An A* at GCSE is equivilent to...?

What would an A* GCSE be equivilent to at A level?

I know that from SATs, A* is level 10 and reducing by one each ime, level 7 being B. But what is it like for A levels?

An A* would be equvilent to ...?

Please help!

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Reply 1

cheekylittleminx

I think an A* would be equivalent to an A at a-level

Reply 2

Jsk

But i thought that Alevel were harder?

Reply 3

cheekylittleminx

That's what my teachers told me at mt sixth form..I don't know why it's like that or anything, it's just what I was told

Reply 4

thats_attractive

The two aren't really comparable, considering the huge increase in depth of A levels.
People with A*s at GCSE in history for example still get U's at AS, and people with B's or C's can still get A's.

Reply 5

Collingwood

An A* at GCSE isn't equivalent to anything at A-level - A-level consists of different course material. Similarly, a level 7 at SATs isn't a B at GCSE - you need to know a lot more to get a GCSE B grade than to get any of the SATs grades. Or are you talking about what someone who gets an A* in a subject could be expected to get at A-level, assuming they continue to work at the same level relative to the other people in their year group?

Reply 6

Mathemagician. Funny?

I think this question is stupid. I would probably say A* was equivalent to a U at AS because only a very small portion of the stuff at AS is GCSE for most subjects. I am saying this because if you had all your knowledge from GCSE and took it into an AS level paper you would get a U. That is basically what you are saying aren't you. Almost everything you learn at AS is completely new to you.

Reply 7

michaelyus

These qualifications are not equivalent.
Even those at the same NQF "level" are very different, and may not have "equal value" for everyone.

Reply 8

brown

Jsk

... a D at AS-level. That's what someone told me ages ago, not sure if there's any truth behind it :wink:

Reply 9

hmjessop

They are not equivalent qualifications. However, someone who got mostly A*s at GCSE would be expected to get As at A-level.

Reply 10

Jsk

Im just saying that A* GCSE is level 10. SO if there was a level 10 at SAT it would be equivelant to A* GCSE. wondered what it would be at A level.

Reply 11

Kate.

Since when were SATs comparable to GCSEs? =/
SATs are so pointless.

What I knew to get an A* in Maths would probably just about get me an E in the Maths A-Level though. :P

Reply 12

Mathemagician. Funny?

There isn't a grade at GCSE that is equivalent to a grade at A-level. GCSEs and SATs are all about recalling facts which makes them so easy. There is barely any recalling of facts at A-level. There is more evaluation and analysis as well as the content you learn being in a lot more depth compared to GCSE. I remember trigonometry coming up in both GCSE in SATS Maths. i don't think there would be much overlap between GCSE and A-level. Maybe in Maths knowing how to factorise and thats probably the only GCSE thing you need to know. After that you learn more in depth. In biology if you learn the parts of the heart and what they do in not too much detail at GCSE but at A-level you would go into way more depth. I don't know if you learn about the heart in A-level Biology but thats just an example. In chemistry apparently everything you learned at GCSE is apparently proved wrong at A-level so you can't say that GCSE and A-level are comparable in terms of content. You can't really use a grade to compare the standards.

Reply 13

mdr

Kate.

What I knew to get an A* in Maths would probably just about get me an E in the Maths A-Level though. :P

Wouldn't get me one!
I might expect a few marks on C1 but that's the extent of it.

Reply 14

frogout

Can you even get a level 10 in the SATs? I got an 8 and was told it was the highest... oh well!

Reply 15

purple-girl

There is no comparison at all. They're completely different qualifications with completely different materials in most cases. And I've heard that you can only go up to level 8 in yr 9 SATs. But my school didn't do them so *shrug*.

Reply 16

webbers

kimoso

Can you even get a level 10 in the SATs? I got an 8 and was told it was the highest... oh well!

Level 8 is the highest you can get in the SATS.
Last year the head of 6th form told us that an E at A-level is better than an A* at gcse.

Reply 17

Jsk

Um yeah, level 8 is the highest at SAT but i was saying if they did do level 10.

Reply 18

*Sparkle*

They're not comparable at all. I managed an A at History at GCSE and only got an E in AS, to be fair i could have improved dramatically, but I couldn't be bothered. haha

Reply 19

Mathemagician. Funny?

Ages ago you could do an EP(Exception Performance) paper that was offered in the SATS and that was basically level 10. My cousin did it in 1996 and he was one of 34 people to achieve the "EP" grade. They stopped it a while ago because barely any people took the paper. Apparently the paper had 90% GCSE stuff and the 6-8paper had 30% GCSE stuff in the paper. BTW I think you could only do it for Maths.