Is an AS worth half an A-level?

TSR George

Ok say I got 90% in AS chemistry.
This year I get 30% in A2 Chemistry.

Will this average out to 60%? a C?

(edited 12 years ago)

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Reply 1

sconter

40 % of the whole a level is as i think

Reply 2

CJAW

The person above doesn't know what he/she is talking about. An AS level is exactly 50% of an As level.
So you will get a C.

Yes.

Original post by lawa1

No it's not people! It depends on the subject entirely. One of my subjects AS is actually 40% so they do know what they're talking about. Also if you do coursework in either year that changes it. Moral being work hard both years x

I don't think coursework does, not sure though. I have coursework for english and I havn't anything about that changing the grade.

Reply 5

user settings

the AS counts as a qualification on its own

Reply 6

Nymthae

Original post by lawa1

What subject is that, might I ask?

Seems a ridiculous setup given:
all A-levels are meant to be of equal work (as far as they can be)
therefore all AS' should
so why should my AS which I had to do 50% of the course for equate to someone who only did 40% of it?
Why should I have to do a large proportion of work in my second year of a subject? etc.

Doesn't make any sense. Coursework has had no impact from all the subjects i've seen.

@OP: for Chemistry atleast, definitely yes it is 50%.

Reply 7

ByronicHero

Original post by lawa1

Coursework makes no difference, a module is a module and the specification will set out how much of the total qualification is constituted by any given module. With regard to the first thing you said: the OP clearly states the subject.

Reply 8

lawa1

my history coursework for example is 40% of my alevel which is bizarre i guess and my english is 30-40%

Reply 9

lawa1

also my classics teachers said something about if you get an A in the first year you still need a big 90%+ on the A2 exam to get an A* which is worrying.

Reply 10

lawa1

But my mate who does another history's exam has each AS then A2 both out of 200 UMS in total. so i guess it really does depend on the subject ! :smile:

Reply 11

Dalek1099

Actually i did hear about you being able to do a maths course in which AS is more than A2.

Reply 12

TheWorldEndsWithMe

Original post by lawa1

also my classics teachers said something about if you get an A in the first year you still need a big 90%+ on the A2 exam to get an A* which is worrying.

Of course you do.
The A* is set up so that you need to do well across both years to get it.
You need an 80% average with at least 90% at A2. So you can have 70% at AS and 90% at A2, or 60% at AS and 100% at A2. Or you can have 100% at AS. But that doesn't mean you need 60% at A2, you still need the 90%. It's just how it works.
They're rewarding people who put effort in in the harder year. Which is fair enough.

Reply 13

TenOfThem

All AS are worth half an A level

There may be some schools with some courses where they do not complete 50% of the A level in Y12 but I do not know why they would do that

Reply 14

TenOfThem

Original post by lawa1

my history coursework for example is 40% of my alevel which is bizarre i guess and my english is 30-40%

How does this change the fact that AS is half an A level

Reply 15

SpicyStrawberry

All AS-levels are worth 50% of an A-level.

Most A-levels consist of four units; two at AS and two at A2. The exceptions to this are sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) and Mathematics (that I know of, there may be more).

(edited 12 years ago)

Reply 16

MikeySwansea

I would suggest checking out different exam boards. Not totally sure, but I believe that it would depend on the exam board, rather than the subject.

Reply 17

Intriguing Alias

Original post by Dalek1099

Actually i did hear about you being able to do a maths course in which AS is more than A2.

No you're confused.

In Maths A-level, you can do 4 AS modules and 2 A2 modules.

BUT the actual AS Level maths is made up of 3 AS Modules, and A2 level is made up 2 A2 modules and an AS Module. While you may have more AS modules, one will still be part of the A2. Hence it is still a 50/50 split.