I'll agree, they seem a bit vague. There's no denying it's unfair mate, but that's life eh? We'll live.
I'm finishing up my HND this year. I applied for 2nd year entry to Glasgow and they offered me first. I sent them an email outlining both the solo and group work I'd taken part in, how I'd covered all modules Glasgow offer in first year and more (accounts, economics, marketing, managing people & organisations, law etc) - I even told her to up my offer from BB to AA but Elaine Shortt told me her hands were tied unfortunately.
I found it a bit odd as every other university I applied to offered me 3rd year, including Aberdeen and Stirling. However, I chose Glasgow after a long chat with myself. Mainly due to the club 21 opportunities and the ERASMUS exchange which I would have missed out on going in to Third year. So I'll be off there on September.
I suppose the only good thing is that I'll know what I'm talking about after studying it for 2 years and doing masses of extended reading out of enjoyment (oddly) haha.