AQA UMS converter

AQA published the worked example this whole site's UMS pages lean on. In its own guide to the uniform mark scale, for a unit worth 30 per cent of a four-unit A-level, the maximum uniform mark is 120 and grade A runs from 96 to 120 - yet in AQA's example the raw mark that earned that A was 61 out of 80, about 76 per cent. The uniform mark is a position on a fixed scale, not a share of the marks you scored, and AQA says so in terms: the unit is not marked out of 120, and a student does not need 80 per cent of the raw marks to earn the A.

The fixed ladder is the same one every awarding body used: A at 80 per cent of the unit's maximum uniform mark, B at 70, C at 60, D at 50, E at 40, with legacy GCSE extending to A* at 90, F at 30 and G at 20. Between the published points the raw-to-uniform conversion is a straight line: in AQA's example a raw 43 became 60 UMS and a raw 49 became 72, so a raw 46, exactly halfway between, became 66. Above grade A sit two calculated points AQA also documents - the A* conversion point, which always converts to 90 per cent of the unit maximum, and the cap, the raw mark at which the full uniform mark is reached. The rules for placing both are set out with worked sessions on the UMS converter page.

Which AQA results actually carry UMS now? The reformed GCSEs, AS and A-levels sat in England are linear and have none - AQA's current grade boundaries guidance even warns that qualifications using uniform marks cannot be read against its raw-mark boundary tables. What still runs on uniform marks at AQA is its Applied General qualifications, for which AQA keeps publishing a separate uniform mark conversion each series, plus every legacy modular certificate still being read by an employer or admissions office today.

To convert a raw AQA mark, use your own session's boundaries. AQA publishes them with each set of results on the same grade boundaries pages; no other session's table applies, and no universal formula exists. With the published points in hand, the raw mark to UMS converter draws the same straight lines the awarding body draws. The full fixed ladder at every common unit maximum is set out on the UMS grade boundaries page, and the Edexcel and OCR pages cover the other boards' use of the same scale.

Does AQA still use UMS?

Only where qualifications remain modular. AQA's Applied General qualifications still carry uniform marks, and AQA publishes a uniform mark conversion for them each series. The reformed GCSEs, AS and A-levels are linear: no UMS anywhere on those results, which is why AQA warns that uniform-mark qualifications cannot be read against its raw boundary tables.

What are AQA's UMS grade boundaries?

The fixed national ladder: grade A at 80 per cent of the unit's maximum uniform mark, B at 70, C at 60, D at 50, E at 40 - and at legacy GCSE, A* at 90, F at 30, G at 20. On a unit with a 120 maximum that is 96, 84, 72, 60 and 48. These never moved between sessions; the raw marks needed to reach them moved every session.

How did AQA convert raw marks to UMS?

By linear interpolation between the session's published boundary points. In AQA's own example a raw 43 converted to 60 uniform marks and a raw 49 to 72, so a raw 46 - halfway between the raw points - converted to 66, halfway between the uniform ones. Rounding was always in the student's favour: down for raw boundaries, up for uniform marks.

What is the AQA UMS cap?

The raw mark at which a unit reaches its full uniform mark; anything above it earns nothing further. In AQA's published example for an A2 unit out of a raw 60, the cap fell at 57 in one session and 59 in another, and both converted to the full 80 uniform marks. That is why two students with different raw marks can both hold a perfect uniform score.

Where does AQA's A* conversion point sit?

It always converts to 90 per cent of the unit's maximum uniform mark - 72 on a unit whose maximum is 80. Its raw-mark position is calculated from the session's A and B boundaries under a rule AQA publishes, and the cap then sits as far above the A* point as grade A sits below it. The UMS converter page on this site walks through both branches of the rule with AQA's own session numbers.

Can I still convert an old AQA modular result?

Yes, and the arithmetic has not changed: find the series' published boundaries and read your raw mark against them, or enter the unit UMS percentages from your statement of results into the calculator above for the overall grade. Legacy certificates keep their value; what has gone is only the scale's use in new reformed qualifications.

Is this AQA UMS calculator free, with nothing uploaded?

Yes. No account and no upload - your units and marks are handled in your own browser and never reach a server, and the page keeps working offline once loaded.