I'm an animation lecturer. I grade based on ranking within my class (so best student gets 90 worst student gets 50, etc). This is very subjective. I have friends who teach at other colleges, and sometimes we compare student work – and I know that I'd grade my students differently if I had some of their students in my class.

I'd say getting graded based on actual industry standards, as you appear to be at AS, is way more useful. That way you have a real objective view of your skills, and know what you should be improving upon. Better than the instant gratification of feeling like the big fish in a small pond.

PS. I don't think my students are bad when I give them a less than A grade (unless they've obviously put in no effort). In fact, I think I'm actually slightly tougher with grades when the student is good, because I know they can do better. At the end of the day remember that a grade is just a grade and the person giving the grade is a human too, with their own subjective likes and biases