How important are A level for university applications?

[Gardensunnydays]

As the question said. Am I correct in thinking that if you want to attend a decent uni you need 3 A levels with at least Bs?

What are the options if you don’t have 3 good A levels? Or not A levels at all? Or if you have BTEC instead.

I didn’t grow up in the UK and find the process a bit complicated. If you don’t have good GCSES you don’t get to do A levels and if you don’t have A levels you can’t go to University

If you don’t have A Levels you can do an access course.

If you do have A Levels, the entry requirements will vary quite a bit depending on institution and course.

If you have 3 As, this will give you more options than 3 Cs, but doesn’t mean that As and Bs will be a requirement everywhere.

Btecs can get you into some good universities too but you'll need DDM at least. Some fairly decent unis like Oxford brookes offered DMM to someone I know.

Depends on what you want to do and at what Uni really as the more sought after courses will need higher grades, plus there is clearing.
Having said that if a student isn't looking at C's or above its going to be tough getting offers

A levels are designed to get you to university, so generally that's what you'd do if you wanted to go. There are also access courses designed for older students.

BTECs would get you into some vocational courses, but certainly not all courses.

Can you post about what your dilemma actually is?

There are alternative level 3 courses to A levels, such as IB, preU, T levels etc which are considered for uni entry and mature students may have different criteria. For vocational or arts study a portfolio or audition process may override grades at A level(or equivalent)

What's DDM

You can do Open Uni without A levels but I do think they suggest an access course if you don't have any to help you transition.

Depends what subjects. Languages you can get a place at a decent university with Cs. I know someone who got into Bristol/Exeter (can’t remember) with a C in French.

I also know someone who got into Nottingham with BTec and no A-levels.

Universities increasingly offer foundation years too, if you don’t make the required grades. A friend of DDs got a place at Leeds with a foundation year.

Distinction, Distinction, Merit . You get 3 grades.

Distinction Distinction Merit

DC1 went to a top uni to study a science subject and had to have AstarAA in their A Levels. One of their friends got into a 'regular' uni to study maths wirth CDD grades.

Thanks. Are those the scores for BTECs

Thanks. Which are the regular universities?

Yes, A levels get A, B, C etc, Btecs get D,M, P.

Thank you.

I am just thinking of options for DD2, Early days as she is only in year 9. But I don’t think is ever to early to start planning as you do need to decide reg GCSEs.

DD has a speech and language disorder; she is progressing well at school but it does impact her learning; albeit not massively. She told me the other day she wanted to go to university so we are considering additional tutoring so she can get some decent GCSEs and get to do A levels.

She also mentioned once she may want to go to the Brit School, maybe for sixth form; but I think she will limit her options,

She is creative, has a good eye for detail, good long term memory. Is doing acting school on Saturdays.

An access course is a course you do to get into university if you don’t have decent A levels? According to google. Is this correct?

Understood. Thank you

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings

This is a university league table. This should give you the rough feeling about unis are top and which are ‘regular’.

The top unis are in a club called the Russell Group. People who have been to a RG uni tend to be viewed more positively when applying for jobs. RG universities are more prestigious and can therefore demand higher A Level grades. You may well have just as good an experience or maybe better in a non RG uni but they do not have the prestige.

Choose the subject first and work from there.
What does your DD want to study, which institutions run the best courses in that subject, what are their entrance requirements, which subjects at A level do they favour? Which institutions accept BTECs? Closer to the time DD can decide which courses she thinks would suit her best and apply for those.

Just saw she’s year 9. Plenty of time to make up her mind what she wants to study. Keep her options open just now and concentrate on good study habits.

Keep in mind that someone who can't get half decent grades even in the subjects they like at school is unlikely to thrive at university and might be a better fit for eg vocational training in a field they really like.

Remember the "best" university for an individual isn't necessarily anything to do with league tables - it may be the specific course is better there (some very low overall ranking universities have certain excellent, highly sought after courses), it could be about the style of learning at that institution eg classroom based, lecture based, year in industry available etc, and it could be just the right location for your dc eg they want to live at home.

At gcse the important thing is to do a wide range of subjects including double science (or triple) double English and ideally a humanities subject and a foreign language to keep all options open. At post 16 they then can choose their pathway, what is right for them

@Gardensunnydays

My son is just about to start his 2nd year at Worcester. He did BTec Engineering and got MMM. He is on a computing degree.
I think Worcester is about half way down the rankings - not that we looked at the time he was deciding what to do.
Because of a number of reasons we wanted somewhere that wasn't too big, not a big city, a campus, good halls, strong pastoral care and support for students with disabilities. Far enough away to feel like he'd left home, but not too far away.
Worcester just felt like home.
As your DD has a disability you should also bear in mind contextual offers.
My son had a contextual offer - he had nearly doubled the points needed for the foundation year, but was about 5 points off the standard offer.
He had the contextual offer because he has ASD and is care experienced.
Not all universities give contextual offers

An access course is a course you do to get into university if you don’t have decent A levels? According to google. Is this correct?

Not totally. It is for those over 19 who may not have taken A levels or equivalent in year 13, who may not have previously studied required subjects for entry to chosen degree such as sciences for nursing, perhaps did not achieve entry grades for a reason, or mature students who may not have studied for a number of years and would benefit from refreshing their study skills or who may have not taken A levels or equivalent.

Btecs are excellent preparation for some univesity courses. In some subjects they actually mirror the university way of learning especially for more practical subjects but there are a few universities who will not accept them. However those universities/courses that won't accept a Btec are probably not what someone who hasn't done as well academically would choose anyway.