Cambridge Technical UCAS points

OCR describes Cambridge Technicals as its own version of the BTEC, and on the Tariff they line up exactly. An Extended Diploma from either board is 1,080 guided learning hours, size band 12, so D*D*D* is 168 in both. If a university says “BTEC DMM or equivalent”, a Cambridge Technical at DMM is the equivalent it means. To compare against A levels, see the BTEC points guide, which has the A level equivalents for each grade.

In England, Cambridge Technicals are being replaced as part of the government’s post-16 reforms. OCR’s replacements, the Cambridge Advanced Nationals, were approved for funding from August 2025 and first taught from September 2025, so the first two-year students get results in summer 2027. They come in two sizes:

The first subjects on the 2027 Tariff tables are applied science, human biology, computing (application development), IT (data analytics), engineering, and health and social care. They’re designed to be taken alongside A levels, so a typical mix is two A levels plus one Extended Certificate.

OCR is withdrawing funding for new starts subject by subject. Several of the smaller sizes stopped taking funded new starts in 2025, when the Advanced Nationals arrived; for most of the rest OCR gives 31 July 2027 as the last date. The Diploma in IT has been extended to 31 July 2028. If you’re already on a Cambridge Technical, nothing changes for you: your qualification stays on the Tariff with the points above.