An Appraisal of A-Level and University Examination Results for Engineering Undergraduates

Abstract

The examination performance of Mechanical Engineering undergraduate students from two comparable UK universities over a three-year study period is analysed. For each student group the examination results from each year of study are compared with each other, with the third-year project mark, with A-level results and with the results of a prior knowledge assessment test using a ranking correlation technique. The significance of the derived correlation coefficients is assessed and discussed. Subsequently, third-year marks are further appraised in relation to the combined A-level ‘score’ and A-level Mathematics ‘grade’, and the distribution of the differences between third- and first-year marks is examined.