Which Universities Accept T-Levels?

In comparison to other level 3 qualifications, such as A-Levels, Highers or BTECs, T-Levels are relatively new qualifications. Due to this, it can lead to much more questions about how qualifications like this are viewed and what kind of future prospects they give you. This is particularly the case when it comes to looking at universities as universities will often have rather specific entry requirements that their applicants will need to meet.

In short, 138 universities and other higher education providers in the UK have said that they will accept T-Level qualifications for at least one of their degree courses. This includes high profile universities, such as some of the Russell Group universities, including, Cardiff University, Newcastle University, the University of Bristol, University College London (UCL) and the University of York as well as some others.

Continue reading to learn more about which universities actually accept T-Level qualifications, including what the conditions might be, what courses this is for and what types of T-Levels are accepted. This article will take you through all these details and more to answer all your burning questions.

Can you go to university with T-Levels?

T-Level qualifications were only introduced in September 2020, as 2-year courses, the first examination year was only in 2022. Due to this, as of 2023, T-Levels are still quite new qualifications and as a result many universities might still be rather dubious about T-Levels due to the nature of these programmes.

First of all, as T-Levels are vocational courses that are aimed at preparing students for the workplace, universities might not see T-Levels as being suitable to prepare students for a university course. Despite this, there are many universities that do accept students with T-Level qualifications, so yes you can go to university with T-Levels.

You can learn more about this by checking out this Think Student article.

Which universities accept T-Levels?

Now that we’ve established that you can get into university with T-Level qualifications, let’s delve into, which universities you will actually be able to go to with these. As of September 2023, 138 universities and other higher education providers in the UK have said that they will accept students, who have done T-Levels on at least one of their courses.

These higher education providers are as follows.

1. Abertay University
2. Aberystwyth University
3. Anglia Ruskin University
4. Askham Bryan College
5. Aston University
6. Bangor University
7. Barnsley College
8. Bath Spa University
9. Birmingham City University
10. Birkbeck, University of London
11. Bishop Burton College
12. Bishop Grosseteste University
13. Black Country and the Marches Institute of Technology
14. Blackpool and The Fylde College
15. Bournemouth University
16. Brunel University London
17. Buckinghamshire New University
18. Bury College University Centre
19. Canterbury Christ Church University
20. Cardiff Metropolitan University
21. Cardiff University
22. Chester University
23. City College Plymouth
24. City of Liverpool College
25. Coventry University
26. Craven College
27. De Montfort University
28. East Surrey College
29. East Sussex College Group
30. Edge Hill University
31. Edinburgh Napier University
32. Education Partnership North East
33. Falmouth University
34. Goldsmiths, University of London
35. Grantham College
36. Greenwich University
37. Hartpury University
38. Keele University
39. Kingston University
40. Lancaster University
41. Leeds Beckett University
42. Leeds Trinity University
43. Lincoln College
44. Liverpool Hope University
45. Liverpool John Moores University
46. London South Bank University
47. London South East Education Group
48. Loughborough University
49. Manchester Metropolitan University
50. Middlesbrough College
51. Middlesex University
52. NCG
53. Nelson and Colne College Group
54. New College of the Humanities
55. Newcastle University
56. New College Durham University Centre
57. Newman University
58. New Model Institute for Technology and Engineering
59. Northumbria University
60. Nottingham Trent University
61. Oxford Brookes University
62. Plymouth Marjon University
63. Roehampton University
64. Royal Academy of Music
65. Selby College
66. Solihull College & University Centre
67. South Central Institute of Technology
68. South Gloucestershire and Stroud College
69. South & City College Birmingham
70. Southampton Solent University
71. Sheffield Hallam University
72. Staffordshire University
73. St Mary’s University Twickenham
74. Swansea University
75. TEC Partnership
76. Teesside University
77. The Open University
78. UCEN Manchester
79. University Campus of Football Business
80. University Centre Farnborough
81. University Centre Reaseheath
82. University Centre Weston
83. University College Birmingham
84. University of Bath
85. University of Bedfordshire
86. University of Birmingham
87. University of Bolton
88. University of Bradford
89. University of Brighton
90. University of Bristol
91. University of Central Lancashire
92. University College London
93. University of Chichester
94. University of Cumbria
95. University of Derby
96. University of East Anglia
97. University of East London
98. University of Essex
99. University of Exeter
100. University of Gloucestershire
101. University of Hertfordshire
102. University of Huddersfield
103. University of Hull
104. University of Kent
105. University of Law
106. University of Leicester
107. University of Leeds
108. University of Lincoln
109. University of Liverpool
110. University of Manchester
111. University of Northampton
112. University of Nottingham
113. University of Plymouth
114. University of Portsmouth
115. University of Reading
116. University of Salford
117. University of Sheffield
118. University of South Wales
119. University of Southampton
120. University of Suffolk
121. University of Sunderland
122. University of the Arts London
123. University of Wales Trinity Saint David
124. University of Warwick
125. University of West England
126. University of West London
127. University of Westminster
128. University of Winchester
129. University of Wolverhampton
130. University of Worcester
131. University of York
132. Wakefield College
133. Warwickshire College University Centre
134. Wrexham Glyndwr University
135. Writtle University College
136. Yeovil College University Centre
137. York College
138. York St John University

You can learn more about these by checking out this page on the government website.

