What are AliS points?

Answer 1

Advanced Level Information System: used in the United Kingdom to assess likely academic performance in post 16 education, ie at AS/ A Level or equivalent.

It is based on performance in General Certificate of Secondary Education exams, generally taken at age 16. An A* grade earns 8 points; A - 7 points; B - 6 points; C - 5 points... and so on.

Most schools & 6th Form colleges in the UK set a minimum "barrier score" for entry into full AS/ A2 Level courses. My school, for example, requires at least 6 B grades at GCSE, plus a minumum requirement of passes (ie C grades) in English, Maths, Science (a single science or "double award"), & a modern Foreign Language. Generally, we expect at least a B at GCSE in any subject to be taken at AS Level.

Universities will require specific A Level , or equivalent, qualifications for admission to degree courses (the "UCAS score" - University & College Application System), and most also look for a minimum ALIS score of 35: few admit this, but it's true. If your GCSE/ ALIS profile suggests lack of a decent general education - broad & balanced - then forget it! It's important to understand, however, that this is a minimum: the most competitive entry places (eg Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial, Nottingham, Oxford, St Andrews, UCL, Warwick, York - to name some of the most popular) will probably only consider seriously applicants in the 50+ range.

Medical schools are generally more open/ "up front" about this: few will consider direct post school applicants who don't have at least 6 - 7 GCSEs at minimum A grade, usually specifying A*/ As in Maths, Science & English.

More generally, most colleges at Oxford & Cambridge only seriously consider applicants with at least 8 top grade (A*/A) GCSE passes, but are very reluctant to be open about this for fear of accusations of "elitism"! But this is the reality. One Cambridge college, which I will not name, has never admitted any student to read Law who had less than 10 GCSEs at A*/A.

IMO, it's disgraceful that most UK universities are not more open about the importance of ALIS scores, and consequently teachers like myself have a devil of a job advising convincingly very mediocre students that a couple of As at GCSE does not a realistic "Oxbridge"/ "Russell Group" applicant make!

The message is simple: if you want to go to Oxford, Cambridge, or any of the other top 20 or so ranked universities in the UK, then you need at least 6 - 7 A*/ As at GCSE if you're to stand any chance of your application getting past the first hurdle. Same is true of applications to any medical or vet med school, irrespective of which universities they're in.