Entering qualifications

Guidance on entering specific qualifications

We have provided some guidance below on adding specific qualifications to your application in Apply. If your qualification is not listed below, please read the help text in Apply, speak to your school, college or centre, or contact our Customer Service Unit for advice.

GCE qualifications (AS & A level, single & double award)

You must list all subjects that have been certificated (also known as 'claimed' or 'cashed in') at GCE AS level. This includes subjects which you are taking on to A level. You should include a subject even if you are re-sitting an AS unit to improve your A level grade.

If you have any doubts about the certification of your AS subjects, you should check with your school or college, or whoever is helping you with your application.

For certificated qualifications we recommended that you include details of all units with a separate result/grade, but which are incorporated into the overall qualification grade. Please note that entering unit details for AS or A levels is optional.

The following scenarios should help you to enter your qualifications correctly.

  • Your AS levels were certificated in 2008

    Enter your AS subject and the grade achieved, with the achieved unit results if you wish.


  • Your AS levels were certificated in 2008, and you are retaking some/all units to achieve a higher overall grade

    Enter your AS subject and grade achieved in 2008 with the achieved unit results if you wish. Then, enter the AS level again for 2009 (to cover the re-sit) with the pending unit grades, even if you are taking the subject on to A level. We need to know about the AS level re-sits for matching purposes to enable us to pass on the potentially new AS grade to your chosen universities and colleges.


  • Your AS level was certificated prior to sitting A levels

    When entering your pending A level, you can enter the three units achieved at AS level with the grades if you wish. Then, enter the three additional units for your A level as pending.

    Or

    When entering your pending A level you can enter just the three pending units that you are taking.

    If you are resitting one or some of the AS units that will count towards achieving your A level, you can also enter these units as pending.

Music, dance, drama or speech qualifications

If you have music qualifications, such as ABRSM or equivalents, dance qualifications, such as RAD or equivalents, drama or speech qualifications, such as LAMDA, only enter each subject once with the highest grade you achieved.

Open University credits

In the title box, you should enter the programme code, the programme title and the number of credit points for all the Open University programmes you have completed or for which you are studying, for example, S103 Discovering Science 60 points.

Additional admissions tests

Some universities and colleges require applicants applying for certain subjects to sit additional admissions tests as part of the admissions process. An up-to-date list of tests can be found here.

You should enter details for any admissions tests you have already taken with results and any you still need to take. (Please remember that all your chosen universities and colleges will see the qualifications you enter. Only certain universities and colleges require specific admissions tests for particular courses so when you provide details for an admissions test, you may give some indication of the universities, colleges and courses you have entered in the choices section of your application. The universities and colleges will not, however, have the details of any of the other institutions or courses you have chosen.)

Scottish qualifications

Standard Grades, Intermediate 1, Intermediate 2, Highers, Advanced Highers

You should not enter details for the units that make up these qualifications unless your chosen universities or colleges have asked you to provide this information. If you have entered details for a Mathematics course where you had the option to take Maths or Statistics as the External Assessment, you should enter Maths 3 or Statistics as a unit/module.

National and other free-standing units

You should enter details for any units you have obtained or for which you are studying that are not part of a completed course or a Scottish Group Award. You must not enter details for Core Skills units as national or freestanding units. You must enter these units under your Core Skills Profile (see Core Skills Profile below).

Group Awards such as HNCs, HNDs, National Certificates, National Progression Awards (NPAs), Professional Development Awards (PDAs), Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQs)

Firstly, you must enter the title for the whole course, the date when you finished or expect to finish the course and the result or grade. If you are still studying for the qualification, you should leave the result/grade box blank. You must then enter details for all the units or subjects that make up the qualification. If you are entering details of an HNC or HND that includes Group Award Graded Units, you should give details for these units by putting 'Graded Unit' after the unit title, for example, HNC Business Graded Unit 1.

If you have taken, or are taking, HNC or HND units, national units or workplace-assessed units, but not as part of a course or group award, you should enter the details as free-standing units.

Core skills profile

Firstly, you must enter the general information for the whole Core Skills Profile. You must then enter details for all the core skills that make up the profile.

Access programmes

If you are taking a Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP) or an access programme agreed locally with a university or college, talk to your tutor before you start to apply.

Welsh Baccalaureate Qualification, Advanced Diploma

You should only enter details for the core under the section for the Welsh Baccalaureate, Advanced Diploma. You do not need to provide details for all the individual components of the core.

You must enter details for all your options under the section for the appropriate qualification, for example, GCE A level, AVCE (six units) or BTEC National Certificate. You should enter WBQ after each subject to indicate that you are taking it as part of a Welsh Baccalaureate, for example, 'Biology WBQ'.

Irish Leaving Certificate

Enter details for all subjects you have studied. In the level box, select IO for Irish Ordinary or IH for Irish Higher.

If you have any queries about entering your qualifications, speak to your school or college, or whoever may be helping you with your application.