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How can I earn more Ucas points?

Hi there,

What extra schemes can I participate in that will get me UCAS points other than my formal 6th form subjects which I'm doing right now?

Does the Duke of Edinburgh Award have anything to do with ucas points? Any other schemes I should be aware of?

Thanks

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Reply 1

Dionysus

Music qualifications - I think anything above grade 6 counts. What sort of Unis are you looking at. The better ones won't make a points-based offer anyway.

Reply 2

Vaz

The thing is I'm totally stuck on what uni to go for. I'm one of those 'undecided' guys. (even though I'm about to start my third year at 6th form in sept!).

I done the calculations today and I don't think I'm going to come out as a high flyer or strong candidate. I'd like to pile up my portfolio with as much alternative stuff as I can such as awards and so on.

Reply 3

Dionysus

Well what sort of grades are you looking at? And try to be a bit ambitious - I see loads of people on these forums going to very average Unis and I know for a fact that their academic record is at least as good as mine. They've just been too cautious. The way I see it is that if I don't get into my Firm or Insurance, there's always clearing, and for my course the clearing options are usually still better than some of the places that I've seen as Firms for quite able students.

Reply 4

kellywood_5

All the qualifications that count for UCAS points are on the tariff on the website, but the only non-academic ones I can think of are music. I don't think you get anything for Duke of Edinburgh, but you can obviously write about it in your personal statement. There are Key Skills as well. But only really bad unis will let you count things like this towards UCAS points. Most decent ones just ask for grades in 3 subjects, eg BBB, and most average ones will ask for points from 3 subjects, eg 260.

Reply 5

louisedotcom

Key skills is worth some ucas points isnt it?
Although some unis dont accept it.

Reply 6

generalebriety

UCAS points barely exist any more. I know very few universities that make their offers in UCAS points, it's mostly in grades. I wouldn't bother taking stuff up simply for the points.

Reply 7

anon53

Perhaps take up some additional qualifications e.g. Key Skills, GNVQ (although I think they've been phased out), BTEC etc. However, look at the entry requirements for the Universities and courses that you are interested in as you may already have enough points for entry. Sometimes it is better to focus on what you are currently doing rather than trying to take too much on - you could end up overloading yourself with work, which might result in a poor performance all round.

Good luck

Reply 8

robpcdude

IB leads A-levels in terms of UCAS points! An average IB score of 35 points gets you 550 points (something like that) :p:

Reply 9

penwa

lol, i had to redo a year cause i was an idiot who did courses that were of no interest to me, and i partied to hard and forgot to study lol.
In my second year i got a D in politics for A2 and a BB in history and sociology, In my third and final year which i just finished I decided to do all the general studies exams for the hell of it, now my uni wants 320 points and my insurance wants 280 points, considering i had to redo a year some may say thats a little ambitious. But i am so confused with the whole idea of earning more points through more subjects i mean, i already have 60 points from politics and technically a 100 from the As subjects so thats already 160 and i have my A2 points from two subjects and all of the general studies points to add on.... so you'd think that so long as i can get like a couple of Ds i'm well into my Insurance choice which clearly they wont let me in if i get something like 340 points from 4 subjects.
I ramble, I'm going to go drink a root beer.

Reply 10

Nally

Apparantly there is a horse riding qualification which will earn you 30 UCAS points - however I doubt anywhere will accept it. I know Southampton University doesn't!

Reply 11

kellywood_5

penwa

If you're carrying on with history and sociology to A2, you can't count the AS points. Whether you can include General Studies depends on the uni. If all the offer says is '320 points', you can get those points from anything on the UCAS tariff, so all 3 A-levels plus General Studies. If it says '320 points from 3 A-levels', you'd need ABB or equivalent, and obviously if it said 'excluding General Studies', you couldn't count that.

Reply 12

penwa

well i know if they say 'we don't count general studies' means they don't count general studies, but they do count general studies lol.

i thought all unis only counted three a levels though lol which is why i thought it was bizarre to ask how you can earn more ucas points.

i think the firm offer was 200 from two 6 unit awards, so BB and general studies if passed at B or higher.... Soooo could i get a BB in sociology n general studies then say a C in history and the D from politics and that would still be meeting the offer? lol the insurance just said pass 2 unit 6 awards lol

Reply 13

Mos Def

Im sure CCF (Combined Cadet Force) gets you a few ucas points.

Reply 14

Biclet

Is it true that if you join the student action group in your college its possibe to earn more UCAS points. I know you can write about it on ur PS. :smile:

Reply 15

kellywood_5

penwa

i think the firm offer was 200 from two 6 unit awards, so BB and general studies if passed at B or higher.... Soooo could i get a BB in sociology n general studies then say a C in history and the D from politics and that would still be meeting the offer? lol the insurance just said pass 2 unit 6 awards lol

It depends on the exact wording of the offer. 200 points from two 6 unit awards means you have to get BB/AC in two A-levels and nothing else will count, so it doesn't matter what you get in the third A-level and your AS politics grade doesn't matter either. 200 points from at least two 6 unit awards means you need at least EE, which is 80 points, and the other 120 points can come from anything, so you can use all three A-levels and the AS level. Passing two 6 unit awards means you need EE. I think that's how it works anyway.

Reply 16

kellywellydoodle

Theres a drama thing tht u can do which earns more UCAS points LAMDA i thinnnnk its called. You get awarded bronze, silver, gold etc. i assume that the higher u get the more UCAS points

K xxx

Reply 17

penwa

ya i checked with them both, my insurance just needs a couple of passes so EE and 280 points from my 4 subjects. whilst m firm needs a BB and then either an A or CE, DD something like that to make up the 320 points. but then i checked the offer and it did say 'at least 200', which i thought it meant that i have to get a BB and then it make up the other 120 points from anything else. I duno lol.... oh and my politics grade is an A2 grade, i was 1 mark off a C

Reply 18

kellywood_5

penwa

OK, so for your insurance, if you already have 60 points from politics, you need another 220 from history, sociology and General Studies, which could be CCD. For your firm, if you need BB in 2 subjects, that's 200 points, plus 60 from your D in politics is 260, so if you need 320 overall, you need another 60 points in the other subject, which is a D. CCDD for insurance or BBDD for firm.