GCE Results Summer 2008
Publication date: Thursday 14 August 2008
Please read these notes carefully, the rules for GCE A/AS level, AEA and additional (mathematics) results are quite complex and there are several important deadlines detailed below.
Publication of Results
The GCE AS/A Level results will be published on Thursday 14 August 2008. Results will be available on ePortal or may be obtained by telephoning 01439 766000 after 9 am. A student may only request his/her own results. Statements of Results will be posted to students on the day of publication. Additionally students who are expecting results from Edexcel may obtain them online and have been sent registration details and a PIN separately.
Post-results enquiries
Occasionally a grade received by a student is considerably lower than expected. If there is no obvious explanation for this a results enquiry might be considered for externally marked units. Please note that, normally, this service is not available for internally marked coursework.
All awarding bodies require that formal written consent is received from a candidate before any results enquiry is made. The completed blue form (EAR/GCE) enclosed with this notice must be received by the stated deadline. No results enquiry can be made by Ampleforth College without this written consent. We regret that we cannot accept verbal requests by candidates or their parents. If a candidate will not be in a position to sign a consent form when the results are published, steps should be taken to ensure that a properly signed form is available. An enquiry is only possible for units taken in May/June 2008.
Priority Results Enquiries
A priority post-results enquiry service is offered by awarding bodies for enquiries about GCE results ONLY for candidates whose Higher Education place depends on the outcome; priority requests must be lodged with the awarding bodies by Friday 22 August. In order for these to be processed the blue form (EAR/GCE) must be completed, signed by the student and sent by post or fax to Mrs EM Close, Examinations Officer, to arrive at the College no later than Wednesday 20 August. Only a re-mark without report is available for this service.
Non-priority Results Enquiries
Non-urgent requests for a results enquiry must be made to the College on blue form (EAR/GCE) by Thursday 11 September after which date no requests will be accepted.
In all cases a fee is payable in advance which ranges from £33 to £60 (provisional) per unit, depending on the subject and service requested. The fee is generally refunded if the enquiry results in a change of grade. As explained above, requests for results enquiries can only be accepted in writing using the appropriate form, signed by the student, and sent to Mrs Close to meet the relevant deadline.
Subject grades can go down as well as up
Overall subject grades for GCE exams can be lowered, stay the same or be raised as a result of an enquiry. This applies only to externally assessed components; any changes in marks for internally assessed work (e.g. coursework) can only result in a grade being raised or staying the same.
It is therefore essential that candidates are fully aware of the possible consequences of an enquiry before it is made and agree, in writing, to accept those consequences. We strongly recommend that the relevant head of department is consulted before an application is accepted. In the recent past it has not been unusual for the grades for externally assessed components to be lowered after an enquiry.
Return of Scripts
The fee, payable in advance, varies between awarding bodies but can be up to £12 (provisional) for a photocopy script and up to £10.00 (provisional) for the original script. An administrative charge of £2 will be added to this cost. Please contact Mrs Close (01439 766475) to register a request for a photocopy or original examination script. The enclosed consent form ‘Candidate Consent Form for use of Examination Scripts’ (pink) should be completed and returned to the Academic Office by post or fax.
1) Photocopied scripts
Photocopies of examination scripts for all GCE A/AS levels may be requested by Ampleforth College. The most likely use of this service is to help decide if a results enquiry is justified. Requests must be received by Mrs Close by Wednesday 20 August. This service is not available for priority enquiries. Photocopies of scripts will be returned with the results of both priority enquiries and non-priority enquiries, if requested at the time, and are subject to an additional fee. They may not be requested separately following the outcome of a results enquiry.
2) Original scripts
Original examination scripts may also be returned to candidates for all GCE examinations. The final date for request of these is Tuesday 23 September. Original scripts will be returned to centres no later than 15 November.
Certification
In order to receive an A or AS grade candidates must apply for certification as well as completing their A or AS units. Certification can be obtained at any time after the required number of units has been taken. Certification for AS and A level is treated differently as follows:
1) AS Certification
If a candidate is going on to A level in the subject, there is generally nothing to be gained by applying for certification now since the results of all units will count towards the A level grade. However, the best course of action will depend on the individual student and the subject being considered, but for the majority it is in their interests not to apply for certification until the results are known, decisions taken and alternatives discussed. In common with many schools, we have only applied for certification for any completed AS levels taken this year. For Year 13 and Year 12 this means slightly different things:
Year 13 will receive AS grades (January or June) in all subjects and A level grades (June) in the subjects they have taken on to A level.Year 12 will receive no overall certification for AS subjects. During the course of next academic year, we will apply for certification (January 2009) for any student not carrying on with a subject to A level once it is agreed that no re-takes are appropriate. Tutors will discuss the alternatives with students in September. The Head of Sixth form will also give advice.
2) A Level Certification
Certification has been requested for all A levels taken in year 13. Thus candidates will receive the results of their individual units plus an overall grade which is based on the total UMS mark obtained in that subject. The marks required for certain grades as well as the UCAS tariff for grades are all detailed overleaf.
Quality Assurance
We fully understand that parents and candidates are naturally anxious about results, and may be disappointed by unexpectedly low grades. We will do everything that we can to help within the rules detailed above. However, we are bound by the procedures of the awarding bodies.
AS and A level unit marks and aggregation
The raw mark for each unit is converted to a UMS (Uniform mark scale) mark in order to ensure comparability between units taken at different times. Overall subject grades are awarded on the TOTAL UMS mark according to a common scale. The UMS mark for individual units will be that quoted on the results slip and, if an individual grade for a unit is not shown (practice varies across the examination boards), the UMS mark to grade conversion is shown on the results slip. Where units have been retaken, it is the highest UMS mark for a unit that is counted.
The table below gives the total UMS marks required for overall subject grades at AS and A level. In the case of A level, the total UMS mark is the sum of the UMS marks for the 3 AS units and the 3 A level units.
Grade | AS Subject Award | A Level Subject Award |
A | 240 | 480 |
UCAS Points
All overall subject grades carry UCAS points. AS grades carry exactly half the UCAS points as A level; for example, a grade A in a subject at AS is worth 60 points. If that subject is taken onto A level and a grade A obtained, that 60 points becomes 120. If however, an A grade were obtained at AS and then a B grade at A level, the 60 points at AS would be converted to 100 points.
AS/3 Unit Award | A2/6 Unit Award | ||
A | 60 | A | 120 |