UCAS Points

[moleseymum]

As there are a few threads on here where people are commenting on the UCAS points needed for some courses I know from experience that some people aren't aware that some dance and music exams earn UCAS points, so thought it worth posting here. I think most at grade 6 and above qualify.
DS took grade 6 musical theatre singing and got a distinction, it gives him UCAS points equivalent to a grade C at AS.

[yorshiremum]

That's true, but my experience this year has been that none of the dance/music/MT exam UCAS points have counted at all! Both UCAS offers have stipulated that the points must come from her A levels and BTECs. Considering this is for Musical Theatre degrees, I'm not sure what courses would count them! Has anyone had a different experience? I'm sure the exams are helpful in gaining the offers she had, but it was disappointing that the points were not considered.

[paulears]

I suspect that the introduction of UCAS points for these examinations has produced a bubble in the stats, suggesting that perhaps the thing wasn't thought through very well. The few chats I've had with colleagues suggests that they got the depth and breadth calculations a bit out of sync. There's no doubt the depth is deep - much deeper than the depth of A Levels and BTECs, but it's applied very narrowly. Many students who take these external exams have pretty developed skills, and we've all seen the benefits, but it's not the same system as A Levels and BTECs, and other qualifications on the comparison framework. There's also a small danger of the person being unable to fit in to uni style study, if they got in by virtue of poorer examination results, bolstered by the external study - that is very often individual work? I can think of quite a few people I know who do well in their music studies because they are at a disadvantage in group work, which the universities would perhaps find difficult to manage. So the system might be seen as a bit flawed. Perhaps it is, from a 'value' perspective. Maybe they just messed up the parity with traditional qualifications that are wider and shallower.

[cluelessmum]

So far my dds offer in writing for a degree - only mentions the academic points - nothing else will count. The Laines offer doesn't mention anything about points or grades or anything.

To meet the conditions of the offer - my dd will have to work pretty hard to make the grades. If the other exams counted it would help but some of these schools have so much choice that they are making the barriers for entry high.

[paulears]

The points value was eagerly welcomed by the specialist providers, and it's a bit sad that the up as points don't count, which rather wrecks the entire point, but it simply doesn't work for the universities, probably because they know what is in the A levels and BTEC, so know what their new students can do, while the specialist exams are a bit of a poor fit? Still with doing though, just no longer a bit of a short cut or replacement for poorer grades elsewhere.