1. LINKING LONDON ACCESS TO HE PRACTITIONER FORUM MAY 2015 Supporting the learner journey

2. Access to HE Update  Subject Descriptors  UCAS tariff points  Awarding Body Linkage  Grading Benchmarks  Level 2 HE Entry requirements 2016 Nursing and Midwifery

3. Subject Descriptors  QAA has been working on subject descriptors for Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work. This work has attempted to set a national curriculum for Diplomas with these progression routes.  However, these will now not be published this academic year as originally planned. Additional research into HE entry requirements for these subject areas will be needed prior to any formal publication on this work.

4. UCAS Tariff Points  The Access to HE Diploma will be included in the new UCAS tariff points from 2017.  Guidance for HEIs on the new tariff will be published later this year and this will include information for Access to HE.  The guidance will include a table that lines up with the HEFCE ABB+ calculations and therefore maps to A levels and BTEC Nationals.  QAA will publish a revised HE Admissions Tutor Toolkit and will hold national round table events around entry requirements and the new tariff for Access to HE.

5. Awarding Body Linkage (ABL)  After the successful pilot last year that included the Access to HE Diploma results from a small number of Access Validating Agencies (AVAs) on the ABL as pass/ fail, this year the ABL will include the grade profile results for Access learners across all AVAs.  This will enable HEIs to view Access applicant results in full in the same way as they have viewed results from other qualifications.

6. Grading Benchmarks  QAA will be looking closely at grade profiles from across AVAs nationally.  They have set the benchmark for grading against the A level ABB+, which last year was around 27%.  Grade profiles that sit outside the set tolerances (10%) will be monitored closely by AVAs and QAA.

7. Level 2 HE Entry requirements 2016 Nursing and Midwifery  University of Hertfordshire - Applicants must have or must be studying for GCSE Maths and English Lang required at grade C or above (or accepted equivalences).  Greenwich University - Happy to make conditional offers to those studying GCSE Maths and English or their equivalent alongside an Access course. They also accept key skills and functional skills at level 2.  City University - Access applicants must hold both GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above at the point of application.

8. Level 2 HE Entry requirements 2016 Nursing and Midwifery.  LSBU – Accept Level 2 Functional skills in lieu of GCSEs in English and Maths. Applicants must have, or be on track to obtain GCSE Maths and English (grade C or higher) or equivalent alongside their Access diploma.  Middlesex University – Accept Level 2 Functional skills and GCSE English and Maths grade C or above. They cannot shortlist unless applicants have the GCSEs at the point of application, but they are able to shortlist applicants studying functional skills alongside their Access diploma.  Kingston - Accept Level 2 Functional skills and GCSE Maths and English grade C or above. Awaiting confirmation from King’s College, New Bucks and University of West London.

9. For further information OCN London Website www.ocnlondon.org.uk QAA Access to HE Website www.accesstohe.ac.uk Marisa Castellini - Curriculum Development Manager - Access to HE m.castellini@ocnlondon.org.ukm.castellini@ocnlondon.org.uk