Routes into Higher Education
Although the exact qualifications and grades required for different higher education courses vary widely, you can generally apply for a Bachelor's degree course with:
- A levels
- Higher National Certificates (HNCs)
- Higher National Diplomas (HNDs)
- Vocational qualifications
- Access Course qualifications
- Foundation Course qualifications
In addition, there are a number of other factors that might be taken into account when institutions select students for particular courses:
- subjects studied
- grades achieved
- total points scored
- evidence of breadth of study
- key skills attainment
- evidence of other skills such as:
- prior experience, for example, voluntary work, a gap year or work experience
- personal qualities, as indicated in a confidential reference, personal statement or demonstrated at interview
A' levels
The majority of UK students apply for university or college with A levels, taken either at school or at a further education college. Each AS or A' level grade translates to a number of points (see table below); for example, a B grade at A' level is equivalent to 100 UCAS points, whilst a B at AS level is worth 50.
HE institutions may either state a minimum number of points to apply for a particular course, or they may specify that certain grade must be achieved. For example, to apply for Medicine, you may be required to obtain AAB grades, with an A in Chemistry.
| Points | GCE AS | GCE AS Double Award |
GCE A level | GCE A level Double Award |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 360 | ||||
| 320 | ||||
| 280 | ||||
| 240 | AA | |||
| 220 | AB | |||
| 200 | BB | |||
| 180 | BC | |||
| 160 | CC | |||
| 140 | CD | |||
| 120 | AA | A | DD | |
| 110 | AB | |||
| 100 | BB | B | DE | |
| 90 | BC | |||
| 80 | CC | C | EE | |
| 70 | CD | |||
| 60 | A | DD | D | |
| 50 | B | DE | ||
| 40 | C | EE | E | |
| 30 | D | |||
| 20 | E |
HNCs and HNDs
If you have a Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Higher National Diploma (HND), you may be able to enter a first degree course at the start of the second or even third year.
Vocational Qualifications
Although prospectuses usually refer mainly to A' levels when they discuss entry requirements, don't be put off - the majority of vocational qualifications (for example, BTECs and OCR Nationals) can be translated into UCAS points so that they may be compared against A level standards. This is demonstrated in the following table:
| Points | BTEC Nationals |
OCR Nationals |
||||
| Award | Certificate | Diploma | Certificate | Diploma | Extended Diploma | |
360 | DDD | D1 |
||||
320 | DDM | D2/M1 |
||||
280 | DMM | M2 |
||||
240 | DD |
MMM | D |
M3 |
||
220 | ||||||
200 | DM |
MMP | M1 |
P1 |
||
180 | ||||||
160 | MM |
MPP | M2/P1 |
P2 |
||
140 | ||||||
120 |
D |
MP |
PPP |
D |
P2 |
P3 |
110 | ||||||
100 | ||||||
90 | ||||||
80 |
M |
PP | M |
P3 | ||
70 | ||||||
60 | ||||||
50 | ||||||
40 |
P | P | ||||
30 | ||||||
20 | ||||||
Access and Foundation Courses
If you are a 'mature' student (that is, if you're aged 21 or over), and have work experience but lack 'traditional' entry qualifications, you may be able to find an alternative route into higher education through:
- an Access to HE course
- a Foundation Year
- a Foundation course
Access courses are offered by many further education colleges as well as some higher education institutes to students who want to study but don't have the necessary qualifications to get into HE. Courses usually cover a broad subject area, such as science or humanities, which means students can begin to study even if they're not yet sure what course or qualification they eventually want to aim for.
Foundation years are offered by some institutions to run before some of their degree courses, and are a good choice for students who have not studied for a long period of time, or whose qualifications are a poor match with the degree subject. Although they form part of the following degree course, they generally don't result in a separate qualification - they simply qualify the student to enter the degree programme itself.
Foundation courses are similar to foundation years; however, they may not be held at the same university or college as the full degree or diploma, and they may not automatically qualify the student for entry to a particular course.
