There are so many things about sixth form that are stressful, but often it's the pressure to get the necessary A-Level grades to go to your chosen university that trumps the rest.
Namely because it's SO competitive to get a place, but also because it's actually quite a complicated process based on UCAS points, conditional offers, personal statements and the like. In basic terms, university places are usually offered on a conditional basis, which means the candidate must achieve a certain number of UCAS points in order to confirm their place.
Different A-Level grades are converted into different numbers of UCAS points in the following ratio:
- A* grade - 56 UCAS points
- A grade - 48 UCAS points
- B grade - 40 UCAS points
- C grade - 32 UCAS points
- D grade - 24 UCAS points
- E grade - 16 UCAS points
It's also worth noting that a high average score (over 200, or A*AAA, at some universities) does not mean that all students score so highly or that you need to take lots of A levels to get in - the actual grades needed will vary by subject and few if any courses will ask for grades in more than three subjects.
According to The Complete University Guide's league table ranking 2019, these are the 20 universities with the lowest requirements on average (making them the easiest to get into):
- Birkbeck, University of London - 94 UCAS points
- Bedfordshire - 95 UCAS points
- Leeds Trinity - 100 UCAS points
- Wrexham Glyndwr - 101 UCAS points
- London Metropolitan - 101 UCAS points
- Anglia Ruskin - 105 UCAS points
- Northampton - 107 UCAS points
- London South Bank - 108 UCAS points
- Canterbury Christ Church - 108 UCAS points
- Wolverhampton - 108 UCAS points
- Roehampton - 109 UCAS points
- Bishop Grosseteste - 110 UCAS points
- Buckinghamshire New - 111 UCAS points
- East London - 112 UCAS points
- Bolton - 112 UCAS points
- De Montfort - 113 UCAS points
- Winchester - 113 UCAS points
- York St John - 113 UCAS points
- University of Wales Trinity Saint David - 113 UCAS points
- Leeds Beckett - 114 UCAS points
To put that into context, Birkbeck University of London's requirements of 94 UCAS points is roughly grades CCC at A-Level, while Leeds Beckett asks for BBC.
Dusty Baxter-Wright is an award-winning journalist and the Entertainment and Lifestyle Director at Cosmopolitan, having previously worked at Sugarscape. She was named one of PPA’s 30 Under 30 for her work covering pop culture, careers, interiors and travel, and oversees the site’s Entertainment and Lifestyle strategy across print, digital and video. As a journalist for the best part of a decade, she has interviewed everyone from Louis Theroux and Channing Tatum to Margot Robbie and Ncuti Gatwa, while she has also spoken on Times Radio and BBC Radio. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram here.
