The Student Room Group

A-level Reforms are unfair IMO.

So many of us, currently in Year 12 going into Year 13 will have received our results for AS-levels. Some of us took "mocks", some of us took actual AS-level externally assessed qualifications. This isn't an attack on people who took mocks... that's not your problem but its an unfair system... and Ofqual should see that.


1) AS levels are put on your UCAS application, Mocks are not. So that grade sticksGot a C in a subject you didn't like? Too bad you HAVE to state it. Universities will see those grades and probably be less likely to give you an offer. They can say they'll make it fair but how?
Imagine the scenario of two students.
One is taking mocks. got 11A*'s at GCSE. and in his mocks BBC. Universities won't see these grades. The other is taking AS levels. Got 11A*'s at GCSE and in his mocks BBC. Universities will see the BBC.
So Mock exam results are not stated and probably for good reason because it leads on to other issues


To note: universities are always looking for "recent" academic achievement... seeing your AS level results will probably stop them from giving you an offer
1a) They were internally assessed by your teacher who may be slightly biased when marking. We all know "teachers pets" are an actual thing.

1b) Remarking... AS-level takers have to pay £50 quid or more to get it remarked but for those taking mocks you simply ask your teacher to remark it for you.

1c) cheating. You can cheat on a mock.. I have friends from another college who have to retake their exams because the teacher discovered they already had access to the paper. Call it a one-off slip but lets face it.. its an issue.


2) Going back to the scenario of two students.
So the first student who took the mocks, got BBC for AS levels. His teacher knows he's a good student and his teacher to predict him AAB.
The second student has taken real AS-levels and whatever grade he got will stick as his predicted. BBC? His predicted will be BBC... at a stretch it will be ABC. Point is, mock results DO NOT MATTER THAT MUCH. Ofqual have ignored external factors such as teacher bias. I have a friend at another college who received a C in her French Mock yet her teacher predicted her an A* because they believe her to be capable. Why is it that when AS-level takers have a bad exam, it sticks?
That's my rant over. If I've missed anything I'll add it.
What do you guys think?

Its also unfair on those who do well in AS, cause essentially they count for nothing. But if you don't do well then you wont get the predicted grades needed.
This is supposed to be a fair system... If other people have a better chance of getting into a good university then fk the system.my point is EVERYONE should do AS-Reforms then. Why should some do it and some not?
(edited 7 years ago)

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Reply 1
At the end of the day, those who are getting grades based on mocks are actually harming themselves. Kids who cheat and have 'easy' mocks which they had access to are not helping themselves. Once they face a real exam they will really be under extreme pressure. Being over predicted is also a bad thing because chances of going from a C to an A* is pretty much non existent.
Stop crying lmao, our generation is so ****ing self entitled.

AS-Reforms make everything easier, because most people mess up their first year.
Reply 3
Original post by SuperHuman98
Stop crying lmao, our generation is so ****ing self entitled.

AS-Reforms make everything easier, because most people mess up their first year.


Self Entitled? Buddy this is supposed to be a fair system... If other people have a better chance of getting into a good university then fk the system.

Yeah well that is NOT my point. my point is EVERYONE should do AS-Reforms then. Why should some do it and some not?
Original post by SuperHuman98
Stop crying lmao, our generation is so ****ing self entitled.

AS-Reforms make everything easier, because most people mess up their first year.


I got 3'us 2 of my subejcts were reformed and the other modular? what happens now lol , can i retake the year
Original post by Someboady
Self Entitled? Buddy this is supposed to be a fair system... If other people have a better chance of getting into a good university then fk the system.

Yeah well that is NOT my point. my point is EVERYONE should do AS-Reforms then. Why should some do it and some not?


Yeah all the subjects should have been changed to new spec, everyone should do the same exam I agree.
Reply 6
Original post by Pato1
At the end of the day, those who are getting grades based on mocks are actually harming themselves. Kids who cheat and have 'easy' mocks which they had access to are not helping themselves. Once they face a real exam they will really be under extreme pressure. Being over predicted is also a bad thing because chances of going from a C to an A* is pretty much non existent.


But it also means that students who worked hard to get what BBC at A-level probably won't get an offer. The kid who took the mock will get an offer. And he'll probably miss that offer. But thats unfair on the person who worked hard because he got jack all out of it.

