Cambridge Nationals are 'unitised qualifications', which means they are designed to be taken in chunks, or units, throughout the course. Marks (and unit grades) are accumulated along the way, and when all the required units have been taken, an overall grade is issued. Since exam papers can vary in difficulty from one series to the next, a common scale is used (called the uniform mark scale or UMS) to make sure marks gained on an easier paper do not advantage candidates compared with those who gain marks on a harder paper.
The grade of the overall qualification is calculated by adding together the uniform marks achieved in the individual units. This gives candidates a final uniform mark which is compared against the overall UMS grade boundaries.
For unitised qualifications, both the unit uniform marks and grades, and the final uniform mark and grade are given on the results slip.
How is the UMS calculated?
- Students sit the exam and the script is marked by an examiner according to a set of strict criteria. The examiner then calculates the raw mark.
- An awarding meeting takes place, with a group of experienced senior examiners comparing papers from that year with previous papers and statistics. Using their professional judgement they decide what the grade thresholds should be.
- The raw marks for the unit are converted to a UMS.
- Grades are awarded.
An example of UMS in practice
Mia and Mohammed both sat a Cambridge Nationals unit, but in different exam series.
There are four, equally weighted units needed to achieve the qualification. Both papers are marked out of 60 and both students score 31. But, as Mia's exam included more complex questions than Mohammed's, the grade boundary for achieving a Distinction at Level 1 (D1) is set at 30. Mohammed's exam was relatively straightforward and the grade boundary is set at 32.
Therefore, for this unit, Mia achieves a D1 and Mohammed achieves a Merit at Level 1 (M1). Their marks are converted to UMS (out of a maximum of 60) as shown below.
Mohammed therefore has 31 raw marks with the D1 boundary for his unit set at 32. When this is converted into UMS, he has 29 uniform marks.
Mia also has 31 raw marks with the D1 boundary for her unit set at 30. When this is converted into UMS, she has 31 uniform marks.
