One anomalous exam score might be killing my chances of getting in to Oxford

Are you completely sure you didn't just flop the exam?

As sure as I can be? I came out feeling quite good, and I feel like to get an E I must have utterly missed the point of one of the questions or something, which seems odd as I'd been getting consistent As in my mocks.

Sometimes it's possible to do worse in an exam than one feels. I had an A2 Biology exam this year which I felt I had absolutely devoured whole but ended up with a B on it. Everyone thought it was easy and yet the grade boundaries were the lowest ever - I still got an A overall so I just figured it was down to a harsh mark scheme.

Oxford care far more about GCSEs, entrance exam scores (not sure there is one for Archaeology and Anthropology but there is one for most subjects at Oxford) and interview performance than they do about AS results. As long as you're predicted the minimum requirement for the course, you'll be fine. Your GCSEs are somewhat on the low side since Oxford only consider number and proportion of A*s (I've always thought it kinda harsh that they don't count A grades at all...) with some consideration for context i.e. how you did relative to everyone else in your school that year so people with 2 - 3 A*s have got into Oxford before but you would really need to smash the entrance exam to compensate for it, I think.

I'd normally just accept that I must have been having a bad day, but it's such a bizarrely low score, and I actually had something similar happen with GCSEs (my exam paper went up about 30 UMS in a re-mark) which is why I'm being kind of stubborn about it. Ironically, I usually come out of exams thinking I did terribly and end up doing really well, so maybe I should take feeling confident as a bad sign from now on...

Wow, I hadn't realised they don't take As into account at all! There's no entrance exam, but we do submit a couple of pieces of written work. I suppose I'd have to really rely on those. I feel like if I could just get into the interview I'd feel more in control (and I imagine that'd be the strongest part of my application; the tutorial system is the main reason I want to apply, and apparently the interviews are pretty much mini-tutorials. I've got a teacher who went there and I absolutely love his teaching style because he puts so much emphasis on real discussion and back-and-forth). It sounds like it might be worthwhile... I suppose I have got four other slots. Thanks for the information

I'd normally just accept that I must have been having a bad day, but it's such a bizarrely low score, and I actually had something similar happen with GCSEs (my exam paper went up about 30 UMS in a re-mark) which is why I'm being kind of stubborn about it.

Wow, I hadn't realised they don't take As into account at all! There's no entrance exam, but we do submit a couple of pieces of written work. I suppose I'd have to really rely on those. I feel like if I could just get into the interview I'd feel more in control (and I imagine that'd be the strongest part of my application; the tutorial system is the main reason I want to apply, and apparently the interviews are pretty much mini-tutorials. I've got a teacher who went there and I absolutely love his teaching style because he puts so much emphasis on real discussion and back-and-forth). It sounds like it might be worthwhile... I suppose I have got four other slots. Thanks for the information

I was planning on applying to Oxford this year for Archaeology and Anthropology, and I was quite optimistic about my chances. However, I got an E in my English Lit AS exam, which means I've got AABB at AS (as opposed to AAAB, the B being in the relatively irrelevant subject of Physics, which I'm dropping anyway). It is infuriating because I, my teachers, the head of the English department and just about everyone else are certain it must be due to some kind of thoughtless, tiny mistake on either my or the exam board's part - there's a script copy pending so we can work out just what went wrong (the re-mark didn't budge even one UMS, which makes the paranoid part of me wonder if they looked at it at all). To put things in perspective, I got full UMS in the coursework, as well as full UMS at GCSE for both English Language and Literature. It's incredibly unlikely that this E actually reflects my performance in that exam, but Oxford won't know that.

Is it worth applying anyway? The head of the English department recommended that I re-take the exam and promised that I would absolutely still be predicted an A* for A2 - I actually said I'd be satisfied with an A and not having to re-sit, but he insisted that I really should (not in the sense that he was pushing me into it, he just insisted that an A doesn't reflect my abilities and the universities should know that). That means I could conceivably get A*A*A* (though I'd prefer a conditional offer of A*AA or so!) at A2. Course requirements for Arch and Anth are AAA; I'm solid in that regard. It's just this irritating set of AS results, coupled with mediocre GCSEs (9 As, 3A*s - they're good really, just maybe not "Oxford good" that makes me unsure. I'm confident I'll do better at A2 because at the time of my AS exams I was planning on studying art at university, so frankly I didn't work as hard as I could have done since "none of them matter really".

Should I ask my teacher to mention the anomalous result in my reference? Or at least say I got full UMS on the coursework? Would Oxford frown on the re-sit?

What exam board for Lit?

How many raw / ums marks?

Yes, unfortunately it's only A*s

Definitely apply!! I'm going to Oxford this year to study maths, and I bombed my Further Pure 1 exam last year, big time. They put a great deal more emphasis on GCSE scores, any entrance exams they request and interviews. Even if it isn't a mistake, everyone can have a bad day and a bad exam out of nowhere. You should resit it for sure, you sound like you should be pushing for the A*. And you don't need to worry about UMS scores, on your track application you can enter your score on each module so they'll know you aced the other two. And I don't think they frown on resits at all; I resat two exams this year. If your predicted grades are gonna be in the region of A*s and As, then there is absolutely no reason for this to put you off applying!!

