Entry grades data

Applying to university can feel like an aspirational choice, or perhaps even out of reach for young people when looking at entry requirements, especially those from disadvantaged or under-represented backgrounds.

Showing entry grades data in a transparent manner on course pages within our search tool will ensure students understand there is often a level of flexibility between advertised entry grades and the actual results previous students were accepted with, and help them ultimately make informed choices.

What is the entry grades data?

Entry grades data is a new feature in UCAS’ search tool. Where there is adequate data, the tool will show the grades students held when accepted, with the aim of improving transparency and student decision-making. 

Historic entry grades have been available for advisers to see in the adviser portal from 2021, but this has been expanded so the information will also be accessible to students.

The entry grades data will be displayed on course pages from the 2025 cycle, with the aim of helping students researching their choices.  

Why are we making this information available?

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There have also been increasing calls from sector bodies, such as Universities UK and the Office for Students, for providers to be more transparent on the differences between advertised entry requirements, actual offer conditions, and the grades students are ultimately accepted onto courses with. The UCAS Reform and Reimagine Group explored the benefits of such information being provided centrally by UCAS, recognising the efficiency, consistency, and transparency this would bring.  

What data will be available exactly and where will it be displayed?

The entry grades data will be displayed on course details pages alongside the published entry grades requirements. We will include three data points:

1. Fractions representing number of total applicants who received offers. 
2. Personalised confirmation rate when predicted grades are supplied. Students can add their own grades to see a personalised acceptance rate.
3. Most common grades held by accepted applicants (alongside the highest/lowest grade ranges). 

What data is being used?

A level and BTEC grades of 18-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland across the 2019 - 2023 cycles will be included for initial launch and we plan to expand the qualifications included in the future. 

We have engaged with Universities Scotland to understand how we could incorporate Scottish grades. However, due to radical differences in the qualifications landscape we are not including them for the initial launch of data. We'll continue to work with Universities Scotland to discuss how Scottish grades can be made available in the future. 

Contextualising the content

One of the key pieces of feedback we received from providers when developing the tool, is the desire to be able to display information about contextual admissions alongside entry grades data to clarify what else they consider when making offers, or any changes in offer making practices.  

During engagement with students, they confirmed that they understand that more is involved in admissions decisions and echoed having additional information alongside the feature would be useful.  

We have therefore developed functionality within the collection tool which will be available from end of November 2023, to enable you to add contextual admissions at course level. We will also be creating a new page on ucas.com to raise students’ awareness of what contextual admissions are, as engagement shows this is not widely understood.  

The contextual admissions information you add to the collection tool will not be published in our course search until we release our new entry grades data. However, we hope that having these fields accessible to you in advance provides plenty of time to consider the content. 

There are two new fields for each course: 

• Free text field – here you can add up to 500 characters to advise students of any key policies, offer-making practices or specific requirements. 

• URL link – here you can link to further information on your own website.  

To ensure the process is efficient it is possible to update these fields in bulk within the collection tool by following these steps:

1. Selecting the ‘Edit course information’ option within the Bulk Course management section of the collection tool.
2. Selecting 'Standard qualification requirements’.
3. Adding the Contextual Offer Information URL and/or text.
4. Choosing which courses to apply the detail to, and click ‘Update courses’.

Best practice examples 

To offer guidance, we have created examples of best practice to show the type of information that should be included in the new best practice fields. 

Example 1: 

To nurture individuality and foster diversity in our performance courses, we adopt a balanced approach to admissions - considering both individual portfolios and exam results.  

We may extend offers below our standard entry criteria to those with strong portfolios or students who have faced challenges impacting their performance and were anticipated to achieve higher results. 

Example 2: 

We understand that each student is unique, and aim to cultivate an environment where individuality, diversity, and academic excellence thrive.  

For courses starting in 2024 we have revised our offer-making policy and to be offered a place you a place you must meet the entry requirements stated above – including a GCSE in grade B.  

Example 3:  

Within our Contextual Offer Scheme, we strive to embrace students whose educational and social backgrounds may have influenced their academic journey.  

Our decision-making process transcends grades; we assess the entire application.  

All applicants will be invited to interview, after which we will then make an assessment based on your grades, application, and interview performance. This means that not all students who meet the entry requirements will be offered a place, and equally we may make offers to students from disadvantaged backgrounds based on lower grades.   

How is the data aggregated?

The data is available at course level for providers who accept over 50 eligible applicants - the threshold applies to each qualification individually.  

Each qualification is reported separately – ensuring there is a reasonable amount of data to robustly represent the entry grades at a given course or subject. 

Where we can identify foundation and postgraduate courses, these have been excluded from the data set. 

Do providers have an opportunity to review their data?

I'm a smaller provider and fall below the threshold, what is displayed?

Can providers opt out of supplying actual entry grades data?

Following extensive research, UCAS has deemed the availability of entry grades data as a key reform in raising offer-making transparency, due to the lack of accessible information across the sector.

If providers already provide this information to students on their own website in a clear and meaningful format to aid decision-making, we appreciate that they may want to have their data withheld from the UCAS search tool. We therefore offered providers the opportunity to request to opt-out when provider-level data was shared between December 2023 – January 2024, and the opportunity will also be given when the final data is shared ahead of the 2025 cycle launch. 

Opt-out requests will be accepted annually as data is refreshed.