To put this figure into perspective, according to Statista, there were 295 higher education providers in the UK. You can learn more about this by checking out this page on the Statista website.

Do Russell Group universities accept T-Levels?

The Russell Group universities are often seen as more prestigious and at times may even be considered better universities than other universities in the UK. This group of 24 universities all have a particular focus on global research. To learn more about the Russell Group, check out this Think Student article.

They are also often regarded as the best universities in the UK. This is particularly due to said focus on research as well as being able to provide students with more opportunities and due to their prestigiousness, which may make graduates more attractive to employers. You can learn more about the Russell Group universities and whether they really are the best in this Think Student article.

Due to this level of prestigiousness and more academic approach, you might feel that Russell Group universities will be more against accepting students with T-Level qualifications. This is particularly as it can seem as though their academic programmes may not line up with the more vocational T-Level qualifications.

However, some Russell Group universities do accept T-Level qualifications. The best way to look at this is to cross reference the list of Russell Group universities with the list of higher education providers that do accept T-Levels.

The universities included in the Russell Group are as follows.

1. University of Birmingham
2. University of Bristol
3. University of Cambridge
4. Cardiff University
5. Durham University
6. University of Edinburgh
7. University of Exeter
8. University of Glasgow
9. Imperial College London
10. King’s College London
11. University of Leeds
12. University of Liverpool
13. London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
14. University of Manchester
15. University of Newcastle
16. University of Nottingham
17. University of Oxford
18. Queen Mary University of London
19. Queen’s University Belfast
20. University of Sheffield
21. University of Southampton
22. University College London (UCL)
23. University of Warwick
24. University of York

You can learn more about these by checking out this page on the Russell Group website.

The 14 universities that accept T-Levels for at least one course out of the Russell Group from the list above are as follows.

1. Cardiff University
2. Newcastle University
3. University of Birmingham
4. University of Bristol
5. University College London
6. University of Exeter
7. University of Leeds
8. University of Liverpool
9. University of Manchester
10. University of Nottingham
11. University of Sheffield
12. University of Southampton
13. University of Warwick
14. University of York

Does Oxbridge accept T-Levels?

Neither the University of Oxford nor the University of Cambridge accept students with T-Level qualifications. The University of Oxford flat out states that they don’t accept T-Levels as they don’t see them as an adequate form preparation for their university degree programmes. You can learn more about this on the University of Oxford’s website here.

Whereas, the University of Cambridge says that T-Levels aren’t accepted for undergraduate study. However, they do say that they might consider T-Level students for foundation year programmes. You can learn more about this by looking at this page on the University of Cambridge website.

The term Oxbridge refers to the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. These 2 universities are the most prestigious universities in the UK and arguably the best, particularly according to many university rankings.

They are also among the best and most prestigious universities in the world and can be particularly compared to the American Ivy League universities, such as Harvard University. You can learn more about how the University of Oxford compares to Harvard University by checking out this Think Student article.

As well as being some of the best and most prestigious universities in the world, they are also notoriously difficult to get into. Due to this, the question on whether the Oxbridge universities accept T-Levels is even more pressing. For more on just how hard it is to get into the Oxbridge universities, check out this Think Student article.

Does UCAS accept T-Levels?

In order to apply to university for an undergraduate level course, students will typically need to apply through UCAS. For the UCAS application, students will then have up to 5 choices of what they want to study and where.

In their UCAS application, students will need to fill in their personal details; get references, typically from their sixth form or college and write a personal statement explaining why they want to be on that course.

As a part of their application, students will also need to write down their academic history, this will particularly focus on stating all of their qualifications and the grades they got for these. This includes any qualifications that they are still studying, in this case, predicted grades will be added to their application.

To learn more about how the UCAS application works, check out this guide on the UCAS website.

While T-Levels are slightly different to other post-16 qualifications, such as A-Levels, as already mentioned, students can get into university with T-Levels. As there is no special application process for T-Level students, this by extension means that UCAS does accept T-Levels.

This also means that T-Level students will still need to go through the same application process when applying to university. You can learn more about what UCAS says about T-Levels by checking out this guide on the UCAS website.

How many UCAS points is a T-Level?

When it comes to applying through UCAS, another important thing to consider is UCAS points. Some universities solely use UCAS points as a way of setting their entry requirements and even though not all do, they can still be useful in looking out how different qualifications and their grades compare to one another.

As level 3 qualifications, in the same way that A-Levels and Highers are, yes, T-Levels have been attributed UCAS points. T-Level qualifications are worth 3 A-Levels and their UCAS Tariff point values reflect this.

Look at the following table to see how many UCAS points each T-Level grade is worth, this will be in comparison to the equivalent A-Level grade to help you understand it better.

To learn more about how many UCAS points you can get for each grade for a T-Level qualification, check out this Think Student article.