Who needs A levels?

Those seeking to enter higher education in the UK can now choose to do so with alternative qualifications to A levels. Advanced General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs), for example, have become more popular, and more than 25,000 advanced GNVQ students applied to universities and higher education colleges in 1997, with almost 17,000 embarking on degree courses. Indeed, almost 100,000 of the 275,000 students who entered university in 1997 did not follow the traditional A level route.