Can you carry forward an Ungraded AS result?

Although a candidate who receives an Ungraded AS result does not have an overall syllabus grade, they would still be likely to have achieved at least some marks, just not enough to reach the lowest grade's threshold. There is no issue with carrying forward AS marks from a U grade from an administrative point of view, as long as the normal carry forward rules are followed: the syllabus must offer carry forward options and the AS components need to have been sat within the standard 13 month period of the current entry.

We explain this in section 2.2 of our Carry-forward regulations supplement under the heading 'Rule 5: Candidates with U or X grades'. This guide can be found on this page of our website under 'Key documents for exams officers'.

However there is a question to be asked about whether, if the marks were only sufficient to receive an Ungraded AS result, the candidate really has the opportunity to get a strong result at A Level using these marks. It's not inconceivable that they could attain a full A Level grade this way as ultimately their syllabus grade will be made up of the total marks across all components. However it would be difficult because they would be starting from such a low baseline.

There would be an argument to say they would be better off attempting the full A Level (AS and A2 combined) in the current series with a view to improving their overall result. However, you may also wish to consider what we refer to as a 'Best of both' entry option. 

For information on the different types of AS & A Level entry option and how each works in practice, please refer to this article.