Find out everything you need to know about university entry requirements and whether universities accept BTEC qualifications in our latest blog.
University requirements are formal criteria that you need to meet to be considered for a place on a degree course.
Entry requirements are set by the university to ensure they offer places to students who have the skills, knowledge, and ability to progress through the course and graduate with a degree to be proud of. When applying to undergraduate courses, these university entry requirements are often also referred to as UCAS entry requirements, but don’t worry, they’re the same thing!
Entry requirements vary by course, and throughout the application journey might include a mix of qualifications (such as GCSEs, BTECs, or International Baccalaureates), UCAS points, admissions tests, interviews, auditions, or portfolios.
When researching courses and universities to apply to, pay close attention to the university’s entry requirements. It’s best to apply to courses with requirements that it’s possible to achieve. Many students apply to a selection of universities with different entry requirements so that they have a backup option if they don’t achieve the grades they’d hoped for.
When applying for an undergraduate degree, the first entry requirements that universities will consider will be your actual or predicted grades for your post-16 qualifications. These might be GCSEs, BTECs, Scottish Highers and Advanced Highers, Welsh Baccalaureate, International Baccalaureate, and more.
Around 95% of UK universities accept BTECs in their entry requirements. This includes Russell Group universities. Students studying BTECs who achieve good grades are just as sought-after as A Level students, and are sometimes even better prepared for undergraduate study, due to the independent learning and portfolio-based nature of BTEC courses.
All universities will list their entry requirements on the course information webpage. Some printed prospectuses will also include this information, but it’s best to look at their websites – as there they have room to list all the qualifications and grades they accept.
Here at Newcastle, you can find the BTEC entry requirements on each course page. If you’re ready to explore our undergraduate subjects and their BTEC entry requirements, find out more in our subject explorer.
If you need help or reassurance about your BTECs and entry requirements to the course you’d like to study, it's easy to contact us. You can also complete an online enquiry form and a member of our team will get back to you.