cambridge requirents

I chose ALevel Math, Art, and Btech (single award) ICT, and EPQ (Extended project qualification)... Is this good enough if i want to go Cambridge if i do get A*AA

Reply 1

BigGuyAkhenaten

14

Grades and EPQs are fantastic but not enough. You should be doing enough subject-related activities and events i.e. giving a formal presentation, going to a subject related summer school to completely fill your PS AND show that you can think on your feet under stressful situations like an interview

Reply 2

muxxkashif

OP

4

Original post by BigGuyAkhenaten

Grades and EPQs are fantastic but not enough. You should be doing enough subject-related activities and events i.e. giving a formal presentation, going to a subject related summer school to completely fill your PS AND show that you can think on your feet under stressful situations like an interview

Do you think a btec single award for ICT will make me look like a weak candidate?

Reply 3

BigGuyAkhenaten

14

Original post by muxxkashif

Do you think a btec single award for ICT will make me look like a weak candidate?

They may prefer A levels but BTEC shouldn't be too bad if you get full marks.

Reply 4

TauBilly

11

Original post by muxxkashif

Do you think a btec single award for ICT will make me look like a weak candidate?

I'm fairly sure Cambridge don't recognise BTEC's because 'they do not prepare students for a Cambridge course' I'm afraid.

Which course?

Reply 5

muxxkashif

OP

4

Original post by TauBilly

I'm fairly sure Cambridge don't recognise BTEC's because 'they do not prepare students for a Cambridge course' I'm afraid.

Which course?

I want to go into architecture or anything design related

Reply 6

yt7777

18

Firstly, Cambridge require A*A*A for Computer Science.

Secondly, they do not state anything about their BTEC entry for Computer Science (however they do for Engineering) so this is something you should email them about.

Maybe Oxford would be a better choice as they require A*AA and they accept the BTEC Level 3 in IT. They state that they accept the BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in IT combined with A level Maths. I guess by single award you meant the BTEC Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma in IT or the Extended Certificate (worth 1 A level). I reckon that as you are doing maths as well you would have more of a chance at Oxford than Cambridge because they do state they accept the triple version of your qualification. But you should still email them and see what they say.

"For students taking the BTEC National Extended Diploma in IT, a conditional offer will normally be: DDD in the Extended Diploma and A* in A Level in Maths." - http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/why_oxford/standard_conditional_offers.html#Vocational_qualifications:_eg_BTEC_National_Diploma

This suggests that an offer for you could potentially be:

•

A* - Maths

•

A - Art

•

Distinction(A) - IT

But still best to check with them.

Hope this helps :smile:

Reply 7

muxxkashif

OP

4

Original post by yt7777

firstly, cambridge require a*a*a for computer science.

Secondly, they do not state anything about their btec entry for computer science (however they do for engineering) so this is something you should email them about.

Maybe oxford would be a better choice as they require a*aa and they accept the btec level 3 in it. They state that they accept the btec level 3 extended diploma in it combined with a level maths. I guess by single award you meant the btec level 3 subsidiary diploma in it or the extended certificate (worth 1 a level). I reckon that as you are doing maths as well you would have more of a chance at oxford than cambridge because they do state they accept the triple version of your qualification. But you should still email them and see what they say.

"for students taking the btec national extended diploma in it, a conditional offer will normally be: Ddd in the extended diploma and a* in a level in maths." - http://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/why_oxford/standard_conditional_offers.html#vocational_qualifications:_eg_btec_national_diploma

this suggests that an offer for you could potentially be:

•

a* - maths

•

a - art

•

distinction(a) - it

but still best to check with them.

Hope this helps :smile:

thankyou so much !!!!

Reply 8

TauBilly

11

Original post by muxxkashif

I want to go into architecture or anything design related

Quoted from the website:

VCE A Levels, Applied A Levels, GNVQs and BTECs don’t provide an appropriate preparation for most Cambridge courses, where the emphasis is more academic than vocational. As such, these qualifications can’t, unless otherwise stated, be used to replace the required or highly desirable A Level subjects listed for each course.

Reply 9

yt7777

18

Original post by muxxkashif

thankyou so much !!!!

Haha sorry I thought I read you were applying for Computer Science but that must have been a different thread I was reading at the same time :argh:

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 10

Amanzhol

19

Original post by muxxkashif

I chose ALevel Math, Art, and Btech (single award) ICT, and EPQ (Extended project qualification)... Is this good enough if i want to go Cambridge if i do get A*AA

Original post by TauBilly

I'm fairly sure Cambridge don't recognise BTEC's because 'they do not prepare students for a Cambridge course' I'm afraid.

Which course?

Directly from the Cambridge Entrance Requirements page:
"VCE A Levels, Applied A Levels, GNVQs and BTECs don’t provide an appropriate preparation for most Cambridge courses, where the emphasis is more academic than vocational. As such, these qualifications can’t, unless otherwise stated, be used to replace the required or highly desirable A Level subjects listed for each course.
However, if any required/highly desirable subjects are covered, a six unit VCE or Applied A Level could be taken instead of a third A Level or as an additional fourth broadening subject. This combination of A Levels and VCE or other qualifications may be acceptable for some courses.
Potential applicants taking these qualifications are advised to seek further advice from a College Admissions Tutor as early as possible."

