worried i won't meet my entry requirements

what the title says. I need A*AA for law at Durham, and should get an A* in English Lit and maybe one in History. but I'm so worried about Religious Studies.
i take Pearson Edexcel as my exam board, and it's 219/240 for an A*, with 198/240 for an A in 2024; personally i think those boundaries are criminal. I got A*A*C across my 3 RS papers in my mocks, but they were only /40, not /80. my first paper is soon, and i'm so worried i'll get a B and miss my offer because of theology.
any thoughts???????

what the title says. I need A*AA for law at Durham, and should get an A* in English Lit and maybe one in History. but I'm so worried about Religious Studies.
i take Pearson Edexcel as my exam board, and it's 219/240 for an A*, with 198/240 for an A in 2024; personally i think those boundaries are criminal. I got A*A*C across my 3 RS papers in my mocks, but they were only /40, not /80. my first paper is soon, and i'm so worried i'll get a B and miss my offer because of theology.
any thoughts???????

thank you both. tbh it might just be the stress talking. my best bet is ti just get on with it and see where i am in august i suppose!

thank you both. tbh it might just be the stress talking. my best bet is ti just get on with it and see where i am in august i suppose!

what the title says. I need A*AA for law at Durham, and should get an A* in English Lit and maybe one in History. but I'm so worried about Religious Studies.
i take Pearson Edexcel as my exam board, and it's 219/240 for an A*, with 198/240 for an A in 2024; personally i think those boundaries are criminal. I got A*A*C across my 3 RS papers in my mocks, but they were only /40, not /80. my first paper is soon, and i'm so worried i'll get a B and miss my offer because of theology.
any thoughts???????

Dont worry alot of people are feeling the same way, Im trying to get into Bio in Durham and I'm worried to not meet my grade too. Best advice I can give and am taking, just try not to worry and just do you're best, It'll work out

I have the same entry requirements, subjects and exam boards lol except I’m going to Warwick hopefully.
With RS being my best subject and having a previous examiner and teacher he says that as long as you have a discriminating philosopher or more to validate your point, and then subsequently you validate the point you will be okay. Remember that 40% content and 60% evaluation! Even a sentence more per evaluation, perhaps concluding or elaborating further on your topic would get you that extra grade. Even being able to elaborate on the context of the philosopher, whether that is the inclusion of the book they write their theory in eg ‘Summa Theologica’ for Aquinas or historical background in support eg. ‘Anselm’s ontology is based on the fact that he was contemplating the belief in God in the 11th Century’ would get you into that band 5. You got this, just make sure your argument is logical and coherent. Xx

Hey thank you so much! I think I may have been catastrophising because Philosophy yesterday went very, very well! I have a tendency to panic haha. xx

Me too girl don’t worry (history tomorrow)

I know it sounds harsh, but the proportion of people getting an a* will be the same across subjects, so it's just people are in general much better at RS/it's an easier subject. Maybe for you you'll find the full thing easier, good luck!

That's not true - more people get A* in some subjects - there's not a cap on the number or a set % across all subjects.
in 2024 16.9% got A* in A level Maths, it was 28% in Further Maths and RS was 6%
Who told you RS was 'easier' - it is not.

Why are you comparing further maths with RS? Further maths is self-selecting, to do it you almost always have to get a 9, and if we're being honest the people who do it are already excellent at maths. Same for maths. These A levels are not comparable as they require high GCSE grades to do - making them attract those with better proficiency in the subject compared to others.
On the other hand, RS does not typically require any GCSE requirements, or they are at least far less strict. Other examples of essay based subjects with less strict entry requirements include English lit (9%), Geography, (6%), Politics (8%), and History (6%).
Also, what I meant was the RS paper would be easier in comparison to another subject such as maths, when comparing the level of content studied. This justifies higher grade boundaries. I am not saying they are easier on an absolute level, but when compared with the content studied, I would assume it would make sense why the grade boundaries are >90%.

I didn't say maths was easier. I said the paper may be easier in relation to the content.
I don't think modern languages are a good example:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8647367/Sixty-cent-German-level-students-A.html, https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/apr/21/german-native-speakers-a-level-grades-ofqual
The numbers are skewed by native speakers.
So, when we look at it excluding further maths and maths (as I've already said, far more self selecting and strict requirements), and modern languages, where the figures are skewed by native speakers, the stats start to look different. When comparing with essay-based and similar subjects with more similar requirements (i.e little requirements) the results are more accurate, as the range/average ability of the students studying those subjects at the start of year 12 will be similar, because they don't require strict grades to study. That's why we see the same A* rates among all of the essay based subjects.

You quote the Daily Fail [2020 when exams weren't even sat] to support your wrong point and an article EIGHT years old?
Just admit you are wrong -
The A* % is not 'the same' anyway Economics 7.6% is not 'the same' as History 5.7% is it?

I admit I am wrong on the fact that A levels have the same proportion of A stars.
I didn't even mention economics, and I would say a 2% difference in A* attainment is reasonable grounds for saying the difficulty of subjects are broadly the same, when we take into account the fact they have similar entry requirements. This is the same across all essay based subjects
Anyway, why are you even having this argument?