels and therefore I have 4 AS exams to do which is stupid I think. The AS exams are hard and they are a separate qualification; I would rather use my GCSE grades lol
Original post by AGBF
Hypocrite much?

Also,i don't wish to do an English course,but economics.So yeah,why do these irrelevent subjects (Like art,citzenship)matter more?Not everyone is cut out for arts.Not everyone is cut out for maths.Not everyone is STEM material.So why shall UNIS judge based on GCSES(Half of which were forced)..

Don't judge okay.Its the internet,i can spell however i want.What did you get in Degree English foo


foo to you too.
Original post by Roving Fish
Not even the Higher Education sector knows this, so how the heck can you 'confirm' this?!


Yes they do? It's well known that mandatory AS's are gone for all subjects but maths and further maths. And even then, apparently there's plans to get rid of those by 2018.
Original post by Lawliettt
Can confirm. (Mandatory) AS's are gone. What else can they base your prediced grades on? Mock exams that no one takes seriously?

It'll be GCSE's. Which is better because GCSEs are piss easy in compariosn. I remember staying up until midnight the day before my maths exam playing GTA with my friends. The exam was still a walk in the park.

I could never even think of doing that for a levels. I had to put away my consoles like a month in advance and study constantly. If anything, you guys are lucky. More people do well in GCSE's and mediocre at A levels than the other way around. I don't know why people are complaining.

It's why i think the change is so stupid. AS's are much better at predicting how you'll do at the end of your a levels than GCSE'S are.


I was meaning confirmation from an offocial source that the way GCSE's are to be viewed in comparison to A levels., which is the issue being discussed in the thread.

They managed to make offers just fine before GCSE's.
Original post by Lawliettt
Yes they do? It's well known that mandatory AS's are gone for all subjects but maths and further maths. And even then, apparently there's plans to get rid of those by 2018.


No, I mean that admissions tutors will look to GCSEs. It's all pure speculation at the moment - including any national media scaremongering.
Original post by 999tigger
I was meaning confirmation from an offocial source that the way GCSE's are to be viewed in comparison to A levels., which is the issue being discussed in the thread.

They managed to make offers just fine before GCSE's.


Depends how you look at it. Technically, if you flop your a levels you won't get a place regardless so you could say on that basis that a levels are the most important.

But unless you're a mature student and have already done a levels, you get offers based on predicted grades. These used to be based off AS exams. Since they're gone it'll now largely be off GCSE's. You can't flop your GCSE's, get full marks in every A level exam than expect a place at Imperial. They wouldn't have made you an offer in the first place. And most of their courses (if not all) aren't in clearing. So looking at it that way you could say GCSE's are more important.

But asking which is more important is pointless. The question is are GCSE's more important now than they were 1 year ago. And the answer is yes. Very much so. There's a reason why universities don't ike the change
Original post by Lawliettt
Depends how you look at it. Technically, if you flop your a levels you won't get a place regardless so you could say on that basis that a levels are the most important.

But unless you're a mature student and have already done a levels, you get offers based on predicted grades. These used to be based off AS exams. Since they're gone it'll now largely be off GCSE's. You can't flop your GCSE's, get full marks in every A level exam than expect a place at Imperial. They wouldn't have made you an offer in the first place. And most of their courses (if not all) aren't in clearing. So looking at it that way you could say GCSE's are more important.

But asking which is more important is pointless. The question is are GCSE's more important now than they were 1 year ago. And the answer is yes. Very much so. There's a reason why universities don't ike the change


That doesnt answer the issue the OP was making.
Original post by Roving Fish
No, I mean that admissions tutors will look to GCSEs. It's all pure speculation at the moment - including any national media scaremongering.


It's not baseless speculation though. I don't even need to explain why basing it off internal mock exams is a horrible idea. And now that many schools aren't doing AS's, the only alternative is GCSE's. What else would they look at? Tens of thousands of references saying this student is hardworking? GCSE for many candidates will be the last official exam they do before applying to uni.

But once again, while I think the change is stupid, I can't wrap my head around why year 11s of all people would be complaining. GCSE's are much easier to get good grades on.

Original post by 999tigger
That doesnt answer the issue the OP was making.