As it says, get in contact with one of the College Admissions Tutors and ask.

While it does say "This combination of A Levels and VCE or other qualifications may be acceptable for some courses.", I'm afraid something like ICT probably isn't relevant enough for Architecture to be acceptable. Even if it was acceptable, you should bare in mind that Architecture is the most competitive course at Cambridge and having what might be seen as a 'weaker' subject combination could put you at a disadvantage.

If you're set on Cambridge and your subjects aren't able to be considered by them, then I'd suggest seeing if you can pick up a third A-level either now or by doing another year of sixth form/college.

That being said, if you have extenuating circumstances that mean you were only able to pick two A-levels and a BTEC, Cambridge would be more willing to consider you.

The bottom line is, contact College Admissions.

I'm happy to answer any other questions, because funnily enough I'm a Cambridge Architecture applicant who just received an offer, even after being a Year 12 repeat student with awful AS grades the first time round.

Reply 11

yt7777

18

Original post by muxxkashif

I want to go into architecture or anything design related

If you were to consider doing Engineering then you could potentially have a chance, although it doesn't help that you are doing BTEC IT and not Engineering:

"All Colleges, except Trinity, welcome applications from students taking A Level Mathematics and a suitable vocational qualification, eg a BTEC Higher National Diploma in an engineering discipline. Applicants are expected to achieve the highest possible grades in A Level Mathematics and the vocational qualification." - https://www.admissions.eng.cam.ac.uk/guide/requirements

Reply 12

muxxkashif

OP

4

Original post by Amanzhol

Directly from the Cambridge Entrance Requirements page:
"VCE A Levels, Applied A Levels, GNVQs and BTECs don’t provide an appropriate preparation for most Cambridge courses, where the emphasis is more academic than vocational. As such, these qualifications can’t, unless otherwise stated, be used to replace the required or highly desirable A Level subjects listed for each course.
However, if any required/highly desirable subjects are covered, a six unit VCE or Applied A Level could be taken instead of a third A Level or as an additional fourth broadening subject. This combination of A Levels and VCE or other qualifications may be acceptable for some courses.
Potential applicants taking these qualifications are advised to seek further advice from a College Admissions Tutor as early as possible."

As it says, get in contact with one of the College Admissions Tutors and ask.

While it does say "This combination of A Levels and VCE or other qualifications may be acceptable for some courses.", I'm afraid something like ICT probably isn't relevant enough for Architecture to be acceptable. Even if it was acceptable, you should bare in mind that Architecture is the most competitive course at Cambridge and having what might be seen as a 'weaker' subject combination could put you at a disadvantage.

If you're set on Cambridge and your subjects aren't able to be considered by them, then I'd suggest seeing if you can pick up a third A-level either now or by doing another year of sixth form/college.

That being said, if you have extenuating circumstances that mean you were only able to pick two A-levels and a BTEC, Cambridge would be more willing to consider you.

The bottom line is, contact College Admissions.

I'm happy to answer any other questions, because funnily enough I'm a Cambridge Architecture applicant who just received an offer, even after being a Year 12 repeat student with awful AS grades the first time round.

thats so great! IT as an A level is not availaible in my sixth form or anywhere else. I am however, taking maths and art that are A levels and also EPQ and WIth that comes ICT btec single award... Is that good enough?

Reply 13

Amanzhol

19

Original post by muxxkashif

thats so great! IT as an A level is not availaible in my sixth form or anywhere else. I am however, taking maths and art that are A levels and also EPQ and WIth that comes ICT btec single award... Is that good enough?

Unfortunately I don't think a BTEC in ICT is relevant enough to Architecture to be considered as an appropriate substitute for an A-Level. I'm afraid an EPQ, even if relevant to architecture, is only equivalent to an AS-Level, therefore cannot be a substitute for a third A-Level either.

You'll need to find out what the College thinks about it (try several different ones because there are slight differences in requirements between them), but I suspect it's unlikely they'll be able to consider your subject combination unless you were *only* able to take two A-levels and one BTEC (for example because your GCSE results meant your school said you couldn't take three A-levels). However if that's not the case and you had the option to take a third A-Level from the start, I don't think they'll be able to consider your choice of taking a BTEC instead of a third A-Level.

Are there not any other A-Level subjects that you'd be interested in doing? You already have Art and Maths which are the two most common and suitable options for Architecture, so really you could pick any third A-Level and be fine, although particularly good ones could include Physics, Graphic/Product Design, History or Geography.

Reply 14

Dysf(x)al

20

Original post by muxxkashif

I chose ALevel Math, Art, and Btech (single award) ICT, and EPQ (Extended project qualification)... Is this good enough if i want to go Cambridge if i do get A*AA

Unlikely because Cambridge don't view BTECs as being "adequate preparation" for their courses. Best is to ask Admissions.

If they say no and you're really set on Cambridge, see if you can take an additional relevant A-level and do loads of super-curricular stuff.

Reply 15

04MR17

Volunteer Section Leader

22

I would comment but I already have done in the thread you made, exactly like this one, for Oxford.

https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5144882

Reply 16

username1865079

14