Almost three quarters of schools are intending to offer de-coupled AS exams in summer 2016 according to recent research from UCAS.

The A and AS Level survey results show common reasons for continuing with the AS include: its usefulness as a measure of progress; the availability of an exam should students drop a subject after one year; maintenance of a breadth of study; and support for predicted grades.

Key findings from the survey:

• 59% of schools/colleges will offer the AS in all subjects in 2015 (up from 52% in the previous UCAS survey published in January 2015). 74% will offer the AS in some form.
• Independent schools were less likely to offer the AS qualification than state schools and academies.
• 64% of respondents intend to revisit their decision about AS provision in 2017, once all A Level subjects are reformed. 
• 49% of respondents did not feel they had sufficient information about qualification reform when making decisions on future provision.  
• There is a high level of individuality behind decisions made by schools and colleges.
• University entry was the second most common key driver behind maintaining the AS. However, this was to a lesser extent than shown in the previous survey.