UCAS Points Calculator
This calculator adds up your UCAS Tariff points for 2026 university entry using UCAS's official tariff tables: A levels (A* = 56 down to E = 16), AS levels, BTEC Nationals from Certificate to Extended Diploma, T Levels, IB certificates, Scottish Highers and the EPQ. Pick each qualification and grade and the total updates as you go. The lookup runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
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Where these numbers come from
Every value is read from UCAS's official 2026 Tariff tables (published May 2026). The tariff itself computes points as size band × grade band — an A level is size 4, and grade A is band 12, giving 48 points. IB subjects earn points per certificate (there is no points row for the Diploma total), which several other calculators get wrong.
How the Tariff actually works
UCAS Tariff points turn qualification grades into one comparable number, and the machinery behind the published tables is a single multiplication: points = size band × grade band. An A level has size band 4; grade A carries grade band 12; 4 × 12 = 48 points. A Scottish Higher is size 3, so its A grade (band 11) earns 33. Every value in this calculator is read from UCAS's official 2026 tariff tables, published May 2026 — the same numbers universities see — and UCAS states the values have been unchanged since the current tariff arrived in 2017. We re-check the tables against each May's release.
One detail the size-and-band system hides: AS levels are not a clean fraction of the full A level. A and B (20 and 16 points) sit at exactly 40% of their A-level equivalents, but D earns 10 rather than 9.6 rounded, and E earns 6 rather than 6.4 — the bands are stepped, not scaled. If you have been estimating AS points by halving A-level ones, the bottom grades come out wrong.
| Grade | A level | AS level |
|---|---|---|
| A* | 56 | — |
| A | 48 | 20 |
| B | 40 | 16 |
| C | 32 | 12 |
| D | 24 | 10 |
| E | 16 | 6 |
BTEC and T Level points
BTEC Nationals span five sizes, from the Certificate (half an A level's teaching hours) to the Extended Diploma (three A levels' worth), and the points scale with the size: a Distinction* is worth 28 on a Certificate, 56 on an Extended Certificate — exactly an A* at A level — and 168 on an Extended Diploma, the same as three A*s. The calculator carries all five sizes with their full grade ladders, including the combined grades (DDM, D*D*D and so on) that the larger diplomas award.
T Levels are graded as one qualification — Distinction* down to Pass — but with a wrinkle the official tables encode and most calculators ignore: there are two Pass tiers, worth 96 points when the core component was graded A* to C and 72 when it was D or E. The official tariff file also lists partial-achievement points for students who completed only the core or only the occupational specialism, with values that differ per T Level because each one weights its components differently; if that is your situation, the exact figure needs the UCAS table for your specific T Level.
| Qualification | Top grade | Points |
|---|---|---|
| BTEC National Extended Certificate | D* | 56 |
| BTEC National Diploma | D*D* | 112 |
| BTEC National Extended Diploma | D*D*D* | 168 |
| T Level (full award) | Distinction* | 168 |
| T Level Pass — core graded A*–C | Pass | 96 |
| T Level Pass — core graded D–E | Pass | 72 |
The details other calculators get wrong
The International Baccalaureate is the big one. The current UCAS tariff has no points row for the IB Diploma total score — points attach to each certificate individually and are added up: a Higher Level subject at 7 earns 56, a Standard Level 7 earns 28, and Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay earn 12 down to 4 on their A–E scale. One widely used calculator both lists Higher Level 4 as 16 points (the official table says 24) and offers a Diploma-total-to-points conversion that simply does not exist in the current tariff. If a university wants your Diploma score, it will say so in the offer; the tariff speaks per certificate.
A second fossil worth naming: the rule that an A* at A level requires 90% on the A2 units belongs to the old modular system, which was phased out from 2015. Modern A levels are linear — every paper is sat at the end, raw marks are added, and each exam board sets the grade boundaries, including A*, after each summer's results. Any calculator still quoting the 90% rule is describing qualifications that no longer exist.
Edge cases and limits
The number this page produces is the input to an offer, not the offer itself. Many universities make offers in grades — AAB with an A in mathematics, say — rather than in points, and some use points for one course and grades for another; the course listing is the only authority on which form applies to you. A points total also says nothing about subject requirements, which sit alongside the tariff in most offers.
The tariff covers Level 3 qualifications — A levels, BTEC Nationals, T Levels and their peers — so GCSEs do not carry tariff points, and neither do many perfectly respectable qualifications that universities consider separately. The official tables also carry rows this calculator deliberately leaves out for clarity: A level Double Awards, combined A-level-plus-additional-AS rows, and hundreds of smaller vocational qualifications. If yours is one of those, the UCAS tariff tables — republished every May — have the exact row, and the calculator's structure (size band × grade band) is the same arithmetic underneath.
Frequently asked questions
How many UCAS points is an A level worth?
An A* earns 56 points, then the ladder steps down by eight: A is 48, B is 40, C is 32, D is 24 and E is 16. Three A-level grades of AAB therefore come to 136 points. The values are from UCAS's official 2026 tariff tables and have been stable since the current tariff was introduced in 2017, so a total you calculated last year still holds — though the offer that matters is the one on the course listing, which may be expressed in grades instead.
Do GCSEs give UCAS points?
No. The UCAS Tariff covers Level 3 qualifications — A levels, AS levels, BTEC Nationals, T Levels, Scottish Highers and similar — and GCSEs sit at Level 2, below the tariff's floor. That does not make them irrelevant: universities routinely set GCSE conditions alongside their main offer, most commonly a minimum grade in English and mathematics. They are checked as subjects and grades, just never converted into points.
How are IB points counted — do I use my Diploma total?
Not in the current tariff. There is no points row for the IB Diploma total score; instead each certificate earns points on its own — a Higher Level subject at grade 7 is 56 points, a Standard Level 7 is 28, and Theory of Knowledge and the Extended Essay earn between 12 and 4 on their A–E scale — and the certificates are summed. Some older calculators still offer a Diploma-total conversion; that table no longer exists, which is why this calculator asks for each subject separately.
Are BTECs worth the same as A levels?
Size for size, yes. A BTEC National Extended Certificate is the same size as one A level, and its grades mirror the A-level ladder at the top: a Distinction* earns 56 points, exactly an A*, and a Distinction earns 48, exactly an A. The larger BTECs scale up accordingly — an Extended Diploma at D*D*D* matches three A*s at 168 points. What differs is not the arithmetic but the offer: some courses ask for specific A-level subjects that a BTEC cannot substitute, so check the course listing.
When do these values change?
Rarely. UCAS republishes the tariff tables every May for the following application cycle, and states that the point values have not changed since the current tariff took effect in 2017 — the 2026 and 2027 tables carry the same numbers. What does change every year are exam-board grade boundaries, which decide the grades you feed into this page; those are published on results day each August. We re-check this calculator against each May's tables and show the tariff year it reflects.