confused by league table UCAS points

[parietal]

So DD and I are looking at possible universities. And here is an example

Guardian league table says the average entry tariff for Psychology at Glasgow is 209 UCAS points which would be Astar Astar A A at A-level. And that seems crazy-high for most English students.

Then looking on the Glasgow Psychology website, it says the standard offer is AAA – ABB. Which is far lower and much more plausible.

But which is correct? Are the league table tariffs exaggerated for some reason? And is it plausible for a student with AAA predictions to apply?

Most students at Glasgow will have Scottish quals which have a higher tariff. Additionally things like piano grade 6 will be included as it carries tariff points.

And most English pre-1992 universities (ie higher in rankings and research-led) will go by grades rather than tariff points. Post-92s (ie ex-polys) will look at tariff points, which can include quals other than A levels.

It's very unlikely that Psychology at Glasgow would include piano (Lambda/dance etc) grades for their points, you also can't just keep on adding lots of extras normally. Most places tend to state something like "209 points over 3 A-levels or equivalent".

Is it perhaps that 209 points is the average grades of those who actually start at the uni?
Whereas the offers vary from AAA to ABB.

So it could be that they typically offer AAA, but their typical candidate gets three lots of A stars. Or if they are looking at those doing 4 A-levels, that they're including the points from 4, when, for entry, they wouldn't do that.

I wouldn't rely on The Guardian for statistical information beyond "Student Satisfaction" and even that I'd take with a grain of salt. Maybe a whole bag of salt.

Look on the individual university websites for accurate info.

Even UCAS has some things wrong - they are staying start dates for certain universities are mid- Oct when they are actually mid Sept.

If we believe the guardian league table then most student have 4 a levels which doesn’t seem plausible. I get that Scottish highers factor into it, but the tables still seem wrong.

https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/sector/insights/university-and-subject-league-tables-methodology

whilst this is the CUG it does explain the methodology used. You could cross-reference the entries in the two tables to see what that shows. Though check which data year each of the tables uses to ensure a like for like check.

i would look at the university subject pages to see the normal requirements. Then also look on the UCAS page for the uni and subject and scroll down to see the lowest grades attained for entry on the course although the latter may be more relevant for clearing than the initial offers. The initial offers are likely to be in line with the grades on the uni website.
I think the complete uni guide is better than the Guardian for subject rankings

She’s looking at league table tariff points not entry requirements.