Anglia Ruskin University has a long tradition of welcoming students with a wide range of qualifications and supporting them throughout their studies so that they may achieve their potential in higher education.
Our standard entry requirement for an undergraduate degree course is a minimum of two GCE A levels and three GCSEs in other subjects. Each course has specific entry requirements which include a UCAS tariff points requirement. In some cases, a specified subject at GCE A level or equivalent and a GCSE requirement may be requested. For specific course entry requirements, view our course pages.
Our offers for undergraduate courses are usually expressed in terms of UCAS tariff points. For example, our offer may require you to 'Obtain a minimum of 104 points from the UCAS Tariff (at least 88 points must be obtained from qualifications with the volume and depth of A level or equivalent).' In this case, 88 UCAS tariff points could come from GCE A Levels or equivalent qualifications, the remaining 16 points could come from Key Skills or from AS levels (in subjects other than those already being counted at GCE A Level).
We accept UCAS tariff points from GCE A Levels for entry to our undergraduate courses. Please note, however, that we do not consider AS levels to be at the same depth as A Levels and therefore either require all tariff points to come from A Levels or accept only a small number of points from AS Levels towards the overall tariff points requirement. Tariff points from AS Levels can only be counted if they are in different subjects from the points counted at A Level.
We do not use unit grades as part of our decision-making process or make offers including unit grades. We may, however, take unit grades into account during the period following examination results to help us to decide whether to confirm the place of an applicant who has just missed their required grade if places are available.
We accept tariff points from GCE A Level General Studies towards most of our undergraduate degrees. For certain courses, however, such as Optometry and Medicine, the GCE A Level subjects required are identified in the specific entry requirements.
We are happy to accept tariff points from other qualifications considered to be equivalent to GCE A levels. For further information on the UCAS tariff system, visit the UCAS website.
We will also consider applications to level 4 entry from those who are not able to meet our normal course entry requirements but can demonstrate that they have achieved the required level of knowledge and skills and have the potential to benefit from the course, for example: through relevant work experience and professional development. In such cases, applicants are required to provide documentary evidence, a piece of written work of the required standard or to attend a personal interview.
As a guide, we give examples below of qualifications that our University accepts as alternatives to GCE A Levels.
At ARU we value the skills of research and independent learning that the Extended Project Qualification is designed to develop. We welcome applications from students offering the Extended Project alongside A levels or equivalent.
All Access to Higher Education courses now lead to the award of the Access to HE Diploma. The standard number of credits required for the award of all Access to HE Diplomas, in all providing institutions, is 60 credits, of which 45 credits must be at Level 3. We are happy to accept the Access to HE Diploma for entry to most of our undergraduate courses. For entry to some courses we may require a certain number of level 3 credits in specific subject areas eg Science.
Our offers will usually be expressed using the UCAS tariff.
For further details and information on the Access to HE Diploma, please visit www.accesstohe.ac.uk
For many students, BTEC qualifications are an attractive alternative to traditional GCSE and A level qualifications. We consider the practical skills and knowledge attained in these qualifications appropriate for gaining entry to most of our undergraduate courses. For specific entry requirements and grades, please refer to the course entry requirements or to the UCAS website for UCAS tariff points
We will be accepting all T-level subjects that are being introduced over the coming academic years, starting with Design, Surveying and Planning for Construction; Digital Production, Design and Development and Education and Childcare, for the majority of our undergraduate courses. Where a course does not accept T-levels, or will only accept certain T-level subjects, this will be noted on the course page. We consider the academic study in the core content, combined with the specialisms, and the industry placement to be an excellent preparation for university study.
T-levels are included in the UCAS tariff and any applicants who offer T-levels will receive any offer in tariff points. We will expect applicants to have achieved the minimum pass threshold in the core and the occupational specialism.
We are also happy to accept UCAS tariff points from the following qualifications:
We also consider applications from mature applicants with qualifications which are not on the UCAS tariff, such as GCE A Levels prior to September 2000, Access to HE courses awarded prior to September 2014. In addition, we accept many overseas qualifications, including the European and International Baccalaureate.
If you need further advice or assistance, or if you have any queries or questions related to entry requirements, please contact [email protected].