Completing your UCAS application - Helen Lee Professional Development Officer
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Completing your UCAS application Helen Lee Professional Development Officer
The role of UCAS
We operate on behalf of all full-
time higher education (HE)
courses at member
institutions
• Undergraduate Degree
• Foundation Degree
• HND / HNC
• Certificate/Diploma of Higher
Education
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The provision of higher education in the UK
▪ Number of institutions 304
▪ Number of courses 40,000+
▪ Applicants in 2012 653,637
▪ Acceptances in 2012 464,910
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Online research – where to go for useful
information
▪ UCAS website
▪ UCAS Course Search
and Entry Profiles
▪ UCAS books
• University websites
• UCAS connect
▪ Unistats
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Finding your course
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Entry Profiles ▪ Accessed via UCAS website www.ucas.com ▪ Details presented within Course Search ▪ 2 x routes (International and EU/Home students) ▪ Most courses have an Entry Profile ▪ Provide clear, up to date information ▪ Help you to make fully informed choices ▪ Same course title – different experience ▪ Transparent routes of application and selection ▪ Bursary and scholarship information
Unistats website • Compare UCAS points on entry and other information for different subjects and higher education institutions • Read what over 220,000 students felt about the quality of their higher education experience • Find out the achievements of recent students and discover what sort of jobs they are doing six months after finishing www.unistats.com
Research – Additional sources ▪ Publications ▪ Institution Open Days ▪ Taster Courses ▪ Subject specific events ▪ Career fairs ▪ And finally, for S5 students:
Key features of the UCAS scheme All managed through www.ucas.com ▪ One application per admissions cycle ▪ Application fee £23 / £13 single choice ▪ Maximum 5 choices (some restrictions) ▫ Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary – max 4 in any one ▫ Oxford or Cambridge ▪ Once submitted, very limited opportunities for changes ▫ 7 day ‘cool off’ (cancel & refund) ▪ Simultaneous consideration ▪ ‘Invisibility’ ▪ Opportunities later for other/further choices ▫ additions, Extra, Clearing, Adjustment
Key dates and deadlines ▪ Early June – applicants can register and start to complete their application ▪ Early September – Apply centres and independent applicants can start to submit completed applications ▪ 15 October ▫ Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary ▫ Oxford or Cambridge ▪ 15 January – main deadline date ▪ 24 March – deadline date for some Art & Design courses ▪ 30 June – last date for submission of applications with initial choices ▪ 20 September – last date for applications in the cycle
Making a UCAS application
Every applicant has six sections to complete:
• Personal details
• Student Finance
• Choices
• Education
• Employment
• Personal statement
Forward to tutor:
• Reference
UCAS
Universities / collegesPersonal Statement ABC Guide
Good What you’ve done Activity
Better What skills it has given you Benefit
Best
Structured, clear, concise,
How these relate toprecise
your course Course
Avoid waffle, slang and inappropriate language
Check GRAMMAR and SPELLINGExample format for a personal statement
Opening Section
Provide insightful reasons for choosing the subject
Demonstrate commitment to the subject
Middle Section
Opportunity for the writer to identify themselves
as a reflective
and mature individual with appropriate skills,
knowledge and attitudes
Final Section
Needs to be ‘punchy’ and leave the reader
with a firm impression of a strong desire to
study the subject chosenCommon opening sentences
1. I am currently studying a BTEC National Diploma in.. 464
2. From a young age I have always been interested in.. 309
3. From an early age I have always been interested in.. 292
4. Nursing is a very challenging and demanding career.. 275
5. For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated with... 196
6. “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only”... 189
7. Nursing is a profession I have always looked upon with... 178
8. For as long as I can remember I have been interested in...
166
9. I am an International Academy student and have been studying since..
10. Academically, I have always been a very determined and...
141
138Strong opening
Capture the reader’s attention
“I have always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was very young. I
liked learning and thought it would be good to teach”
“Making a rocket style engine from a bottle of lemonade; working
with class mates to create a human model of the solar system;
explaining in written reports what we had learned: these were the
classes that inspired a passion for learning in me…and later a desire
to pass on that passion to others”But don’t go over the top…
… and when I’m not working towards
World Peace, I enjoy learning
languages from scratch, writing
symphonies and playing a standard of
golf that Tiger Woods can only dream
about.’Decision making by institutions • An admissions tutor may initially make one of three decisions: • Unconditional offer • Conditional offer • Unsuccessful • Or recommend: • A place on an alternative course
Track • Enables you to follow the progress of your application (24/7, access via password) • Quickest way to find out about new offers • You can reply to offers online
Applicant replies to offers
• Once the final decision has been received, a maximum of two offers may
be held
• Applicants have a choice of three reply options:
• Firm acceptance
• Insurance acceptance
• Decline the offerReply date
UCAS Extra
• Now operates from mid February to the end of June
• Course vacancies listed on UCAS website
• Allows additional single choices, entered and considered once
at a time via Track
• Applicants eligible for Extra:
• Used all 5 choices
• All choices unsuccessful, cancelled or offers declinedClearing
• Operates from mid July to mid September
• Course vacancies listed on UCAS website
and with the Telegraph
• Allows additional single choices, entered and considered once at a time via Track
• You must contact the university to discuss directly
• Applicants eligible for Clearing:
• Paid full fee (£23)
• All choices unsuccessful, cancelled or offers declined
• Applied after 30 June (no choices)
Adjustment
For applicants whose place has been confirmed at their FIRM choice, and who have
• MET all conditions of offer and
• EXCEEDED at least one condition
• Paid full fee (£23)If you need to contact us
Customer Operations
0871 468 0 468
enquiries@ucas.ac.uk
www.ucas.comYou can also read
