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B at AS can I get an A* overall

I had 2 marks off an A (158) at AS, can I get an A* overall? Please help!

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I don't believe so. You tend to need 80%+ in all of your AS units, and then 90%+ in all of your A2 units, to get an A*. You wouldn't meet that, so even if you got 100% in all of your A2 exams for the subject in question, you could not get an A*.
Original post by xBasedChris
I don't believe so. You tend to need 80%+ in all of your AS units, and then 90%+ in all of your A2 units, to get an A*. You wouldn't meet that, so even if you got 100% in all of your A2 exams for the subject in question, you could not get an A*.


I thought AS grades no longer impacted A2?
Reply 3
Yes of course you can. It could be argued that anything more than 140 at AS is wasted effort as for an A* you need:

1.

At least 320 UMS overall

2.

At least 180 from the A2 units


We had someone this year who got a D at AS and has just achieved an A* (after re-sitting 1 AS unit).
Reply 4
Original post by xBasedChris
I don't believe so. You tend to need 80%+ in all of your AS units, and then 90%+ in all of your A2 units, to get an A*. You wouldn't meet that, so even if you got 100% in all of your A2 exams for the subject in question, you could not get an A*.


No you don't. You need an average of at least 80% UMS across the A level and an an average of at least 90% UMS in A2.
In order to get an A*, you need to get middle-band As and above over ALL of your units and you also need to get over a certain threshold of marks/UMS to get from an A band into the A* band
It is not impossible but you do need to be consistent in all parts
Reply 6
Original post by Atlas99
I thought AS grades no longer impacted A2?


From what the OP said this appears to be one of the remaining modular subjects.
Original post by Compost
No you don't. You need an average of at least 80% UMS across the A level and an an average of at least 90% UMS in A2.


Oh was it an average? I know you need 90% plus in all A2 modules, and I thought the applied as 80% for AS.
Reply 8
Original post by Neddie001
In order to get an A*, you need to get middle-band As and above over ALL of your units and you also need to get over a certain threshold of marks/UMS to get from an A band into the A* band
It is not impossible but you do need to be consistent in all parts


Which exam board is this with? You have never needed As in all units for an A* for English A levels.

Edit: By English I mean exams in England.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 9
Original post by xBasedChris
Oh was it an average? I know you need 90% plus in all A2 modules, and I thought the applied as 80% for AS.


You don't need 90% plus in all A2 units for an A* for domestic A levels. You need at least 180/200 UMS for a 4 unit A level and at least 270/300 at A2 for a 6 unit A level (slightly more complicated for Maths).
Original post by Compost
You don't need 90% plus in all A2 units for an A* for domestic A levels. You need at least 180/200 UMS for a 4 unit A level and at least 270/300 at A2 for a 6 unit A level (slightly more complicated for Maths).


Does this vary for linear versus non-linear A-Levels? In my unreformed courses we did need more than 90% across all modules at A2 for an A*. In ICT, for example, I got 81% and 82% last year, getting me an A, and 98% and 88% this year, and thus I got an A overall, despite the average resulting in over 90% for A2.

For my reformed subjects I believe we just needed more than 90% overall, or whatever the specific grade boundary was.
It's possible, my friend went from a C to an A* in geography.

An A* is 320 UMS in geog, you could get 128 (C) at AS and 192 (A*) at A2.
Original post by Compost
Which exam board is this with? You have never needed As in all units for an A* for English A levels.


I got an A* in OCR English Lit this year. When english was unreformed all you needed was an A at AS with A/very high B in the exam units along with high coursework to get an A*
Since English is now reformed, they have made it harder to get the A*. In OCR you do need to consistently get medium to high A/A* grades in all units in order to secure the 186+ out of 200 UMS threshold for the overall A*.
Eg. I got full UMS in my coursework (weighed lower at 20% of grade), an A* in one of my exams and a very high A in my other exam meaning I got enough UMS for an A*

Whereas my friend although she got an A* in her coursework, she didn't get enough UMS in her exams to get over the A* threshold so ended within the A boundary of 173-187.
So in order to get enough UMS to get into the A* overall, you need consistently high in all elements thus making it harder for lots of people to get A*s and toughing up the system. Since it is a three unit A-level, you need to do equally well in all units!
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by JezDayy
It's possible, my friend went from a C to an A* in geography.

