Exams Administration
Information and resources for exams officers to plan ahead and stay on track throughout the whole exams lifecycle, from entries to results day.
Access courses explanation of results
Access Courses
These courses are intended for students aged 19 or over who do not have traditional Level 3 qualifications.
They are specifically designed to prepare students for entry to degree and other higher education programmes.
The courses are devised by and offered at further education and adult education institutions and validated by Authorised Validating Agencies (AVAs) such as AQA. Each AVA is licensed by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) for Higher Education to approve Access to Higher Education programmes and to award QAA recognised certificates of national recognition to students.
Certification
An Access Certificate is not graded and is issued to a student who has successfully completed 18 credits at Level 3. An Access Unit Statement is issued to students who have not completed a full Access course, but who have completed units of work as part of the course.
Unit Statement
An Access Unit Statement may be issued to students who have not completed a full Access course, but have completed units of study which are part of the course.
The Unit Statement lists the titles of the units which the student has completed successfully and indicates their credit values.
Level 2 Courses
These courses are designed for those students who do not have any traditional Level 2 qualifications but have substantial experience of life outside formal education gained since compulsory schooling. These courses are specifically designed to prepare students for entry to Access to Higher Education programmes.
The courses are offered at further education and adult education institutions, and validated by Access Validating Agencies (AVAs) such as AQA.
Certification
The Level 2 unit transcript lists the units which the student has achieved as part of their Level 2 course. The certificate lists the titles of the units which the student has completed successfully and indicates their credit values, level and date of achievement.
Diploma certification
An Access to Higher Education Diploma certificate is issued to a student who has successfully completed 45 credits at Level 3, and 15 credits at Level 2 or 3 within the Diploma rules of combination.
A unit transcript is also issued to accompany the Access to Higher Education Diploma certificate, identifying the units which have contributed to the achievement of the Diploma.
Access to Higher Education Free-standing unit transcript
This transcript may be issued to a student taking an Access to Higher Education course who has achieved extra units outside the rules of combination of the course which the student is studying. These extra units may be a course requirement not included in the rules of combination, for example:
- GCSE equivalent units
- an extra requirement of a Higher Education Institute for a particular course to which the student is applying
- taken by the student out of general interest.
The units have been validated by AQA as appropriate for inclusion in an Access to Higher Education Diploma course.
Access to Higher Education Unit Transcript
This transcript may be issued to a student for the units which the student has achieved within the rules of combination of the Access to Higher Education Diploma and for which the student is registered. If the student has gained a full Access to Higher Education Diploma, a separate Diploma certificate with the QAA logo will accompany this transcript.