Is there a way to narrow down universities by qualification accepted?

[FruidSaladwithTomatoes]

Just that.
I know that you can narrow it by UCAS points but that’s not at all helpful.

As part of her “think about next steps” summer homework, DD has decided she would like to go to university.

She’s doing a C&G L3 - the one worth 3 A levels and has a UCAS points range of 168-48 (don’t quote me exactly on that, but it’ll be close if it not right).
She’s been getting Distinctions and Distinction stars so likely to have high UCAS points.

We can probably rule out a lot, if not all, of the top universities but it would be useful to be able to narrow the rest down by qualifications accepted if that’s possible.

College have provided some guidance by giving a small list of which universities have accepted their course in the past, but she would like to look beyond that list and I was hoping there was an easy way of narrowing things down.

Thanks :)

Doesn’t exist unfortunately because it will even vary across a university for different courses.

I think the best thing to do, is decide on her plan A. Ring the admission departments involved and ask. If it’s a no, move to plan B.
UCAS doesn’t need to be submitted until January, so she has time. But equally, if she’s sure and has been given positive feedback, apply.

What City & Guilds subject is she doing?

And what degree would she like to do?

Most good unis will accept vocational qualifications and access courses these days. It really does depend on what she's studying and what she wants to do at uni though. I think Oxbridge are the only ones it would be a hard no for, and that's because they have relatively few places and rather a lot of applicants and have to narrow it down somehow.

City & Guilds are often viewed differently to Access courses.

That’s a shame. Although understandable.
I did sort of expect someone to come back and say this, but I was hoping I was wrong and there was some little hidden button that needed to be clicked on.

You do I am afraid need to look at course page for specific uni and look at entry criteria. But if it makes you feel a bit better A Level students should be doing this too because some want grades in specific subjects, some have preferred subjects list, some want certain grades for Maths and English at gcse too.

Land and Wildlife Management (countryside).

She is interested in things like

• ecology and conservation
• environmental management
• environmental science
• environmental studies
• countryside management

Nothing decided/firmed but in that sort of area.

Original plan way back around GCSEs was to do environmental science. However a disastrous set of GCSE results means she has come the long way round including resits alongside L2 C&G in Land and now a L3.

Whatuni.com

You can put in subject to be studied and expected grades and find a list of institutions who will accept you

Sparsholt University Centre (near Winchester).

Thank you - I’ll give that a go

This was one of the ones on the list collage gave her. She’s had a look at those and thinks some sound quite good and interesting.

Right.
Not sure what uni has a qualification acceptance filter?

She may want to start by looking at land based colleges/ universities- they tend to be more vocational, and generally more accepting of a wider range of vocational qualifications:

nlbc.uk/partners/members/

Mid range universities- ones which use the tariff system rather than grades will also be a good place to start as well.

Ultimately she may want to look at universities which have good facilities and employer links.

My DD is at Sparsholt college. Lovely place.
Uni students can live in or live in Uni of Winchester accommodation 5 miles away.

Unfortunately the answer is no to your original question about filtering quals in UCAS.

On the positive side, take a looks at the universities on this C&G published list:
https://www.cityandguilds.com/-/media/cityandguilds-site/documents/technical-qualifications/technical-qualifications/subject-area/2020/land-based-sector-universities-accepting-advanced-technical-extended-diplomas-pdf.pdf

So glad your DD is enjoying Sparsholt @TeenToTwenties. Do you mind me asking what course?

@Pinkissmart thanks for the link. She can have a look through those and see what’s on offer. I think that’s a good call about land-based colleges.

This is a fantastic list! Thank you so much.

Also check out these universities.
https://www.auc-uk.org
Not all of them will accept C&G but worth having a look - there are some Russell group on there.

I also wanted to say, don’t just look/restrict to the list I sent earlier. There will be courses and universities outside of that list which accept C&G. Teen mentioned one of them - your DD will just have to have a look and call universities individually. It’s best to call and not to email.

Another thing is, anywhere that accepts the 3 A level equivalent BTEC or the 3 A level equivalent Cambridge technical is worth a call because they are likely to consider/accept C&G.

I wouldn’t bother with anywhere that insists on A levels or combination of X A level with a BTEC, they won’t be interested IMHO but you never know and you don’t get if you don’t ask.

Sorry I meant to add. The link to agricultural universities council. Apologies I know it’s agriculture and not environment but I was thinking along the lines that if they are set up for agriculture and to accept agriculture qualifications (which are likely to be C&G from the agre colleges) then they are more likely to consider C&G in land for environmental courses.

On Whatuni if you go into “find courses” and click on “sort by” there is a pop up that says “grades” - that’s where you can find out which place will accept with predicted grades (it converts to UCAS points)

@FruidSaladwithTomatoes My DD has been doing animal care, but at level 1 & 2 so well below uni level.

@FruidSaladwithTomatoes someone shared this on another thread. You put in your grades and it lists courses that would have accepted them based on historical offers: https://wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/data-driven-university-application-guide-2025/

@VanCleefArpels

Some universities don't view C&G in the same way as other qualifications as they are quite practical/ experience based. Much in the way some universities will 'accept' btecs but only if accompanied by an A level.

Take a look at Bangor and Aberystwyth universities. They do a lot of environmental courses and accept c&g.