Some students believe that no exams in school really matter. They may believe that the only ones that do are their actual A-Levels or Scottish Highers. However, this is not the case at all! The tests and exams you do all throughout you’re A-Level or Scottish Higher years actually help to determine your predicted grades. Many students believe that predicted grades don’t matter because they may not be fully representative of how they will do in the exam. However, you need to be aware that predicted grades may be more important than you might be thinking.
Put simply, universities do care about predicted grades. This is because your predicted grades provide universities with an indication of the grades you are likely to achieve from your exams at the end of the year. However, they do take all elements of your application into account when deciding if you should receive an offer or not.
If you want to discover more about whether universities care about predicted grades and why this is the case, carry on reading!
How important are predicted grades to universities?
Predicted grades are important to universities. This is because they give an indication about how hard you work and how much effort you put into your studies.
If you work hard for your A-Levels or Scottish Highers, you are more likely to work hard at university. Therefore, your predicted grades can affect whether a university gives you an offer or not.
However, predicted grades aren’t the be all and end all. They are only a part of your application and admissions teams take your whole application into account.
For example, if you have lots of experience in regard to your course and impressive references, you could be given an offer even if your grades don’t meet the entry requirements. This is because universities may see potential in you.
Check out this article from the University of Newcastle to find out more about universities views on predicted grades. If you want to discover how important predicted grades actually are, check out this article from Think Student.
What happens if your predicted grades are low?
This question is potentially on a lot of student’s minds. It is common knowledge that most students don’t actually try very hard in Year 12, so may end up with low predicted grades.
Alternatively, their predicted grades may be low because the jump from GCSE to A-Level. Some students definitely find this step up difficult.
However, most universities are prepared to actually lower the usual criteria of grades needed for their courses, in order to accommodate many students. This is because as the name suggests, these grades are only predicted – you may do much better in the real exams.
Some universities also offer contextual offers. This is the case if you live in a socially deprived area or have suffered circumstances which may affect your grades. To find out more about contextual offers, check out this article from the UCAS blog.
If you want to find out more about how lenient universities are with grades, click here to check out an article from Think Student exploring this.
How accurate are predicted grades?
Predicted grades are usually pretty accurate. This is because they are carefully considered by your teachers, who can use evidence from tests and exams to make truly representative and reliable predictions. If you want to find out how predicted grades are calculated, check out this article from Think Student.
However, it is true that some teachers may give lower grades than what the student will actually achieve in their exams. This is because they may just not have the evidence available to give higher grades.
Alternatively, teachers may give grades that are too high and overestimate the student’s capabilities. This means that predicted grades may not actually be accurate from many students.
As a result, universities do not only look at predicted grades. To find out about how teachers try to make their predictions as accurate as possible, check out this article from UCAS.
References from teachers and personal statements are also extremely important. Therefore, make sure you spend enough time on your personal statement to make it stand out.
If you are struggling to think of things you can put in your personal statement, check out this article from Think Student for some useful ideas.
Remember, just try your hardest to get the best predicted grades that you can. The work will certainly pay off!