Essential
Information When Researching Courses’
Grade
Requirements
When checking entry requirements
in UCAS, make sure you scroll ALL the way up and down: some universities
require specific GCSE grades, plus a range of other requirements.
- Check whether the course at
that university requires an entrance exam/additional test (often this info
is included in the “Course Specific Requirements” section of UCAS, which
you’ll see if you scroll up and down on the entry requirements page (as
mentioned above). You should also
check on the actual university’s website.
If in doubt, give them a
call to be sure.
- Remember, offers can be in
terms of GRADES or POINTS.
A2 POINTS: A=120
B=100
C=80
D=60
E=40
Note: If points, check how many must come from full A2 courses (usual), and whether
any (if at all) can come from AS (much less usual). This info can be found on the UCAS entry
requirements page.
- If an offer is AAB and you get
AAC in August, you have NOT met
your offer.
- Normally, offers are based on grades
attained in 3 A levels. However, sometimes 3.5 A levels are mentioned.
This means 3 A levels + 1 AS in a different subject ( e.g.
If the offer is AABc, the “c” is a C at AS).
- This year, FOR THE FIRST TIME, exceptionally, a very few
universities will be even MORE specific and require specific grades in
each module of an A level (Warwick and Manchester for mathematics,
for example).
- Also, this year, FOR
THE FIRST TIME, exceptionally, a very few universities state that, if you are taking 4 A levels (i.e.
4 A2s in Y13), then they will make an offer requiring certain grades in all 4 subjects (e.g. Warwick, for
some courses). If you were only
taking three, then their offer would simply be based on those 3.
- Check and make sure your COMBINATION is OK. Some, for example, but very few, would
not make an offer including BOTH economics and business. This varies from university to
university and changes from year to year.
CHECK!
- Check for subjects NOT included
in any offer, such as, perhaps, a core subject.
- When choosing courses, do NOT
go by minimum requirements …go by preferred
requirements. For example, some might
indicate they require a minimum of 2 A levels, but that they prefer 3. It
is highly unlikely in such cases actually to get an offer just requiring 2
A levels.
UNIT grades
- For the first time this year, some
universities (very few) will
require specific unit (i.e. module) grades. This will tend to be in competitive
subjects at competitive universities.
- Most say they will NOT look at
unit grades when deciding whether to make an offer or deciding what the
offer will be. HOWEVER, they may, if a student just
misses the grades needed for an offer, make a decision dependent on the
unit grades achieved in their subjects.
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