The Student Room Group

OCR's A Level boundaries - why so high?

This is a question I have because I have a feeling I may not be able to step up to the plate when it comes to the crunch.

In my internally assessed exams last year, I scored 53/60 marks. This was, however, merely a B grade. You would think that dropping only seven marks and nearly hitting 90% would constitute an A, but unfortunately not. I asked why, with the brilliant response being along the lines of ‘that's just how the boundaries are set, so deal with it’. (We weren't graded on a curve. They were apparently set before we sat them, but we were only told after.)

I checked OCR's actual A Level boundaries for English literature because I was curious to see if my sixth form was just being quite harsh. To my dismay, the boundaries that my sixth form had set weren't too far fetched. They seemed ridiculously high and much higher compared to the other awarding bodies.

Why are they so high and why are they relatively much higher than other awarding bodies? Is the cohort abler and better prepared, or are OCR's exams just that much easier?

EDIT: @Davy611, do you have any thoughts on this?
(edited 4 years ago)
I feel like your school is lying to you about grade boundaries to scare you and make you work harder . Look up the official boundaries online. I know ocr biology and chemistry a levels are nowhere near that high percentage wise. More like 58-65% for an A.
Reply 2
Original post by Jamie_1712
I feel like your school is lying to you about grade boundaries to scare you and make you work harder . Look up the official boundaries online. I know ocr biology and chemistry a levels are nowhere near that high percentage wise. More like 58-65% for an A.

I did look them up. OCR's A* boundary for English literature has always been above 92.5% since the reformed specification. The A boundary has always been over 85%. :smile: My sixth form isn't playing around haha.
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by Tolgarda
I did look them up. OCR's A* boundary for English literature has always been above 92.5% since the reformed specification. The A boundary has always been over 85%. :smile: My sixth form isn't playing around haha.


Well maybe sciences are different then, idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Reply 4
Original post by Jamie_1712
Well maybe sciences are different then, idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Evidently. Something's up lol.
Reply 5
Hi. Sorry, I can't really help with this one. The exam boards should be comparable but I know that we shifted from OCR to AQA because we perceived AQA to be more accessible and, I suppose, 'easier'. Your research seems to support the opposite but I think it's more likely to be somewhere in the middle. I don't know very much about the OCR A Level spec though; I'm enmeshed in the GCSE :smile:
Reply 6
Original post by Davy611
Hi. Sorry, I can't really help with this one. The exam boards should be comparable but I know that we shifted from OCR to AQA because we perceived AQA to be more accessible and, I suppose, 'easier'. Your research seems to support the opposite but I think it's more likely to be somewhere in the middle. I don't know very much about the OCR A Level spec though; I'm enmeshed in the GCSE :smile:

Right. Thanks for responding anyway. :P
Just started year 12 and doing OCR Chem and biology. According to my teachers, to get an A*you need to get 90%. For an A, 80% and a B 70% etc etc. Idk why they’re so high.

Just checked the grade boundaries for the 2019 exams and biology is surprisingly low for an A*, it was 185/270 for an A* which is around 68%. However for chemistry it was 230/270 so around 85% for an A*
(edited 4 years ago)
Original post by PastelColours
Just started year 12 and doing OCR Chem and biology. According to my teachers, to get an A*you need to get 90%. For an A, 80% and a B 70% etc etc. Idk why they’re so high

Chemistry is generally 80-90% A* ect because the exams are relatively straightforward. Lots of recall ect

Biology is more 70% for an A* as the exams have lots of application, weird questions to put people off ect
Original post by MediocreSince01
Chemistry is generally 80-90% A* ect because the exams are relatively straightforward. Lots of recall ect

Biology is more 70% for an A* as the exams have lots of application, weird questions to put people off ect

Ah ok thank you x
Original post by PastelColours
Ah ok thank you x

Also should add, chemistry tend to test pretty much everything; biology is more a lottery
Original post by Tolgarda
This is a question I have because I have a feeling I may not be able to step up to the plate when it comes to the crunch.

In my internally assessed exams last year, I scored 53/60 marks. This was, however, merely a B grade. You would think that dropping only seven marks and nearly hitting 90% would constitute an A, but unfortunately not. I asked why, with the brilliant response being along the lines of ‘that's just how the boundaries are set, so deal with it’. (We weren't graded on a curve. They were apparently set before we sat them, but we were only told after.)

I checked OCR's actual A Level boundaries for English literature because I was curious to see if my sixth form was just being quite harsh. To my dismay, the boundaries that my sixth form had set weren't too far fetched. They seemed ridiculously high and much higher compared to the other awarding bodies.

Why are they so high and why are they relatively much higher than other awarding bodies? Is the cohort abler and better prepared, or are OCR's exams just that much easier?

EDIT: @Davy611, do you have any thoughts on this?

By internally assessed, you mean coursework?

Let's just say, people probably have more help than others...
Original post by MediocreSince01
Also should add, chemistry tend to test pretty much everything; biology is more a lottery

Yh I’ve heard! I’ll just have to work extra hard in both either way ty x
Reply 13
The grade boundaries reflect the ease of the paper so if OCR is setting higher grade boundaries than AQA, for example, it means the OCR paper was easier and people should be picking up more marks. Also, the percentages of people who get each grade can’t fluctuate too greatly so enough people have to be getting high marks for high grade boundaries to be set.
Reply 14
Original post by MediocreSince01
By internally assessed, you mean coursework?

Let's just say, people probably have more help than others...

No, end-of-year exams. Our sixth form, like most others, doesn't enter students for AS Levels anymore. Our exams at the end of year 12 are internally assessed, like mock exams. :smile:

Original post by sb10
The grade boundaries reflect the ease of the paper so if OCR is setting higher grade boundaries than AQA, for example, it means the OCR paper was easier and people should be picking up more marks. Also, the percentages of people who get each grade can’t fluctuate too greatly so enough people have to be getting high marks for high grade boundaries to be set.

Really? How are OCR's English literature exams easier than either of the AQA specifications? Unless someone can justify that they are that much more accessible than AQA, I struggle to completely buy this argument. AQA's exams are even open book for some parts!

That being said, I find it difficult to believe any other explanation. I highly doubt that the cohort for OCR's English exams are vastly superior to AQA's. It really should even out. So maybe you are right.
(edited 4 years ago)

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