Do Expired IB Grades Matter If My A-Levels Are Strong

2

Hi everyone,

I didn’t apply to universities over 5 years ago due to a 5 in IB HL Maths, which wasn't competitive for my preferred schools. I recently completed 3 A-Levels in the same subjects and got an A in Maths.

Will my expired IB score negatively impact my chances, even with strong A-Level grades? How much do universities weigh older IB results? Any anecdotes or insights would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Reply 1

mesub

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

22

Original post

by 2qualifications

Hi everyone,

I didn’t apply to universities over 5 years ago due to a 5 in IB HL Maths, which wasn't competitive for my preferred schools. I recently completed 3 A-Levels in the same subjects and got an A in Maths.

Will my expired IB score negatively impact my chances, even with strong A-Level grades? How much do universities weigh older IB results? Any anecdotes or insights would be appreciated!

Thanks!

They probably won't bother too much with it as you've gotten more recent qualifications of the same "level" (i.e., in terms of recognised qualifications for admission into university).

Do make sure you declare them though on UCAS. It's part of the declaration you sign when sending off your application.

Reply 2

2qualifications

OP

2

Original post

by mesub

They probably won't bother too much with it as you've gotten more recent qualifications of the same "level" (i.e., in terms of recognised qualifications for admission into university).
Do make sure you declare them though on UCAS. It's part of the declaration you sign when sending off your application.

Thank you for your reply! I know I have to declare both, but I’m wondering if my suboptimal IB grades will lead to an automatic rejection. Some admissions officers I contacted said they look at both. Any insights would be appreciated!

Reply 3

thegeek888

18

Original post

by 2qualifications

Hi everyone,
I didn’t apply to universities over 5 years ago due to a 5 in IB HL Maths, which wasn't competitive for my preferred schools. I recently completed 3 A-Levels in the same subjects and got an A in Maths.
Will my expired IB score negatively impact my chances, even with strong A-Level grades? How much do universities weigh older IB results? Any anecdotes or insights would be appreciated!
Thanks!

@DataVenia has experience of this topic and has answered similar questions before from posts I've read. 😉 lol

Reply 4

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post

by thegeek888

@DataVenia has experience of this topic and has answered similar questions before from posts I've read. 😉 lol

Thanks for the tag @thegeek888, although I tend to be better at more specific questions - e.g. about policies at a specific university. Any question which starts "How much do universities..." - suggesting that they all think with one hive mind - is going to be tricky. :smile:

Original post

by 2qualifications

Hi everyone,

I didn’t apply to universities over 5 years ago due to a 5 in IB HL Maths, which wasn't competitive for my preferred schools. I recently completed 3 A-Levels in the same subjects and got an A in Maths.

Will my expired IB score negatively impact my chances, even with strong A-Level grades? How much do universities weigh older IB results? Any anecdotes or insights would be appreciated!

Thanks!

The short answer is that I don't know. I would tend to assume that, in general, your IB grades will be ignored as they've been superseded by your A level grades. However, if they had one last offer to hand-out and it was a between you and another candidate, then you might lose-out to that other candidate if they didn't have that "blemish" on their academic profile.

The best people to answer this sort of question would be those who work in admissions, and you say above that "Some admissions officers I contacted said they look at both" - which seems like a reasonable answer to your question. Some will care; some will not.

Do Expired IB Grades Matter If My A-Levels Are Strong

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