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Is it possible to get A*AA from these AS grades?

I got my AS grades yesterday which were actually a lot better than I expected because I didn't revise as much as I could due to personal reasons.

Psychology - A (94/100 ums in unit 1 and full ums in unit 2)

Maths - C (80/100 C1, 73/100 C2, 24/100 S1)
I had a bad day on my stats exam so the U brings down my grade to a C, hopefully I will retake though.

Biology - C (77/120 unit 1, 70/120 unit 2, 60/60 on coursework)

I really want to study neuroscience/psychology, universities I've looked at want between AAB-A*AA.

To get an A in biology would I have to resit both units as I got a C in both, or if I resit one and get an A would it still be possible to get an A overall at A2?

If my teachers know I'm retaking, for example stats in maths, would they predict me an A or stick to a B/C because of my AS results?

Thanks to anyone that responds, I'm a bit confused with how it all works :smile:
Sorry you've not had any responses about this. :frown: Are you sure you’ve posted in the right place? Posting in the specific Study Help forum should help get responses. :redface:

I'm going to quote in Tank Girl now so she can move your thread to the right place if it's needed. :h: :yy:

Spoiler

Original post by M.revision
I got my AS grades yesterday which were actually a lot better than I expected because I didn't revise as much as I could due to personal reasons.

Psychology - A (94/100 ums in unit 1 and full ums in unit 2)

Maths - C (80/100 C1, 73/100 C2, 24/100 S1)
I had a bad day on my stats exam so the U brings down my grade to a C, hopefully I will retake though.

Biology - C (77/120 unit 1, 70/120 unit 2, 60/60 on coursework)

I really want to study neuroscience/psychology, universities I've looked at want between AAB-A*AA.

To get an A in biology would I have to resit both units as I got a C in both, or if I resit one and get an A would it still be possible to get an A overall at A2?

If my teachers know I'm retaking, for example stats in maths, would they predict me an A or stick to a B/C because of my AS results?

Thanks to anyone that responds, I'm a bit confused with how it all works :smile:


Hello.

You should speak with your teachers about predictions. If they're willing to predict As for you, great. If not, you could apply post-A2 in a gap year with achieved grades.

It's possible to bring them up with a lot of hard work, I think. Remember that now all exams have to be sat in May/June so when thinking about resits you should consider whether they will affect your A2 exam prep.

With regards to Biology specifically, it depends. You could theoretically ace just one of the modules in a resit and that would give you a comfortable A grade in AS to give you a little bit of breathing space if your A2 exams or coursework don't go as well as you would have liked. Or you may want to play it safe and resit both just in case the resit turns out to be an absolute monster. Of course that would mean more exams in one exam season, so consider carefully.
Original post by M.revision
I got my AS grades yesterday which were actually a lot better than I expected because I didn't revise as much as I could due to personal reasons.

Psychology - A (94/100 ums in unit 1 and full ums in unit 2)

Maths - C (80/100 C1, 73/100 C2, 24/100 S1)
I had a bad day on my stats exam so the U brings down my grade to a C, hopefully I will retake though.

Biology - C (77/120 unit 1, 70/120 unit 2, 60/60 on coursework)

I really want to study neuroscience/psychology, universities I've looked at want between AAB-A*AA.

To get an A in biology would I have to resit both units as I got a C in both, or if I resit one and get an A would it still be possible to get an A overall at A2?

If my teachers know I'm retaking, for example stats in maths, would they predict me an A or stick to a B/C because of my AS results?

Thanks to anyone that responds, I'm a bit confused with how it all works :smile:


I got two C's in biology last year (got a C overall), resat Biol2 and got an A, then managed to get over 90% at A2 so came out with an A* overall which was a huge shock but it can be done :smile:
yep possible with resits
Reply 5
Hey guys, i got a U in my AS psychology exam which was a big shock to me. I got a U in unit 1 and a D in unit 2 so a U overall. If i resit unit one and push it to and A is it possible i could push my grade to an over all B or A at then end of my A2's. What do i need to get at A2 exactly? Please someone respond! Thanks in advance
its certainly possible though an A* is hard to get, i missed out on 2 A*s by not getting the 90% in the second year, though my overall average for 2 of the As was 365 UMS which is a bummer
Original post by noey123
Hey guys, i got a U in my AS psychology exam which was a big shock to me. I got a U in unit 1 and a D in unit 2 so a U overall. If i resit unit one and push it to and A is it possible i could push my grade to an over all B or A at then end of my A2's. What do i need to get at A2 exactly? Please someone respond! Thanks in advance


You should check the relevant exam boards website as it's difficult to say without knowing the exam board or the UMS marks involved.
Reply 8
Original post by Hydeman
Hello.

You should speak with your teachers about predictions. If they're willing to predict As for you, great. If not, you could apply post-A2 in a gap year with achieved grades.

It's possible to bring them up with a lot of hard work, I think. Remember that now all exams have to be sat in May/June so when thinking about resits you should consider whether they will affect your A2 exam prep.

With regards to Biology specifically, it depends. You could theoretically ace just one of the modules in a resit and that would give you a comfortable A grade in AS to give you a little bit of breathing space if your A2 exams or coursework don't go as well as you would have liked. Or you may want to play it safe and resit both just in case the resit turns out to be an absolute monster. Of course that would mean more exams in one exam season, so consider carefully.


Okay thank you!
Reply 9
Original post by TomRais27
I got two C's in biology last year (got a C overall), resat Biol2 and got an A, then managed to get over 90% at A2 so came out with an A* overall which was a huge shock but it can be done :smile:


Thats really good well done! How did you find the workload as bio2 is quite heavy by itself ? Also how much revision did you do and when did you start?
Original post by M.revision
Thats really good well done! How did you find the workload as bio2 is quite heavy by itself ? Also how much revision did you do and when did you start?


Thank you!
I didn't find the workload that bad to be honest, and I didn't start properly revising biol 2 until I started revision for most of my exams in general. Although I'd recommend starting it earlier because it meant I'd be revising different subjects for hours each night way before exams even started.
I guess the positive thing about resisting an exam is that you should know most of the content so when you start revising for it, the information should seem to flood back to you.
As for revision in general, I properly started roughly a month before my cluster of exams started (excluding science EMPAs) and that mostly consisted of reading through all my notes then doing as many past papers as possible - that's the key to doing well in biology as they're so specific about key words so it's essential you're familiar with the mark scheme :smile:
Reading and past papers is simply how I revise but I know people sometimes write flash cards etc which may be useful, although I don't personally find it so.

Best of luck for next year and I'm sure you'll get what you're looking for!
Reply 11
Thank
Original post by TomRais27
Thank you!
I didn't find the workload that bad to be honest, and I didn't start properly revising biol 2 until I started revision for most of my exams in general. Although I'd recommend starting it earlier because it meant I'd be revising different subjects for hours each night way before exams even started.
I guess the positive thing about resisting an exam is that you should know most of the content so when you start revising for it, the information should seem to flood back to you.
As for revision in general, I properly started roughly a month before my cluster of exams started (excluding science EMPAs) and that mostly consisted of reading through all my notes then doing as many past papers as possible - that's the key to doing well in biology as they're so specific about key words so it's essential you're familiar with the mark scheme :smile:
Reading and past papers is simply how I revise but I know people sometimes write flash cards etc which may be useful, although I don't personally find it so.

Best of luck for next year and I'm sure you'll get what you're looking for!

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