GCSE & A Level Grades in UK - Marks Percentages

[alice137]

I am unfamilier with the Grading System in UK.

What percentage of marks does 'A' and 'A*' corrospond to in the GCSE examinations?

And how much percentage of marks does 'AAA' corrospond to in the A levels. Great big thanks to any help.

 

[cristo]

I'm not really sure that there are standard answers to these questions. It will depend on the examination board and the subject. That said, I remember my maths A level teacher giving my class a talk on the first day of the year. She said that, whilst most of the class may have got an A*, you can still have got 1/5 of the exam incorrect, so don't get cocky yet! If I remember this correctly (I'm not 100% certain whether she was talking about A or A*) then an A* at GCSE is roughly a mark of 80%. But, note that this is NOT set in stone-- the number of A*s given out is a percentage of the total people that have taken the exam, so it can vary quite a bit.

As for A level-- I think again an A is given for marks about 80%. I'm not too sure what you're asking regarding the "AAA". Are you asking how many "points" this is worth (as in, how many UCAS points for applying to university?)

 

[alice137]

Yes. I actually came across "AAA" for the first time while applying to http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/how_to_apply/index.html" (See under the heading "Late December 2008/January 2009". And please tell about "UCAS application". I have no idea about that.

 

[Mike Cookson]

Hi Alice,
As Cristo has already said the percentage of marks required for grades at GCSE and A-level depend on the examination body, subject and also the year the test is taken in. Some papers are found to be harder than others so the boundaries for each mark are altered to get the expected distribution of grades across the country.

I would hazard a guess at a spread some thing like 90%A* 80%A 70%B and so on for GCSE, and something similar for A-level just without the A*.

Now about UCAS. Basically it's a system that you use to apply to universities in the UK. It's like a collated admissions system. You input your data once select the universities you want to apply to and then they basically send the uni all the data and keep you informed of the application process, offers of places etc. It isn't that complex, I'm guessing that your not from the UK so I imagine the system will be different for you than it was for myself and other UK students. I would head over to the UCAS site.

This page on the UCAS website should help.
http://www.ucas.com/students/nonukstudents/

 

[cristo]

If you're an international student, take a look at the following website-- it tells you the entrance requirements for different qualifications: http://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate_courses/international_students/international_qualifications/