After finishing your GCSEs or equivalent qualifications, there are a wide range of different routes you can go down. You could continue studying, start working full-time or part-time or combine these by doing an apprenticeship.
Even if you do decide to continue studying, you will still need to decide on what qualification(s) you want to study as well as the subject. What many students don’t realise is that there are a wide range of different post-GCSE options out there that you could take, from the traditional A-Levels to the more vocational BTEC qualifications. In this article, we’re going to talk about one of these, the Cambridge Pre-U qualification.
Simply put, a Cambridge Pre-U qualification is an academic, level 3 qualification that students could take after completing their GCSEs. This was aimed at preparing students for university study as the “Pre-U” suggests. This qualification was available in 24 different subjects, such as modern languages and mathematics. However, the final examination year for this qualification was 2023 with resits in 2024.
Continue reading to get more in-depth information about the Cambridge Pre-U. This article will take you through what they are, the subjects they’re available in, which qualification they’re equivalent to and much more.
Table of Contents
What is the Cambridge Pre-U qualification?
The Cambridge Pre-U qualification is a much lesser-known post-GCSE qualification. This is likely as not as many sixth forms and colleges offer it compared to the likes of A-Levels.
This means that it is a form of further education as students are progressing their education past the compulsory school age. You can learn more about further education by having a look at this Think Student article.
The Cambridge Pre-U qualifications are 2-year courses available in 24 different subjects as of 2024. As the “Pre-U” suggests, the course is designed to help students to prepare for university study and was made with insight from universities.
The Cambridge Pre-U qualification can be studied at either a sixth form or a college after students have completed their GCSEs or alternative qualifications. Similarly to A-Levels, students will generally take 3 or possibly more Cambridge Pre-U subjects. These can also be done alongside other qualifications that the sixth form or college offers, such as A-Levels or even BTECs.
They are also similar to A-Levels in that they are academic qualifications and are studied linearly. However, while some A-Level subjects will have coursework, Cambridge Pre-U courses are all assessed with exams at the end.
You can learn more about the Cambridge Pre-U qualification by checking out this page on the Cambridge International Education website.
What is the Cambridge Pre-U equivalent to?
The Cambridge Pre-U is classed as a level 3 qualification in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which is roughly equivalent to a level 6 qualification in Scotland.
This means that it is a qualification that is more advanced than level 2 qualifications (level 5 in Scotland), such as GCSEs or National 5s, but is less advanced than level 4 qualifications, which are equivalent to the first year of undergraduate study at university.
Knowing which qualification level the Cambridge Pre-U is at allows us to compare it to other qualifications. In this sense, other level 3 qualifications will be equivalent to the Cambridge Pre-U qualification.
Some of the level 3 qualifications that are equivalent to Cambridge Pre-U qualifications are as follows. The main ones of these are alongside links to Think Student articles to tell you more about them.
- A-Levels – linked here.
- AS-Levels – linked here.
- Highers – linked here
- Advanced Highers – (same link as Highers).
- Extended project qualifications (EPQs) – linked here.
- Advanced apprenticeships – linked here.
- Foundation apprenticeships
- BTEC Nationals and other level 3 BTECs – linked here.
- International Baccalaureate diploma (IB diploma) – linked here.
- T-Levels – linked here.
- Level 3 CTECs – linked here.
- Level 3 NVQs and level 6 SVQs
- Music grades 6, 7 and 8
- Advanced diploma qualifications
You can learn more about the qualification levels as a whole in this Think Student article. If you would like to see more on level 3 qualifications specifically, have a look at this Think Student article.
How is a Cambridge Pre-U graded?
As we previously looked at, Cambridge Pre-U qualifications are very similar to A-Levels although they are all assessed through exams, while A-Levels might have coursework. In this section, we’re going to look at what comes after the exams. The grading of Cambridge Pre-U qualifications.
As similar as they are to other academic qualifications, Cambridge Pre-Us are rather different when it comes to how they’re graded. Instead of using lettered grades, such as A, B or C, the Cambridge Pre-U uses the Pass, Merit and Distinction grading system.
This grading system is used by a wide range of different qualifications in the UK from vocational qualifications, such as BTECs, to postgraduate qualifications, such as master’s degrees. You can learn more about this grading system in this Think Student article.
For the Cambridge Pre-U, there are 9 grades within the Pass, Merit and Distinction system, as there are 3 levels for each grade. These may also be stylised as P1, P2, P3, M1, M2, M3, D1, D2, D3.
In each of these, the level 1 grade is the highest and level 3 the lowest, so D1 would be the highest grade and P3 would be the lowest. You can learn more about this by checking out this page of the Cambridge International Education website.
Can you get UCAS points for the Cambridge Pre-U?
In the UK, the primary way to apply to undergraduate courses at university is to do so through UCAS. Other than being the main system to apply for university, UCAS also created ‘UCAS points’ or officially UCAS Tariff Points.
These convert different qualifications and their grades into “points”, allowing them to be compared more easily. You can learn more about these UCAS Tariff points in this Think Student article.
While they are available for many further education courses, they aren’t available for all and you might be wondering whether or not they are for Cambridge Pre-U qualifications.
Cambridge Pre-U qualifications do convert into UCAS Tariff points. Look at the following table to see how the Cambridge Pre-U grades compare to UCAS points as well as A-Level grades for reference.
| Cambridge Pre-U grade | UCAS Tariff points | A-Level grade |
| D1 | 56 | A* |
| D2 | 56 | A* |
| D3 | 52 | |
| 48 | A | |
| M1 | 44 | |
| M2 | 40 | B |
| M3 | 46 | |
| 32 | C | |
| P1 | 28 | |
| P2 | 24 | D |
| P3 | 20 | |
| 16 | E |
You can learn more about this by checking out this guide by Cambridge International. Check out this UCAS page to use the UCAS Tariff Points calculator and compare the points shown above with other qualifications.
Are Cambridge Pre-U qualifications still available?
In 2019, the chief executive of Cambridge International announced that the Cambridge Pre-U qualification would be discontinued. This meant that the final examination year for this qualification was in the summer exam season in 2023. Although, students needing to resit their exams were able to do so in the summer exam season of 2024.
As the main course lasts 2 years, the final year of students starting their Cambridge Pre-U studies would have begun in 2021.
The decision of Cambridge International to discontinue the Cambridge Pre-U qualification was due to the reform in A-Level qualifications. This subsequently led to the Cambridge Pre-U qualification being very similar to another qualification that Cambridge International offers, the International A-Level.
You can learn more about this by checking out this page on the Cambridge International website.