Applying Through UCAS

1. Applying Through UCAS Kirsty Alexander, Reach Project Officer, University of St Andrews

2. What is covered: www.ucas.com • What UCAS is and does • How to use the UCAS website • Components and stages of your UCAS application • University decisions • Tips on course choices • Dates and deadlines www.ucas.com

3. What is UCAS? • UCAS - Universities and Colleges Admissions Service • Allows you to search universities and colleges, search courses, apply to courses, as well as track and manage your application • Provides a service both to you and to universities and colleges. Acts as the middleman • You must apply to Higher Education (HE) courses through UCAS www.ucas.com

4. What is UCAS? Also provides a large number of useful resources: • Links to league tables • Advice on choosing the right course • Access to current students talking honestly about their experiences at their university • Specific advice for applying to study Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science/Medicine, Nursing • UCAS bookstore – e.g. specially written guides to applying for the most competitive courses, guides to finance at university, etc. www.ucas.com

5. What is UCAS? www.ucas.com

6. Searching for courses: • UCAS holds and publishes a significant amount of information about all universities and colleges in the UK – accommodation, location, facilities, open days, contact details, and links to the university’s website for further information – good place to start your search • Search courses by region, university (sometimes called institution), course type www.ucas.com

7. Searching for courses: Entry Profiles • Many universities can have courses with the same name e.g. accountancy • Content may be very different – no national curriculum for HE courses • Use Entry Profiles to find out which course offers what you actually want • Course, university, entry requirements, selection criteria and admissions policy • Compiled by university admissions staff www.ucas.com

8. Searching for courses: Decoding the jargon www.ucas.com

9. Searching for courses: Decoding the jargon 4 = 4 year course duration FT = full time course Hon = leads to Honours degree MA = type of qualification this course leads to Name of university University code Course name Course code www.ucas.com Entry profile available

10. Searching for courses: Decoding the jargon • ! 4/5 = 4/5 year course duration SW = sandwich course Hon = leads to Honours degree MChem = type of qualification this course leads to Course now closed to new applications for this cycle Course name www.ucas.com Entry profile available Course code

11. The UCAS Three: • Academic Grades • Reference • Personal Statement www.ucas.com

12. Applying: • Buzzword from school • Complete application • Sent to your school – reference completed by teacher • School submits application to UCAS • Application processed by UCAS, sent out to each university you have applied to • Admissions department processes your application, initial filters • Passed to Admissions Officers in the subject(s) you applied for www.ucas.com

13. Applying: • Admissions Officers make decisions on applications • Decisions and applications passed back to central Admissions office for further processing • Decisions returned to UCAS • UCAS updates your online application – track • Once all universities have made decisions on your application, you make the final decision – firm and insurance (if firm choice university made you a conditional offer) www.ucas.com

14. Decisions: Universities • Unconditional offer • Conditional offer • Unsuccessful • Withdraw You • Firm • Insurance • Decline www.ucas.com

15. Course choices: Tips • 5 choices (medics 4 choices + 1) • Similar courses – think of your Personal Statement • Minimum entry requirements • Contingency plan – at least one choice of course should have minimum entry grades below what you are predicted/have • Medics – 5th choice – biomedical sciences – not medical science at Edinburgh www.ucas.com

16. Course choices: Tips • If you are considering applying with deferred entry, check with each university you are applying to that they accept deferred entry applications – not all do • Think about your public image – what information is available about you online? Importance of presenting a mature and responsible person, particularly if you are applying for courses such as Medicine or Dentistry. Institutions have very advanced searches and can often see your tweets and posts about them… Check your security and privacy settings on social media! www.ucas.com

17. UCAS Extra and Clearing • Extra: the opportunity to apply for another course if you have used all five choices and not secured a place. Extra runs from the end of February until the end of June • Clearing: a system used towards the end of the academic cycle. If you have not secured a place, it enables you to apply for course vacancies www.ucas.com

18. Dates and deadlines • Mid-September 2012: UCAS opens to receive applications for September 2013 entry (or deferred entry to Sept 2014) • October 15th 2012: Deadline for applications to study Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Science, Veterinary Medicine and Oxbridge application • January 15th 2013: Deadline for all other subjects (excluding some art and design courses – check these individually!) • March 31st 2013: Universities should have made their decisions about your application (only a very few might be later) • May 9th 2013: Deadline for making your decisions on firm and insurance choices if you have heard from the universities in/before March Remember: deadlines mean deadlines! For full details: http://www.ucas.ac.uk/students/importantdates www.ucas.com

19. Questions? Please feel free to contact me with any questions or to find out more: Kirsty Alexander Reach Project Officer reach@st-andrews.ac.uk