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Entry requirements

Step 1: Choosing courses

Each university or college has different requirements that their students need to meet before they can start a course. These can be particular exam grades or Tariff points, or be non-academic, like having a health check.

Minimum entry requirements

Minimum entry requirements are a guide to the level of education required to study on each course. The universities or colleges your son or daughter applies to will decide if their qualifications meet these requirements when they consider their application. Remember that a university's or college's decision is likely to be based on their overall suitability for the course and not only on whether they meet the minimum entry requirements.

Sitting on a bench outside

Entry requirements are listed in each course's Entry Profile in Course Search. Your son or daughter should check these before they apply so that they know what the university or college expects.

What are Entry Profiles?

Entry Profiles help applicants decide which universities or colleges and which courses to apply to. Many courses with the same title are actually very different in terms of content and study methods, so Entry Profiles will help your son or daughter decide which will suit them best.

Entry Profiles provide details about courses, the university or college offering each course, entry qualifications, selection criteria and the admissions policy. They are compiled by staff at the university or college who understand what applicants need to know about their courses, and what kind of personal qualities, interests and experiences it will be helpful for them to have, so they can be successful on the course they choose.

Finding Entry Profiles

When your son or daughter searches for courses in Course Search, they should look for the Entry Profile logosymbol after the course title on the results page. If there's a symbol, the course has an Entry Profile.

The Entry Profile can be viewed by clicking on the course title, which will go to the main course information page. The Entry Profile link is below the application details.

How to use Entry Profiles

  1. First, read the information about the course. Your son or daughter should ask themselves if it will cover subjects that interest them and what career opportunities would be open to them. Does the Entry Profile tell them about the personal qualities the university or college is looking for in its students, or the experience that would be beneficial?
  2. Check the academic entry requirements. Is your son or daughter studying the right subjects to be accepted onto this course? Will they meet the grades or Tariff points required?
  3. Make sure that your son or daughter knows where the course will be taught - sometimes it is not at the main campus. They should check that they could travel to lectures and tutorials easily.
  4. Some courses require applicants to take an admissions test. If your son or daughter's chosen course(s) does, they need to find out how to apply for the test.
  5. Look for comments written by current or former students. What they have to say will help your son or daughter imagine what it would be like to be a student at that university or on that course.

Entry Profiles are being updated all the time - if you have any comments, please email coursesdata@ucas.ac.uk.

Need more information?

If your son or daughter doesn't find everything they need in Course Search, they should contact the universities and colleges or check their websites for more details.