A question which often seems to interest and intrigue schoolteachers is to what extent A-level grades provide good predictions of final degree classification. It has been suspected by many university mathematics departments that the answer is ‘not very much’, and that other factors play a considerable rôle. This note provides some evidence in favour of this contention. The table below indicates what happened to 589 students (see Note 1) who entered a particular university mathematics department over a period of five years, 1971-75, and who were therefore expected to graduate in the years 1974-78.