Access to higher education

Access to HE courses are designed for people who would like to study at university but who left school without the usual qualifications, such as A levels.

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Access Recognition Licensing Committee

Find out more about the role of ARLC

QAA's Recognition Scheme

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QAA's Access team

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About us

This website is owned by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). We regulate the national recognition of Access to HE courses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Find out more about QAA >>

QAA's remit for Access to HE

QAA has been responsible for assuring the quality of recognised Access to HE courses since we were established in 1997. To meet our responsibilities, we have developed the QAA Recognition Scheme for Access to Higher Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We license regionally-based access validating agencies (AVAs) to recognise Access to HE programmes and to award the qualifications to students.