As we continue to complain about our points system, UCAS, Britain's Universities and Colleges Admissions Service is beefing up the points element of its college entry system. The UCAS Tariff, which will be introduced in the year 2002, is a new points-score system for entry to higher education in Britain and Northern Ireland. According to a spokesperson, UCAS is actively considering the inclusion of our Leaving Cert and the International Baccalaureat into the points framework it has established to accommodate Curriculum 2000. Curriculum 2000 is a complicated array of awards which includes AS-levels, vocational A-Levels, regular A-Levels and a number of key skills. The UCAS Tariff allocates points for each award and grade of award. For the first time, Scottish qualifications are included in the framework. For example, an A at A Level will merit 120 points, as will an A in the Scottish Advanced Highers. Achieve an E (in England, Wales or Northern Ireland) though, and you'll get only 40 points. Key skills in literacy, numeracy or ICT will garner 30 points for the highest grade. The AS-Level is awarded to students sitting exams after the first year of two-year A-Level courses, but can only be used for points' purposes if the full A-Level course is not completed.

According to UCAS, the new Tariff is to be used as a guide by the universities and colleges. It's likely that their offers will continue to relate to grades.