Statement on the use of unit grades in conditional offers for 2006-7
Along with several other universities, the University of Cambridge is participating in a technical pilot scheme during the 2005-6 admissions round regarding the incorporation of unit grade information into the HE admissions process.
Participation in the pilot will involve the communication of the unit grades achieved by all current offer holders to us, through UCAS, after confirmation. The collection of this data on unit grade achievement of our offer holders will allow us to investigate and validate the predictive value of finer grained offers including unit grades if we are to use them in the future.
This development envisages the possibility in the 2006-7 admissions round of making conditional offers that specify A grades in particular units that a student is taking alongside the requirement to achieve A grades overall in specified subjects.
As stated in the 2007 entry Undergraduate Prospectus (p140):
In order to help differentiate between the many well-qualified students applying to the University with A Levels, achievement in particular A2 level units may also be included in a conditional offer (please note that this is subject to developments at UCAS). Policies may vary from College to College and will also be dependent on the course you wish to study and your individual circumstances. You could be asked to achieve grade A in particular A2 level units you are taking or to gain a certain number of A grades in your A2 units. Please see individual College websites for more details.
Some use will be made of unit grade offers in the 2006-7 admissions round, notably in those A Level subjects where certain modules’ content relates more closely to the requirements of our courses than others’. It is also possible that unit grade offers may be used in order to guarantee that students must achieve A grades in at least some of their A2 units.
The following examples indicate the ways in which unit grade offers may be used:
- In some cases applicants may be asked to achieve an A overall and As in particular units thought to be particularly important, eg an offer requiring 'an A in Further Mathematics with As in units P4 and P5'.
- In other cases, applicants may be asked to achieve an A overall and As in a specified number of A2 units, eg an offer requiring 'an A in English Literature with at least two As in units 6391, 6392 and 6393'.
The use of unit grade offers is intended to permit us to make better use of the conditional offer system and permit some variation (as we have with International Baccalaureate offers) in particular circumstances, notably where the alternative might be that no offer would be made to that applicant.
If further information is required, please contact the Cambridge Admissions Office or visit the admissions websites of particular Colleges or contact College Admissions Tutors.