An A* is 320 UMS in geog, you could get 128 (C) at AS and 192 (A*) at A2.


I was going to respond with something similar. If you are aiming for an A*, then you will need over 90% ums in ONLY A2 and 80%ums in AS and A2 together. I personally would retake the B because it is possible to miss the A* and end up with a B instead of an A. If you are confident that you can score highly in A2 then a retake may not be necessary.
Original post by xBasedChris
Does this vary for linear versus non-linear A-Levels? In my unreformed courses we did need more than 90% across all modules at A2 for an A*. In ICT, for example, I got 81% and 82% last year, getting me an A, and 98% and 88% this year, and thus I got an A overall, despite the average resulting in over 90% for A2.

For my reformed subjects I believe we just needed more than 90% overall, or whatever the specific grade boundary was.


The rules I have given are for modular A levels only - you have been misinformed if you think that you needed at least 90% UMS in each unit. In ICT I believe the units are not equally weighted which can cause some confusion. You just need at least 180 UMS from the 2. What UMS did you score in each unit?

Reformed A level do not have UMS or fixed grade boundaries. The marks required for an A* depend on the difficulty of the paper. For instance, in OCR Biology B you needed less than 66% to get an A* this year.
Original post by Neddie001
I got an A* in OCR English Lit this year. When english was unreformed all you needed was an A at AS with A/very high B in the exam units along with high coursework to get an A*
Since English is now reformed, they have made it harder to get the A*. In OCR you do need to consistently get medium to high A/A* grades in all units in order to secure the 186+ out of 200 UMS threshold for the overall A*.
Eg. I got full UMS in my coursework (weighed lower at 20% of grade), an A* in one of my exams and a very high A in my other exam meaning I got enough UMS for an A*

(I have amended my post above to show that when I wrote 'English A levels' I meant A levels in England.)

Whereas my friend although she got an A* in her coursework, she didn't get enough UMS in her exams to get over the A* threshold so ended within the A boundary of 173-187.
So in order to get enough UMS to get into the A* overall, you need consistently high in all elements thus making it harder for lots of people to get A*s and toughing up the system. Since it is a three unit A-level, you need to do equally well in all units!


You don't need to get any particular grade in a paper to get an A* overall - all that matters is the marks you score and how they add up. You quote OCR English (Literature I think) but for OCR Biology you could have scored 0 in Paper 3 and still have achieved an A*.

The % of students getting A* has gone up this year so i am not sure the reforms have made it harder to get one.
(edited 6 years ago)
Original post by Compost
You don't need to get any particular grade in a paper to get an A* overall - all that matters is the marks you score and how they add up. You quote OCR English (Literature I think) but for OCR Biology you could have scored 0 in Paper 3 and still have achieved an A*.

The % of students getting A* has gone up this year so i am not sure the reforms have made it harder to get one.


You must realise that the reforms haven't actually finished and although the percentage of A* has gone up overall in the reformed subjects it has not (it has in fact gone down a tiny bit). The reforms are not making it harder in some subjects but in other subjects that already had high-grade boundaries it is

All that matter is how your marks translate to UMS in comparison to the overall boundaries. English Lit, as I quoted, has always had VERY high boundaries in comparison to other subjects, therefore in that particular subject, you realistically did need to get As and above in all three elements. I am guessing in Biology if you got 0 in one paper (does seem unlikely) you would have to get higher in the other papers in order to gain back the potential UMS you had lost
Original post by Neddie001
All that matter is how your marks translate to UMS in comparison to the overall boundaries. E


There is no UMS in linear A levels. That is one of the fundamental changes in the way the grades are calculated.
Reply 18
Original post by Compost
Yes of course you can. It could be argued that anything more than 140 at AS is wasted effort as for an A* you need:

1.

At least 320 UMS overall

2.

At least 180 from the A2 units


We had someone this year who got a D at AS and has just achieved an A* (after re-sitting 1 AS unit).


I had 87/100 in coursework and 71/80 in the exam. Do you know what I would need to get at A2?
Original post by Jodie2199
I had 2 marks off an A (158) at AS, can I get an A* overall? Please help!


I did, Last year in year 12 I got a B in history and this year I got a A* overall, I haven't looked at the mechanics but a combination of a good teacher and actually working hard made it happen so I guess you can.

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