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Now Imperial College demands A* at A-level
Ellen Widdup18 Mar 2009
IMPERIAL College London is to join Cambridge University in demanding the new A* A-level grade from students.
The university said it would require an A* in maths and two As in "relevant subjects" for seven of its 16 undergraduate courses, including physics and mechanical engineering, when the grade is introduced next year.
Imperial said it was still looking at whether the A* would remove the need for its own tests.
A spokeswoman said at this stage it would continue developing its in-house test because "a lot [of candidates] are still going to have identical qualifications - people with the A*".
A spokeswoman for Cambridge suggested the A* grades would lessen the need for the university to devise its own tests.
"To facilitate Cambridge being seen as open to everybody, the fewer Cambridge-specific hoops people have to jump through the better," she said.
Students will be awarded A* grades if they score at least 90 per cent in the second year of A-level study and an A in the course as a whole.
Reader views (3)
Yes, but the A* allows universities to make more challenging offers. At present, universities can still only make an offer of AAA, regardless of module marks etc. Remember that most offers are conditional and made pre-A-Level.
- Joe Fitzpatrick, Luton, UK, 25/08/2009 14:25
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they already do all release their module grades to students, then they declare them in university application
- Jason Bracknell, Manchester, UK, 14/05/2009 12:06
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If the examiantion boards simply released the module marks at A Level to the universities, there would be no need for a) universities' own tests or for A* grades. And another tier of administration, and pressure on young people, would be removed.
- Alice Phillips, Bramley, Surrey, UK, 23/03/2009 18:00
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