AS and A2 courses will be separated and AS courses will no longer contribute to the final A2 grade. The new A-Levels will be taught from September 2015. The first examinations for the new A-Levels will be in 2016.
Predicted grades will be given less importance by universities due to the new separation of AS and A2 courses. Predicted grades are grades assigned by teachers that “predict” student’s A2 marks based on their AS results and general performance in their courses. They are often inaccurate and open to bias.
Students will have to be equally dedicated to their AS and A2 courses due to the new separation. Previously, students may have been complacent during their AS courses, believing they could “make up” lost marks with hard work during their A2 courses. This will no longer be the case and they will need to be equally committed to both parts of their A-Levels.
Exams will be taken at the end of AS and A2 courses, as the modular option will be scrapped. This means that students will not be able to sit for modular papers at different times of the year at the end of a course topic.