Award of A* grade at GCE A level (CIE)

Dear Alvaro,

Thank you for your email dated 08/10/2009.

Please note that your email has been passed to the relevant department for
advice. You will receive a full response to your query in due course.

Please contact us if you require further assistance.

Yours sincerely

Matthew Pink

Customer Services Advisor

University of Cambridge International Examinations
E-mail: [email address]
Phone: +44 (0)1223 553554
Fax : +44 (0)1223 553558

www: [1]http://www.cie.org.uk/

show quoted sections

Dear Alvaro,

Thank you for your email dated 08/10/2009.

Unfortunately we will not be able to provide the information you
require since the thresholds will not be determined until July 2010.

Please contact us if you require further assistance.

Yours sincerely

Matthew Pink

Customer Services Advisor

University of Cambridge International Examinations
E-mail: [email address]
Phone: +44 (0)1223 553554
Fax : +44 (0)1223 553558

www: [1]http://www.cie.org.uk/

show quoted sections

**Important Announcement**
The despatch of administrative and stationery materials for October/November 2009 examinations has been delayed. Centres should receive all necessary materials by Friday 16 October at the very latest.
If you do not receive the materials in time for the first examination please keep clear records of the candidate name and numbers attending each examination which can then be transferred to the Attendance Registers upon receipt. It is also important to ensure that all completed examination scripts are stored securely until your stationery materials arrive.
**This is an Automatic Acknowledgement - Please do not reply**

Thank you for your enquiry which is now receiving our attention. A full response will be sent to you shortly.
The case reference for this enquiry is the six digit number stated in the subject line. Please quote this case reference in the subject line when replying to this email or following up your enquiry.
Please note that all parents and candidates should correspond directly with the centre they are registered with on every aspect of the examinations. Answers to some frequently asked questions can be found by clicking here.
Yours sincerely

Customer Services
University of Cambridge International Examinations

----- Alvaro Nunez Wrote -----

Dear Mr Pink,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Further to our conversation, I would like to request:

(a) How exactly thresholds are determined at present.
(b) How exactly the threshold for A* grade will be determined in
July 2010.
(c) The thresholds for grade A* at the June 2009 IGCSE examination
session, for all IGCSE subjects.

Yours sincerely,

Alvaro Nunez

show quoted sections

Dear Alvaro,

Thank you for your email dated 12/10/2009.

Please note that your email has been passed to the relevant department for
advice. You will receive a full response to your query in due course.

Yours sincerely

Matthew Pink

Customer Services Advisor

University of Cambridge International Examinations
E-mail: [email address]
Phone: +44 (0)1223 553554
Fax : +44 (0)1223 553558

www: [1]http://www.cie.org.uk/

--Original Message--
From: [FOI #19818 email]
Date: 12/10/2009 19:31:25
To: [email address]
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Award of A* grade at GCE A
level (CIE)

Dear Mr Pink,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Further to our conversation, I would like to request:

(a) How exactly thresholds are determined at present.
(b) How exactly the threshold for A* grade will be determined in
July 2010.
(c) The thresholds for grade A* at the June 2009 IGCSE examination
session, for all IGCSE subjects.

Yours sincerely,

Alvaro Nunez

show quoted sections

Dear Alvaro,

From the June 2010 examination, Grade A* will be awarded at A Level to
candidates who obtain the required total mark across all the A Level
papers in that subject (including the AS Level papers).

The threshold for Grade A* will be set as many marks above the Grade A
threshold as the Grade B threshold is below it.

For example, in June 2009 a candidate taking A Level Economics via the
'linear' route needed a total of 142 marks out of 200 to obtain a Grade
A. The requirement for a Grade B was 128 marks. If we had issued Grade A*
in that session, the threshold would have been set at 156 out of 200. (If
statistical evidence suggested we should reduce the threshold from this
level we would do so, but we would not raise it.)

