NARIC guide on Higher Education Systems in the European Union

Colleges and institutes sometimes offer places to candidates who have relatively low grades on two A levels or even less.
In the final clearing stages, when students are still looking for places and unfilled courses are looking for applicants, an
applicant with modest qualifications may find a place in an institution whose earlier conditional offer he or she had failed to
meet.
II.1.2. Qualifications for admission to university
As mentioned in Section II.1, there are a number of certificates or diplomas that grant general admission to higher education.
In addition to the general requirements, there are specific course requirements.
A student who fails to reach the general requirement but who has one A level in addition to the required number of GCSEs
may enroll in a BTEC higher national diploma course at an institution that also offers a degree in the subject. Eventually such
a student may be able to transfer to the degree course.
General requirement
The general requirement consists of four to five subjects at GCSE (minimal grade is C, or the equivalent grade at O level or
CSE) and A level of which at least two must be at A level.
Course requirement
Most universities stipulate the three A level passes at specific grade
levels (between A and E) which they are prepared to accept, but some make offers of places on the basis of two (good) A
levels.
The Open University sets no formal entry requirement.
II.2. Intermediate qualifications in higher education
II.2.1 Intermediate qualifications in non-university higher education
There are no formal intermediate qualifications in university higher education in the UK, but two cases are worth noting. An
approximation in the British system to the intermediate qualifications of some continental countries is the BTEC higher
national diploma or certificate. This is not conceived of as such, but in practice a student may complete his/her HND
alongside and sharing courses with students in the first year of a science/technology degree. If the student’s results are
sufficiently good, she/he may continue with the course and complete the degree. Conversely, a poor student enrolled for the
degree may be able to obtain an HND before leaving the course prematurely.
In education it is also possible to do a two-year diploma in higher education (DipHE). Entry qualifications are usually a little
more flexible than those for a degree course. The diploma is complete in itself or may be used as the foundation for further
study for either a degree or a professional qualification.
II.2.2 Academic recognition of intermediate
qualifications for purposes of further study
A good HND may gain exemption from the first year of the degree in some science subjects and engineering.