Exams Administration

Information and resources for exams officers to plan ahead and stay on track throughout the whole exams lifecycle, from entries to results day.

Applied Generals uniform mark conversion

Information on converting marks and grade boundaries for Applied Generals.

The relationship between raw marks, the uniform mark scale (UMS) and grades for each unit, and the entire qualification, is explained in depth in the ‘Grading’ section of the individual specifications.

Grade boundaries or the way in which unit-level results aggregate to a qualification grade may be subject to change, to maintain standards over time.

Converting raw marks to UMS

You can convert raw marks to UMS and view the grade boundaries in this spreadsheet:

External assignments and centre assessments

For each external assignment (Applied Business only) and centre assessment the maximum mark is 25. Students’ marks are multiplied by four to be converted into uniform marks. This means that students with the same grade on a unit may not have the same number of uniform marks.

External exams

In external exams the conversion to uniform marks is dependent on the positions of the raw mark grade boundaries. This means that a student with a raw mark well above a grade boundary will receive a higher uniform mark than a student closer to the boundary.

Grade boundaries

The tables on the grade boundaries worksheet of the spreadsheet (207.69 KB) contain the conversion points used to calculate uniform marks. The conversion points are the three grade boundaries, the zero point, the maximum point and the cap. A straight-line graph is drawn between consecutive points to convert the grades to uniform marks.

Qualification grades

The final grade for the qualification is calculated by adding together the uniform marks for all the required units and then using the tables in the ‘Grading’ section of that specification to convert the total into a grade.

Notional N grade

The rule that all students must pass every unit in order to pass the qualification has been relaxed slightly. A student may now pass the qualification if he/she has the required total number of uniform marks and no more than one N grade in the Certificate or two N grades in the Extended Certificate. A notional N (near-miss) will be awarded on all units when the student has a uniform mark of between 30 and 39. The notional N is not set in terms of raw marks.