Real uni admission criteria - what's the web site called?

[Moussemoose]

I read somewhere (on MN I think) that there is a website that tells you what grades students actually got to get on a course at uni.

I know it all depends on the year and the cohort etc but the Open Days just give you the standard line when I know it not as simple as that.

It's a pain in the arse dealing with all the unknowns. What they say they want. What they really want. What your child thinks they will get. What you think they can get. What the teachers say they will get. What the universities will really accept. Does the EPQ count? Does the personal statement even get read? Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhhh

Unistats has that info on it

Thread finished and complete.😀

Many thanks

(Is that a record?)

UniStats only gives the UCAS tariff points, not the actual A-level grades. I just looked up a course that I know for a fact took several students with A-level grades of AAB, and almost certainly took some with ABB. The lowest UCAS tariff on UniStats is 144 (equivalent to AAA). This will be because they had other tariff-bearing qualifications (EPQ, AS-level in non-linear A-level, music grades, horse-grooming certificates, drama qualifications, etc.).

No such website exists in the form you want OP. Sorry.

As a very very very broad rule of thumb, if the standard offer published is a range (eg AAA - AAB), then the offer will probably be the top, while they'll accept applicants who miss but achieve the bottom. If the course is usually in clearing, you can probably get a place with one dropped grade. If it is usually still in clearing two weeks later, you can get in with 2, maybe even 3 dropped grades.

But nothing ever guaranteed. Past performance doesn't indicate future performance etc etc etc.

Actually, a version of it does exist via university.which.co.uk/ which uses HESA statistics to tell you what a student 'typically' achieves.
It's not perfect, but it may help you make comparisons.
It's worth noting, however, that universities that make a lot of contextual offers may look as if they accept lower offers across the board.

You can sometimes get ‘real’ admissions information from the whatdotheyknow website which details freedom of information requests.

There are a lot of FOI requests for Oxbridge, vet and med admissions stats but random ones for lots of other places too.

It's sometimes worth phoning admissions too and asking the direct question. Southampton told my friend what the range of grades they accepted last year was.