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Entry Requirements

The standard minimum entry requirements for the University Foundation Year are as follows:

  • Between 160 and 200 UCAS tariff points from A2, AVCE or acceptable alternatives e.g. BTEC National Diploma or Extended Diploma, Advanced Diploma, Irish Leaving Certificate, International Baccalaureate.
  • We also accept other Level 3 qualifications such as NVQ, CACHE or Access to HE Diploma.
  • Students also need GCSE English at grade D or above (grade C for some linked degrees).
  • Most linked degrees also require a grade D in GCSE Mathematics or equivalent (grade C for some linked degrees).
  • International students will need an English qualification e.g. IETLS 5.5; PTE Academic 51; TOEFL IBT 76.

Up-to-date entry requirements for each linked degree can be found on the UCAS website.

Entry requirements and the use of contextual data

The University is committed to making the Foundation Year programme more accessible to those currently under-represented in higher education. In order to do this effectively we will assess not only an applicant’s academic achievement but also a range of other factors such as enthusiasm for the subject area and potential to succeed.

Contextual information will be used to provide a full and rounded view of achievement and potential.

This is particularly the case where an applicant's background may have adversely affected their academic performance.

We will consider

  • If the home address provided indicates a neighbourhood where progression to higher education has traditionally been low using the HEFCE POLAR 2 Low Participation Neighbourhood (LPN) data
  • whether an applicant has been in care for more than three months.

This information is provided by UCAS with the application. No decisions are made solely on the basis of this contextual information and applicants must meet our standard academic criteria to be considered for entry.

In order to ensure fairness and consistency in the assessment of applications, it is likely that decisions on applications will not be processed until after 15 January.