If you want an answer to that, please refer to the first reply to this thread.
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Lawliettt
It's not baseless speculation though. I don't even need to explain why basing it off internal mock exams is a horrible idea. And now that many schools aren't doing AS's, the only alternative is GCSE's. What else would they look at? Tens of thousands of references saying this student is hardworking? GCSE for many candidates will be the last official exam they do before applying to uni.

But once again, while I think the change is stupid, I can't wrap my head around why year 11s of all people would be complaining. GCSE's are much easier to get good grades on.


An application consists of a personal statement, reference, predicted grades and existing results. It is not up to me, nor you, to speculate the weight of any of these, when a cohort has not yet been through this process.
Original post by Lawliettt




If you want an answer to that, please refer to the first reply to this thread.


Don need an answer as I answered it myself a number of times. Nobody is able to confirm from an offocial source and thus the OP seems to be having a tantrum based on nothing but speculation. This is entirely consistent with anything youve said except you werent addrssing the right questions.
Reply 74
Original post by Lawliettt
It's not baseless speculation though. I don't even need to explain why basing it off internal mock exams is a horrible idea. And now that many schools aren't doing AS's, the only alternative is GCSE's. What else would they look at? Tens of thousands of references saying this student is hardworking? GCSE for many candidates will be the last official exam they do before applying to uni.


Schools were able to make A-Level predictions in the many years before ASs were introduced. If anything, predictions have become less reliable during the time that AS-levels were in place, not more reliable.

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Roving Fish
An application consists of a personal statement, reference, predicted grades and existing results. It is not up to me, nor you, to speculate the weight of any of these, when a cohort has not yet been through this process.


I don't understand what you're failing to grasp.


There were 2 main exams, in addition to other factors, used to determine predicted grades. There is now 1. It doesn't take a genuis to work out that more weight has be put on that single set of exams now than there was before.

If that's too much for you then i can't help you

Original post by jneill
Schools were able to make A-Level predictions in the many years before ASs were introduced. If anything, predictions have become less reliable during the time that AS-levels were in place, not more reliable.

Posted from TSR Mobile


1. For your first sentence, I never said otherwise? Did you even read what I said?

2. Your second sentence is a random assumption that's most likely based on anecdotal evidence or you've plucked it out the air. Why are they less reliable with AS's? And why does scrapping AS's to base everthing on GCSEs a better method?
Original post by hxfsxh
You don't take an AS that contributes to the A level. They are now standalone, linear qualifications.


Posted from TSR Mobile

Oh ok that doesn't sound so bad.
Reply 77
There you go.How else are unis able to judge?

BTW,it's quite unfair because some subjects are forced upon us.At least with AS we choose subjects we are good at ,and have passion for,which makes us succeed. Are you telling me useless Art will be viewed upon now,a choice that i didn't voluntary pick.How the **** does Art have any releation to academia !

Not fair


Original post by Lawliettt
Depends how you look at it. Technically, if you flop your a levels you won't get a place regardless so you could say on that basis that a levels are the most important.

But unless you're a mature student and have already done a levels, you get offers based on predicted grades. These used to be based off AS exams. Since they're gone it'll now largely be off GCSE's. You can't flop your GCSE's, get full marks in every A level exam than expect a place at Imperial. They wouldn't have made you an offer in the first place. And most of their courses (if not all) aren't in clearing. So looking at it that way you could say GCSE's are more important.

But asking which is more important is pointless. The question is are GCSE's more important now than they were 1 year ago. And the answer is yes. Very much so. There's a reason why universities don't ike the change
Original post by AGBF
How the **** does Art have any releation to academia !


Back yourself up a bit. :hand:

Art, and indeed culture, contributes massively to the world and humanity. It still teaches you key skills needed, which is what GCSEs are about.
Reply 79
Original post by Roving Fish
Back yourself up a bit. :hand:

Art, and indeed culture, contributes massively to the world and humanity. It still teaches you key skills needed, which is what GCSEs are about.


No it doesn't.How does drawing something useless affect my life in the future?I'm not going to be an artist i'm i?
Which is why the new system is flawed.GCSE's were either forced upon us(some of them) or we picked when we were like....12/13?

Talk about unfairness.

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