IB Math AA or AI: What UK and European Universities Require (2027 Entry)

Three policies, counted

Each programme falls into one of three policies, plus a few that say nothing. AA required or asked for: the course names Analysis and Approaches. AI accepted, AA preferred: either meets the requirement, and the page states a preference for AA. AA or AI, no preference: either meets the requirement and no preference is stated.

The split differs by subject. Physics and computer science lean furthest towards AA; economics is the most open to AI.

The 30 UK programmes, one by one

The table gives each programme's IB requirement in short and its Mathematics rule, in the university's terms. "HL" is Higher Level; "776" means grades 7, 7 and 6 in the three Higher Level subjects.

Cambridge asks for AA; Oxford accepts AI

The two universities most families compare first take opposite positions. Cambridge asks for AA on every course checked here, with one route for a student whose school does not teach it: contact the College. It names three courses where AI will also be considered: Medicine, Natural Sciences (Biological) and Psychological and Behavioural Sciences.

Oxford sets one rule for the whole university: where a course requires Mathematics, either course at Higher Level is accepted, Chemistry apart. Its Computer Science department goes further and states that it has no preference between the two.

"Preferred" is not "required"

Seven programmes accept AI and say they prefer AA: four at Imperial (Mechanical, Aeronautical and Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Physics), two at UCL (Electronic and Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science) and LSE's BSc Economics. On all seven, AI meets the requirement; none of the pages says how much the preference weighs.

That leaves a student with AI HL eligible for these courses, and still able to apply to every programme in the "no preference" group, which includes Oxford, UCL Economics, Mechanical Engineering and Physics, Warwick Economics and Imperial Computing. The programmes closed to AI are the 11 that require or ask for AA.

Higher Level matters as much as the course name

Twenty-eight of the 30 UK programmes require Mathematics at Higher Level, whichever course it is. The two exceptions are Warwick's Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, where Maths or Physics may be the one at HL, and Edinburgh Economics, which takes a 6 at SL. Many offers also name the grade: a 7 in HL Mathematics appears in Oxford Computer Science, five of the six Imperial programmes, UCL Computer Science, Economics and Electronic and Electrical Engineering, all three LSE programmes and Warwick Computer Science.

So the decision is two decisions. AA or AI decides which courses are open; HL or SL decides whether any of these are. A predicted total a point above the minimum does not cover a shortfall in a subject the offer names.

Continental Europe: the rules by country

Outside the UK, admission is usually set by a rule for the whole university or the whole country rather than by course. Two things carry more weight there than in the UK: Mathematics at Higher Level, and the language of teaching.

A published minimum is a floor, not a target

Several universities publish the gap themselves. Imperial gives a minimum and a typical offer: Computing asks for at least 41 points, with a typical offer of 42; Aeronautical Engineering for at least 40, with a typical offer of 43–44. Cambridge's minimum is 41–42, but most of its IB entrants to Computer Science achieved at least 43 points, and to Economics at least 44. Edinburgh publishes only the range of offers made in recent years.

A minimum says that below it a condition is not met. It does not say that meeting it makes an application competitive, and none of these universities treats a requirement as a promise of a place.

Terms used in this article

AA

Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches, the IB Mathematics course built around algebra, functions, calculus and proof.

AI

Mathematics: Applications and Interpretation, the IB Mathematics course built around modelling, statistics and technology.

HL and SL

Higher Level and Standard Level. A Diploma student takes three or four subjects at HL; HL courses have 240 teaching hours, SL 150.

776 at HL

Grades of 7, 7 and 6 in the three Higher Level subjects, a common way for UK universities to set the HL part of an offer.

Typical offer

The offer most applicants actually received, which can sit above the published minimum.

Contextual offer

A lower offer some UK universities make to applicants who meet set criteria about their school or background, usually UK residents.

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