Can I still get DDD?

What happened to unit 7? When last you posted you said, "Unit 7 - Pass (23/50) (I am resitting it because i was 2 marks off of a merit)".

In my post #15 I had to make several assumptions, as you didn't mention when you took the external (examined) units, so I randomly picked a set of grade boundaries to use (well, I actually used two sets). That impacts how you marks are converted to points. Also, I pointed out that "Unit 5 - Merit (59/90)" could not be accurate, as Unit 5 is marked out of 120.

The changes you'd just mentioned (Unit 6 and Unit 21 going form a Pass to a Merit) change the baseline scenario above from a total of 182 points (DMM) to 192 points (still DMM). You need 196 points for a DDM. My baseline scenario assumed that in those two outstanding units (Unit 10 and Unit 19) you achieved a Pass. You just need either of those to be a Merit to get to the magic 196 points and DDM.

If Unit 21 does get "bumped up to a Distinction" then even with Units 10 and 19 at a Pass, you'd get 198 overall (DMM).

Note, however, that as you're so close to the DMM / DDM boundary, the assumptions I've had to make could be significant. So if you could clarify when you took each exam and what mark you got for Unit 5, that'd be good.

I took the Unit 1 and Unit 3 exams during January 2022 and the Unit 5 and Unit 7 exams during January 2023.

I made a mistake with calculating the grade with Unit 5, you are correct it was out of 120, (I thought it was 30 marks for each science subject but it was 40 marks per science subject)sorry about that.

I'd also like to ask how you converted the test results into points for the grade calculator. I used your links but could not find how to convert the raw marks into points. Please can you tell me how to so i can adjust it for when I get my results for my Unit 7 resit.

Other than that, thank you very much for helping me so far.

Converting Marks to Points

The conversion from marks isn't terribly straight forward, unfortunately.

I'll use your previous Unit 7 mark of 23/50 as an example. You took that in January 2023, so we look up the grade boundaries for that exam series here. Within that document you'll find "BTEC Level 3 Nationals in Applied Science" on page 6, where is shows that for Unit 7 you'd need 16/50 for a Pass and 25/50 for a Merit. That's a 9 mark difference. You'll also see that is a 120 GLH unit.

On page 3 you'll see that a Pass in a 120 GLH unit earns you 12 points and that a Merit earns you 20 points. An 8 point difference. Below that table it says, "Points are awarded on a sliding scale between the grade boundaries based on the number of raw marks achieved by each learner." This "sliding scale" means that if you were half-way between a Pass and Merit in terms of marks, then you'll be awarded the points half-way between a Pass and a Merit.

Or, to put in another way, each 1 mark between a Pass and a Merit in Unit 7 for January 2023 earns you 8/9 of a point above that which you would have got for a "minimal" Pass of 16/50. So you'd have got 12 points for the Pass, plus 8/9 x 7 - because you were 7 marks over the Pass boundary of 16/50. That's 12 (the points for a 16/50 pass) plus 6.22 points from the "sliding scale" part, or 18 points (rounding down). That's why in the spreadsheet I had this unit down as 18 points.

I did tell you is wasn't very straight forward!

January 2022 vs. January 2023

Earlier I said, "I've used the January 2023 boundaries below as the January 2022 boundaries were slightly lower and the June 2022 boundaries were slightly higher - so they're a reasonable approximation of a mid-point."

For Unit 1 you got 44/90. The January 2023 boundaries (which I'd used) were 41 for a Merit and 59 for a Distinction, whilst the January 2022 boundaries were 40 for a Merit and 58 for a Distinction.

Using the January 2023 boundaries, I did:
15 + ((24 - 15) / (59 - 41)) x 3 = 15 + (9 / 18) x 3 = 16.5 (which I rounded down to 16, as I assume that's what they'd do)
Using the January 2022 boundaries, I get:
15 + ((24 - 15) / (58 - 40)) x 4 = 15 + (9 / 18) x 4 = 17.0

For Unit 3 you got 34/60. The January 2023 Merit boundaries were 26 for a Merit and 38 for a Distinction, whilst the January 2022 boundaries were 27 for a Merit and 39 for a Distinction.

Using the January 2023 boundaries, I did:
20 + ((32 - 20) / (38 - 26)) x 8 = 20 + (12 / 12) x 8 = 28
Using the January 2022 boundaries, I get:
20 + ((32 - 20) / (39 - 27)) x 7 = 20 + (12 / 12) x 7 = 27

So the change in grade boundaries moves your points for Unit 1 up by 1 and for Unit 3 down by 1. So you'd still be on 192 points (DMM) if Unit 10 and Unit 19 are a Pass and Unit 21 stays at a Merit.

Thank you very much for your help! I have achieved DDM and am now going to my desired uni, Good luck to you!

That's excellent news! Well done! (And thank you for updating this thread - it's always good to learn how things turned out.)

Hello! I am in my first year of this course (BTEC Extended Diploma in applied science) and i just would like to know what i would get at the end of my first year as that is most important for unis to know. Please could you work out my end grade from these units Unit 1 - DistinctionUnit 2 - MeritUnit 3 - Distinction Unit 4 - MeritUnit 8 - DistinctionUnit 9 - Distinction

The BTEC re-sit rules are very clear and are detailed here:
"Learners are permitted to resit the external assessment twice. This equates to THREE attempts in total - one inclusive of registration, the remaining two attempts as re-sits.
If learners resit an externally assessed unit, the best grade achieved will count towards their overall qualification grade, not necessarily the most recent sitting."
The above would only make sense if you could retake in an attempt to improve your grade (e.g. change a Pass to a Merit). However, your college might have their own internal re-take policy which prevents you retaking a unit which you've passed. The BTEC rules allow you to do so, so insist your college allow you to if that's what you want to do.
Your question about the potential to obtain DDD is a bit more complicated. The fact that you refer to that grade suggests that it is an Extended Diploma you're taking. Is that right? That's a 13-unit course, and you've only mentioned the grade in 2 of those units. It's therefore a bit soon to be extrapolating potential outcomes.
For the externally assessed (i.e. examined units) you actually receive grade points, which are then mapped to a grade (pass/merit/distinction); the points you get can impact the overall grade. So I'm going to assume that for units 1 and 3 you achieved the highest points you could, whilst still being a pass. For unit 1 that would be 14 (out of 24); for unit 3 that would be 19 (out of 32).
If you receive a distinction is every internal (coursework-based) unit, and you just scrape a pass in the other two external (examined) units - 5 and 7 - then you'd get a DDD overall. However, if any two of those internal (coursework) units were a merit, then the overall grade would drop to a DDM. Getting more points (and hence a better grade) in the remaining external (examined) units would allow more of the internal (coursework) units to be a merit and still allow a DDD overall.
The rules for BTEC grades are almost unfathomable. I can give you a much better answer if you:
(a) Confirm it's an Extended Diploma you're taking (not a Foundation Diploma, Extended Certificate, etc).
(b) Add some precision to your "I’ve been getting merits and distinctions in my assignments" phrase. Have you been awarded a grade for any of the internally assessed units yet? If so, which ones?
(c) State the unit points you obtained in units 1 and 3 (not just the grade).

hi, thank you for helping berrybeom with her questions, I'm doing an Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care Level 3 and I have two passes so far in unit 11 and unit 12. My exams for unit 1 and unit 2 are not yet out but the lowest I would probably get for those two units would be a merit. Is it still possible to get a DDD if I do well for the remainder of my other units?