Cashback skewing proper choice via UCAS system

kayr_2

All I know about UMS scores is that Cambridge require them to be divulged - they have done work on linking performance at AS with performance at degree level and so use them when considering whether to make an offer. Don't know any other universities which do that but wouldn't surprise me if they did/do in the future as it's a way of distinguishing between the A student at 81 and the A student with 99 - quite a difference. I think if you have got particularly high scores your school ref would mention it? An offer wouldn't include them. However if he is consistently getting high 80s/90s it would give a clue as to possible performance at A2 and the likelihood of getting the required grades. So by May when he has to decide on offers he should only have 3/4 modules left and a pretty good idea of what he might get overall.

As for actually getting an offer, he either will or won't, and it can seem like a bit of a lottery (as admissions people have been known to admit though they do try very hard to make fair decisions). However once the offers are in this should make subsequent choices easier. I have found department websites very clear on requirements etc and if your son isn't sure about something they seem very happy to respond to an email enquiry and are extremely open about what they want. You might find out a lot of useful information buried in a lot of rubbish on https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk if you search for Imperial/relevant course name.

About the A*AA figures: I haven't a clue - 8% of grades are A* but this varies according to subject eg Further Maths is about 30% because you don't really take the A2 unless you can do it pretty well. I would be quite surprised if 17% got A*AA but what do I know? Good luck to your son!

2sides2everystory

I thought I read last week that 12.5% of total A level students achieved 3 As ? (8 x 12.5% = 100% ) - That's where my numbers came from anyway (but I got an E in Further Maths!!)

kayr_2

I got the 17% figure from here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/7468400/Pupils-scoring-three-As-at-A-level-double-under-Labour.html
but of course that's for 3 As not A*AA! Can't find any figures for that but getting an A* isn't that easy. For engineering students would be doing Maths which has a relatively high A* rate.

2sides2everystory

Yeah you are right about the news story AAA versus the A*AA I was talking about but again as you say, the A* is almost a given for an engineering student because a love of maths is I think both a common characteristic and a necessity.

So, 1 in 8 or 1 in 6 ... it is still a very difficult pool of top graders to fathom if you are deciding who deserves places at your top 5 uni.

Oldernotwiser

kayr wrote: »

I got the 17% figure from here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/secondaryeducation/7468400/Pupils-scoring-three-As-at-A-level-double-under-Labour.html
but of course that's for 3 As not A*AA! Can't find any figures for that but getting an A* isn't that easy. For engineering students would be doing Maths which has a relatively high A* rate.

And yet the Engineering Council deplore the current level of Maths in undergraduate Engineers.

http://www.engc.org.uk/ecukdocuments/internet/document%20library/Measuring%20the%20Mathematic%20Problems.pdf

2sides2everystory

Yes which basically shows perhaps that my B in Maths / E in Further Maths in the 70s might well equate to something like low UMS score A* / B in new money.

To be able to undertake proper scientific research or cutting edge engineering the level of mathematical ability has not changed over the decades - the maths in the pink background of that paper ONW has kindly supplied is of course chickenfeed compared to what has always been required.

Oldernotwiser

2sides2everystory wrote: »

Yes which basically shows perhaps that my B in Maths / E in Further Maths in the 70s might well equate to something like low UMS score A* / B in new money.
.

Well bless my soul - we've finally found a subject on which we're in total agreement!

2sides2everystory

Goodness ... next we'll be singing "After changes we are more or less the same" (La-la-li-li, la-la-li, la-la-li-la-la-li-la-la-li )

Taiko

I know there's a chill in the air, but has hell actually frozen over?

Oldernotwiser

Peace, man!