Cambridge Advanced 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. 

Calculating examined unit grades

1. 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.
2. 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 boundaries should be.
3. The raw marks for the unit are converted to a UMS.

Calculating non-examined assessment unit grades

1. Students complete their work which is marked by their teacher to determine the number of criteria they have achieved for the unit. 
2. The moderation process checks there are no issues identified with the marking of any criteria.
3. The raw marks or number of criteria achieved are converted to a UMS.

Details of the number of criteria and UMS marks available for each unit can be found in section 6.4 (Grading and awarding grades) of the specifications.

You can use our raw mark to UMS converter to convert raw marks to UMS marks for any unit from the available series.

An example of UMS in practice

Li and Alex both sat a Cambridge Advanced Nationals exam unit, but in different exam series. 

The examined unit taken was marked out of 70. This 'raw mark' is then converted to a UMS, also out of 70. 

Both papers are marked out of 70 and both students score 41. But, as Li’s exam included more complex questions than Alex’s, the grade boundary for achieving a merit is set at 40. Alex’s exam was relatively straightforward and the grade boundary is set at 42. 

Therefore, for this unit, Li achieves a merit and Alex achieves a pass. Their marks are converted to UMS (out of a maximum of 70): 

• Alex’s 41 raw marks convert to 40 uniform marks (pass) 
• Li’s 41 raw marks convert to 42 uniform marks (merit).

For more explanation and examples, see our support centre.

Calculating the overall qualification grade

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. 

Both the unit uniform marks and grades, and the final uniform mark and grade are given on the results slip.