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Average A-Level grade

4

Does anyone know if there is an average A-Level grade. I know that there is at GCSE, but I'm not sure how it works at AS/A2 level because the academic ability of all students generally tends to be higher because fewer people take them. Many thanks

Reply 1

loopylou

i was told wotever u got at gcse in a subject, at A level that grade would drop by two grades.
eg. an A in biology gcse is a C in A level Biology, i think this is the case a lot of the time apart from those who are really really clever and work their arses off

Reply 2

sexysax

14

loopylou

i was told wotever u got at gcse in a subject, at A level that grade would drop by two grades.
eg. an A in biology gcse is a C in A level Biology, i think this is the case a lot of the time apart from those who are really really clever and work their arses off

That is a big assumption. I got a B at GCSE in what I considered my best subject and I worked reasonably hard for it, I then got an A as AS level, with no difference in the amount of work I did.

A lot of A-level syllabi are very different to GCSE so the stuff you learn might not always be the same. I know my A-level courses suited me in some subjects better than the GCSE one did.

Reply 3

khil

15

I've heard an A* at GCSE is an N at A-Level, an N being something just under a U lol.

The average A-Level grade is, I've heard, a D, however personally I'd say average is a C grade. Simply because most good unis will require anything from AAA to BCC, and some maybe CCC, although the Scotland lot is a little different and a good Scottish uni may offer CDD type offers. When you get onto the D-grade level there aren't very many respected unis that will be likely to take you and an E grade is next to worthless unless your offer is in tariff points, which most respected unis don't go by. A D grade is about 50% - so the average I'd imagine would be C/D but I'd say the average is different for everyone. My average for Art is an A while my average for Chem was high C, but other people's average grade for Art may be D and Chem an A.

I say just do your best - who cares what the national average is? If you've done worse than you were meant to, you're not gonna be happy with it regardless of whether people consider it a good grade. I would be furious with myself if I had got anything less than an A in Art, and estatic over a C in GCSE Maths (got a B though lol), but other people would consider a B in Art as excellent. Depends on the person.

Reply 4

khil

15

loopylou

i was told wotever u got at gcse in a subject, at A level that grade would drop by two grades.
eg. an A in biology gcse is a C in A level Biology, i think this is the case a lot of the time apart from those who are really really clever and work their arses off

Not really - depends on how good you are and how much work was put in.
GCSE Art - A*
GCSE Double Science - A*A*
GCSE Eng Lit and Lang - AA*

1 week's worth of work put into Bio, Chem, 3 days into Eng:
AS Art - A
AS Bio - A
AS Chem - C
AS Eng Lit - A

1 week's worth of work put into Bio and Chem:
A2 Art - A
A2 Bio - B
A2 Chem - C

I would say I only dropped in my grades due to a lack of work, and even then my grades aren't exactly bad.

Reply 5

Kolya

17

irisng

The average A-Level grade is, I've heard, a D, however personally I'd say average is a C grade.

I believe the median grade for most subjects is a C but I could be wrong.

(Logically the mean will be lower (D) as the grade system does not tend to a rectangular distribution through all percentiles, a better approximation would be a negatively skewed tail on a mainly flat rectangular distribution throughout the pass grades)

Reply 6

RyanY

1

yes the median is about a grade D, as you have to count for all the schools within the UK...in my school the median would probably be an A/B

Reply 7

Kentish Man

7

Anyone got an idea what percentage of people who take 3 A-Levels go on to get AAA? Just wondering.

Reply 8

Kolya

17

RyanY

yes the median is about a grade D

No, the median grade for most subjects is a high C. See http://www.bstubbs.co.uk/a-lev.htm

As I explained, the very rough rectangular distribution trend only holds over the A-D grades.

Reply 9

Mustard-man

18

D for science subjects :smile:

Reply 10

iceman_jondoe

18

i heard the average is from BBC to BCC

Reply 11

Kolya

17

Mustard-man

D for science subjects :smile:

Hmm?

Median grades for Sciences:

Biology: High C
Chemistry: Low B
Maths: Mid B
Physics: V. High C

Reply 12

blone_bomb

According to wikipedia the grades for june 2005 were; 22.8% of A-level final results were graded A; 23.8%, B; 23.3%, C; 17.2%, D; 9.1%, E; and 3.8% were not graded (U)

Reply 13

Mustard-man

18

Wow, too many people getting A's...... :redface:

Reply 14

khil

15

Lusus Naturae

Hmm?

Median grades for Sciences:

Biology: High C
Chemistry: Low B
Maths: Mid B
Physics: V. High C

Seriously? It's on average harder to get a high grade in Biology compared with Chem and Maths? Maths, of all things?

I very much doubt that could be correct, surely? Biology is by far the easiest of the sciences on average.

Reply 15

Kolya

17

irisng

It's on average harder to get a high grade in Biology compared with Chem and Maths? Maths, of all things?

Hmm, I never said this :smile:

Other factors, such as the people who tend to take each subject, must be considered. I believe, and I'm sure you will agree, that Physics tends to be perceived as an incredibly 'hard subject' - one that is only taken by those strange children who wear rainbow suspenders and glasses that grossly magnify their eyes. I shall let you in on a little secret; Physics is easy! The AS Course requires the memorization of a few basic facts and the ability to follow a numerical problem solving algorithm. I strongly believe that I could tutor nearly any hardworking student on TSR to get an A in Physics AS Level and this says more about the difficulty of the subject than my ability to teach! This perception of Physics as difficult means that the students who take it tend to be almost overqualified, in general, to take the test and therefore the results as a whole will appear higher and thus the subject easier.

In my humble opinion, the reason why Physics has developed a reputation as such a hard subject is twofold. Firstly, Physics can often appear as a foreign language when studied at a high level, people are put off when they see this and In addition to this, what you learn is often built upon a wide and deep foundation built up over many years and if students, with the poor teaching provided in many schools, are unable to have this firm foundation then naturally they will find the more difficult aspects of Physics more difficult. The same could be said for Mathematics.

irisng

I very much doubt that could be correct, surely? Biology is by far the easiest of the sciences on average.

I do not do Biology, and am not inclined to that style of learning, but I see no reason why the subject itself is easier than the other sciences. It contains many challenges and is becoming increasingly important in the 21st Century, it is often said that the 19th Century was the century of Chemistry, the 20th century was the Century of Physics, and the 21st Century will be the century of Biology. It will affect the way we live our lives through the increased use of genetic engineering and the integration of modern technology into the human body.

Reply 16

Kolya

17

Kentish Man

Anyone got an idea what percentage of people who take 3 A-Levels go on to get AAA? Just wondering.

'Last year about 24,000 A-level candidates achieved three or more A grades - 3.6% of the total year group."

I hope this helps. :smile:

Reply 17

kizer

15

^^ That figure is about 1/3 of the true figure!

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000630/SFR01-2006v1.pdf

9.5% of students got AAA or better at full A Level in 2005, up from 9% in 2004. First bullet point on second page.

Reply 18

Kolya

17

kizer

^^ That figure is about 1/3 of the true figure!

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000630/SFR01-2006v1.pdf

9.5% of students got AAA or better at full A Level in 2005, up from 9% in 2004. First bullet point on second page.

Kizer, that made me stop and think for a second :p:

Notice the wording of the quote, 3.6% of the total year group is different from 9.5% of A Level candidates. The 'year group' referring to every single student who started a secondary school class in year 7, while the A Level candidates only include those who continue past Year 11. The obvious implication being that around 1/3 students go on to study A Levels.

I will admit, it is a wording that is almost too ambiguous to be unintentional!

{So you know, my source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4785183.stm}