But I do agree, they do harm themselves but sometimes the teacher predicts a higher grade for them.
Original post by amranhassan
I got 3'us 2 of my subejcts were reformed and the other modular? what happens now lol , can i retake the year


Yes you can retake the year if your school/college allows it or you can reapply to another college.

Think about where you went wrong? You may need to choose different subjects.
Reply 8
Original post by amranhassan
I got 3'us 2 of my subejcts were reformed and the other modular? what happens now lol , can i retake the year


Yeah this is exactly my point though. Those U's are stuck on your UCAS form.
If you were taking mocks, there would be no U's on your UCAS form except the U in UCAS.
If you took mocks your teachers would NOT predict you U's would they... they'd probably predict you an E grade.
But since you took AS, your teachers would still predict you an E grade.. but those U's are still on your application form.
THE SYSTEM IS UNFAIR.
Original post by SuperHuman98
Yes you can retake the year if your school/college allows it or you can reapply to another college.

Think about where you went wrong? You may need to choose different subjects.


Thanks and i purely did bad because i didnt put in enough work, i think if i retake and actually work hard i can get amazing grades. I'd ratherr not change my subjects. maybe rs. ( I do psychology, sociology and religious studies all aqa)
Original post by Someboady
Yeah this is exactly my point though. Those U's are stuck on your UCAS form.
If you were taking mocks, there would be no U's on your UCAS form except the U in UCAS.
If you took mocks your teachers would NOT predict you U's would they... they'd probably predict you an E grade.
But since you took AS, your teachers would still predict you an E grade.. but those U's are still on your application form.
THE SYSTEM IS UNFAIR.


I know totally ruins ur chances to get in to the uni u want
I've been thinking about this for a while too, but what can we do? Thankfully, my AS results were good but I know friends that are less fortunate - they could have easily been predicted As but ended up with Ds.

It's a pain in the arse but we've got to hope that hard work pays off in the end and people get the grades/university offers they deserve.
Original post by Someboady
Yeah this is exactly my point though. Those U's are stuck on your UCAS form.
If you were taking mocks, there would be no U's on your UCAS form except the U in UCAS.
If you took mocks your teachers would NOT predict you U's would they... they'd probably predict you an E grade.
But since you took AS, your teachers would still predict you an E grade.. but those U's are still on your application form.
THE SYSTEM IS UNFAIR.


😂😂, I agree I think the new system is unfair everyone should have to do the AS exams
Its also unfair on those who do well in AS, cause essentially they count for nothing. But if you don't do well then you wont get the predicted grades needed.
3 of my 4 AS-Levels were the 'old' style. My newly reformed subject was AQA Business. I ****ing hated it. Got a D and dropped it with a smile on my face.
Life isn't fair. Sometimes you gotta deal with it
(currently a year 12 student, going to year 13 in September)
Reply 16
Original post by HopelessMedic
Its also unfair on those who do well in AS, cause essentially they count for nothing. But if you don't do well then you wont get the predicted grades needed.


Exactly right, I'll add this to the OP
Reply 17
Original post by LightAtTheEnd
Life isn't fair. Sometimes you gotta deal with it
(currently a year 12 student, going to year 13 in September)


Yeah Life isn't fair. Damn right its not. But if we don't fight for equality then some of us are missing out on University offers. And that's just not right.
This is a stupid thread tbh.
You are only in a worse situation that somebody who didn't do the ASs if you do badly.
If you do well you can still put it on the UCAS form, the unis will still see it and make offers on it and your predicted grades will still be made from it.
It is irksome that they dont count for some subjects next year but that is just life. Anyway if you did well this year hopefully you have the right revision strategy etc to do well next year and if you didnt well its a second chance isnt it that previous years didnt have.
IF you got AAAA or something at AS and had the same GCSEs as another candidate with no AS im pretty sure the unis would pick the first one lol as it is more representative of an A level.
Just suck it up like the rest of us, get your head down and do well at A2.
I'm not quite sure, but if there's a student with the new spec they'll have to state some kind of predicted grades or the grade they got at the end of year 12.
Also consider that universities don't require one to have AS grades due to the changes. I know UCL don't. (it's on pg 30 of the 2017 undergrad prospectus)

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