The new Advanced Diplomas will be worth the equivalent of more than three A-levels in university entrance points, the admissions service has decided.
Diplomas, which some schools in England begin teaching next year, will attract a maximum of 420 Ucas tariff points.
A top grade A-level attracts 120 points and an A grade in an AS-level has 60.
Higher Diplomas will be equivalent to seven GCSEs at grades A*-C in school league tables, the government says, and schools get £1,000 more per student.
The Advanced Diploma points are split with up to 300 for the "principal and generic learning" components, and 120 more for additional and specialist learning.
Ucas chief executive Anthony McClaran said: "The recognition of the Diploma within the Ucas tariff places the new qualification firmly within the spectrum of routes for entry to higher education.
"Decisions on individual applicants remain, as always, a matter for the higher education institutions themselves and it is encouraging that many are beginning to signal an acceptance in principle of the Diplomas."
How this will work in practice remains to be seen.
Mr McClaran added: "All qualifications within the tariff are subject to regular review in the light of admissions decisions taken by universities."
League tables
Schools Minister Jim Knight has accepted the recommendation of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on what the new Diplomas should be judged equivalent to in the school league tables.
There are various levels of Diploma, and the way they are graded will be aligned with GCSEs and A-levels:
Mr Knight also confirmed an investment of £45m in teacher training to support the start of Diplomas in 2008-09.
He said the £28m Diploma funding for the first year would mean schools and colleges getting an extra £1,000 or so for each Diploma student they taught.
The subjects starting next year are engineering, construction and the built environment, information technology, creative and media, and society, health and development.
The announcement on the high value of the new qualifications has been welcomed by head teachers - who said it would be a "big boost to recruitment".
But John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, expressed concern that splitting the points into two parts may put at risk the coherence of the Diploma.
Shadow children’s secretary Michael Gove said the real test would be what universities and employers thought they were worth.
"Instead of more rhetoric aimed at undermining the A-level, ministers should concentrate on delivering better vocational qualifications for the thousands of young people not currently in education, employment or training," he said.
Doubts
The Diplomas are a mix of theoretical and practical and applied study. The government believes they may in time replace other qualifications including A-levels and, at a lower level, GCSEs.
Getting universities to accept them is crucial to their success.
A survey this summer suggested that fewer than four in 10 university admissions officers saw the Diploma as a "good alternative" to A-levels.
Some vice-chancellors have publicly backed them.
The Russell Group of leading universities has expressed reservations.
But it said in a statement: "Our admissions tutors will take this Ucas tariff score into account alongside the range of information we draw upon when considering the potential of a candidate - particularly the subjects they have taken and grades achieved.
"We welcome the fact that we will have access to detailed information about the level of achievement of candidates who have also taken the Diploma to help us to assess as accurately and fairly as possible the ability of all applicants to thrive on our courses."
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