I was planning on applying to Oxford this year for Archaeology and Anthropology, and I was quite optimistic about my chances. However, I got an E in my English Lit AS exam, which means I've got AABB at AS (as opposed to AAAB, the B being in the relatively irrelevant subject of Physics, which I'm dropping anyway). It is infuriating because I, my teachers, the head of the English department and just about everyone else are certain it must be due to some kind of thoughtless, tiny mistake on either my or the exam board's part - there's a script copy pending so we can work out just what went wrong (the re-mark didn't budge even one UMS, which makes the paranoid part of me wonder if they looked at it at all). To put things in perspective, I got full UMS in the coursework, as well as full UMS at GCSE for both English Language and Literature. It's incredibly unlikely that this E actually reflects my performance in that exam, but Oxford won't know that.

Is it worth applying anyway? The head of the English department recommended that I re-take the exam and promised that I would absolutely still be predicted an A* for A2 - I actually said I'd be satisfied with an A and not having to re-sit, but he insisted that I really should (not in the sense that he was pushing me into it, he just insisted that an A doesn't reflect my abilities and the universities should know that). That means I could conceivably get A*A*A* (though I'd prefer a conditional offer of A*AA or so!) at A2. Course requirements for Arch and Anth are AAA; I'm solid in that regard. It's just this irritating set of AS results, coupled with mediocre GCSEs (9 As, 3A*s - they're good really, just maybe not "Oxford good" that makes me unsure. I'm confident I'll do better at A2 because at the time of my AS exams I was planning on studying art at university, so frankly I didn't work as hard as I could have done since "none of them matter really".

Should I ask my teacher to mention the anomalous result in my reference? Or at least say I got full UMS on the coursework? Would Oxford frown on the re-sit?

Why didn't you get a copy of your script before going for the remark?

I asked for a priority re-mark because I was hoping for good news before the October deadline

Ooh, one more question to anyone who can answer it - how important is my reference/its source? I think I can ask my headmaster to write mine (he taught me last year before his promotion and knows me well, he studied anthropology at university, and he even went to Oxford himself) and I was wondering how much I can expect that to tip the scales in my favour? I mean, I truly believe he'll write me an objectively brilliant reference anyway, but is there any chance the admissions officers will see it's from the headmaster of my school (it's a pretty prestigious school) and be influenced by that?

You're all being so helpful, thank you.

It's a holistic process so your reference is definitely important. But generally I think it's one of the less important parts of your application - unless your reference highlights some serious problems with your behaviour or something, it'll be fine. I certainly can't imagine the reference being the dealbreaker which determines whether an offer is made or not... Especially as it's pretty subjective.

If it makes you feel any better, I am in the exact same situation and am also applying to Oxford (however I have the luxury of applying for Fine Art where the grade won't have as much weighting). For my AS results I received A*AAAB and achieved decent A's in very difficult subjects (3 marks off 100% in History, for example) and my strongest subject of English Literature came out as one mark into a C in the exam when I had been achieving 96%+ all year. I too submitted a non-priority remark and received it within 7 days when priority papers hadn't even returned yet and the mark was the EXACT same. I was also on AQA. For a subject as subjective as English to come out with the exact same mark so quickly, certainly alarm bells are ringing. Your best bet is to go over the script with your teacher and find out whether the marking is just absurd and use it constructively, resit next year and make sure you get a prediction of an A in English and ensure your teacher makes a comment on your reference. It's a pain this has happened but do not let it ruin your aspirations. You will just have to perform very strongly in other aspects of the admissions process to counterbalance the disappointing AS results! Best of luck :-)


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How did you get an A* in an AS level? Do you mean you took the full A level in a year?

If it makes you feel any better, I am in the exact same situation and am also applying to Oxford (however I have the luxury of applying for Fine Art where the grade won't have as much weighting). For my AS results I received A*AAAB and achieved decent A's in very difficult subjects (3 marks off 100% in History, for example) and my strongest subject of English Literature came out as one mark into a C in the exam when I had been achieving 96%+ all year. I too submitted a non-priority remark and received it within 7 days when priority papers hadn't even returned yet and the mark was the EXACT same. I was also on AQA. For a subject as subjective as English to come out with the exact same mark so quickly, certainly alarm bells are ringing. Your best bet is to go over the script with your teacher and find out whether the marking is just absurd and use it constructively, resit next year and make sure you get a prediction of an A in English and ensure your teacher makes a comment on your reference. It's a pain this has happened but do not let it ruin your aspirations. You will just have to perform very strongly in other aspects of the admissions process to counterbalance the disappointing AS results! Best of luck :-)


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that's happened to loads of people on AQA, http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3510341my whole class got D's and E's, but we were predicted A's and B's from experienced teachersthere are some people who have got remarks back that have increased by multiple grades so i'm pretty confident that your exam result was wrong

Priority remarks are for those waiting on uni places really.You coud have asked for a copy instead of a remark and you'd have the paper now and time for a remark [all remarks have to be requested by 20th September]. It would have been back well before the UCAS Oxbridge deadline ...
Now you won't get the paper for ages ..

Oxford staff have stated that the reference is quite important (perhaps more so than a personal statement) as you have very little control over it and it cannot be tampered with as such. Therefore, it's a much more valid insight into the students character than a personal statement that has been redrafted endlessly with the help of far too many people for it to be classed as 'personal' in any sense!Posted from TSR Mobile