Whatever raw mark becomes the A* threshold - 156 in this example - will be
mapped onto a percentage uniform mark of 90%, just as 142 marks would be
mapped onto 80% and 128 marks onto 70%.

Obviously the thresholds that we use will not be determined until July
2010.

Yours sincerely

Customer Services Advisor
University of Cambridge International Examinations
E-mail: [email address]
Phone: +44 (0)1223 553554
Fax : +44 (0)1223 553558

www: [1]http://www.cie.org.uk/

--Original Message--
From: [FOI #19818 email]
Date: 12/10/2009 19:31:25
To: [email address]
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Award of A* grade at GCE A
level (CIE)

Dear Mr Pink,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Further to our conversation, I would like to request:

(a) How exactly thresholds are determined at present.
(b) How exactly the threshold for A* grade will be determined in
July 2010.
(c) The thresholds for grade A* at the June 2009 IGCSE examination
session, for all IGCSE subjects.

Yours sincerely,

Alvaro Nunez

show quoted sections

**Important Announcement**
The despatch of administrative and stationery materials for October/November 2009 examinations has been delayed. Centres should receive all necessary materials by Friday 16 October at the very latest.
If you do not receive the materials in time for the first examination please keep clear records of the candidate name and numbers attending each examination which can then be transferred to the Attendance Registers upon receipt. It is also important to ensure that all completed examination scripts are stored securely until your stationery materials arrive.
**This is an Automatic Acknowledgement - Please do not reply**

Thank you for your enquiry which is now receiving our attention. A full response will be sent to you shortly.
The case reference for this enquiry is the six digit number stated in the subject line. Please quote this case reference in the subject line when replying to this email or following up your enquiry.
Please note that all parents and candidates should correspond directly with the centre they are registered with on every aspect of the examinations. Answers to some frequently asked questions can be found by clicking here.
Yours sincerely

Customer Services
University of Cambridge International Examinations

----- Alvaro Nunez Wrote -----

Dear Mr Pink,

Again thank you for your prompt and detailed response.

I have one further question: Could you please explain the method
through which you determine the exact raw mark that translates into
a given percentage, ie how thresholds are determined?

Yours sincerely,

Alvaro Nunez

show quoted sections

Dear Alvaro,

To gain a qualification in a particular syllabus, candidates need to be
assessed in one or more ‘components’ - either examinations or pieces
of coursework (or both). For each component in turn the candidate is
awarded a total mark, which reflects their performance on that component
based on a pre-determined mark scheme. Once the distribution of
candidates’ marks for the component is known, ‘key’ grade thresholds
(or boundaries) are then determined – e.g. the threshold for a Grade A
is the minimum mark that a candidate would need to score to achieve a
Grade A on that component. The key grades are set for a particular
qualification, e.g. for IGCSE the key grades are A, C, E and F.

In determining grade thresholds, the objective is to maintain the same
standard from one examination session to the next, i.e. to set a threshold
for which the performance in the current session can be deemed equivalent
to that achieved by candidates at the threshold for the same grade in the
previous session. Grade thresholds are determined using a combination of
statistical information and professional judgment of the principal
examiners for the component and other components within the syllabus.
Grade thresholds are not necessarily kept the same from session to
session; for example, if the component is considered to have been more
difficult than in the previous session, threshold marks lower than those
used in the previous session might be considered.

Yours sincerely

Matthew Pink

Customer Services Advisor

University of Cambridge International Examinations
E-mail: [email address]
Phone: +44 (0)1223 553554
Fax : +44 (0)1223 553558

www: [1]http://www.cie.org.uk/

--Original Message--
From: [FOI #19818 email]
Date: 16/10/2009 18:59:03
To: [email address]
Subject: Re: Freedom of Information request - Award of A* grade at GCE A
level (CIE)

Dear Mr Pink,

Again thank you for your prompt and detailed response.

I have one further question: Could you please explain the method
through which you determine the exact raw mark that translates into
a given percentage, ie how thresholds are determined?

Yours sincerely,

Alvaro Nunez

show quoted sections