helpyouchoose.org

The Advanced Diploma is designed to be a good route into a university course. (If you study a Foundation or Higher Diploma you'll have to do a Level 3 qualification before going on to Higher Education.)

What UCAS says

UCAS (the university admissions service) gives each type of qualification a UCAS points score. These are used to show the value of different qualifications and how they compare to each other. Universities use UCAS points to help decide whether to accept a qualification.

The Advanced Diploma has been given a maximum of 420 UCAS points (depending on what grades you get), which is the same score as 3½ A levels at grade A (in other words, 3 A levels and an extra AS level).

This means UCAS says that an Advanced Diploma student should be counted the same as a typical A level student.

What the universities say

Many universities have confirmed that they'll accept Advanced Diploma students; however some say that it will depend on the Additional/Specialist learning options that the students select.

University of Birmingham:

We encourage applications from those offering new Diplomas. Diploma candidates should consult the admissions office to check that their Diploma is suitable for their chosen programme.

Cambridge University:

We will be considering the acceptability of the new Diplomas for our courses on a case-by-case basis as details of the specialised learning options within each Advanced Diploma are confirmed.

No-one's finished an Advanced Diploma yet, so people are concerned about whether some universities will accept Diploma students. The UCAS website has a list of what  each university has said about Diplomas – click UCAS 14–19 Diploma statements to see this.