Applying to University

1. Applying to University A guide to the process for parents

2. What is it? • University and College Admissions Service • Students • Parents • Advisers • HE staff • About us • It is a charitable organisation which manages applicationsto UK higher education courses in N. Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.

3. The Process • The student registers with UCAS. This is done on-line at www.ucas.com • The student will then receive an Applicant welcome booklet which explains the rest of the UCAS process as well as a personal ID number. • You too can access the parents’ pages at www.ucas.com where there is information and assistance should you need it!

4. Part 1-Personal Details • personal information (name, address etc) • contact details (telephone, email address) • student support (finance arrangements) • criminal convictions • disabilities/ special needs • occupational background of highest household earner

5. Part 2- Course choices • Students are allowed to make up to a maximum of five course choices. • I normally suggest four to allow for a ‘change of mind’ later. • Additional course choices up to the quota can be made after submission of the application. • There is no order of priority required as the choices will be printed alphabetically.

6. Points to note re choices • Students applying to Oxbridge can only apply to one of the institutions, either Cambridge or Oxford. • Students applying for medicine can only apply for four medical schools.

7. Some institutions require additional entrance tests for their courses; • UKCAT or BMAT for medicine, dentistry, veterinary science / medicine. • HPAT for allied health professions (physiotherapy, radiography,podiatry, optometry, speech and language therapy etc. • LNAT for Law • STEP for Mathematics • Critical Thinking Skills Students are encouraged to practise for these tests. Sample papers are available on-line or in the careers suite.

8. Part 3 - Education Students provide the results, dates and the examining board of all public examinations under taken or to be taken. • GCSE • GCE AS level • GCE A2 • BTEC level 3 • Additional recognised awards such as music (theory /practical), speech and drama, COPE etc.

9. Education – Grades and Re-sits • All students must record their AS grades on their application form even if they are re-sitting a module in January. However, a student can decide whether to add in the results of each module or not. I discuss this with the student as sometimes there are advantages in not doing this! • Sometimes the institutions contact us for confirmation of the module results achieved at AS level if they are not recorded but this is rare. • If a student is repeating AS levels, then he/she records ‘pending’ and the new final grade will follow in August.

10. Part 4 - Employment Students are invited to provide details of any paid employment. • Employer • Address • Nature of the work.

11. Part 5 – The Personal Statement This is the most crucial part of the application for several reasons. • Many institutions do not hold interviews. • Admissions tutors rely heavily on the information provided in the personal statement when making their decision. • It is the student’s opportunity to ‘sell themselves’ and personalise the application.

12. Personal Statement • It is vital that your son / daughter takes a lot of time preparing the personal statement. • He / she should never lie or embellish situations as they will be detected at interview. • It must be written by him / her and not ‘copied’ from another source. • (UCAS runs all applications through a similarity detection system that looks for matches with internet sources and other statements)

13. Part 6 – The Reference • All your son’s / daughter’s teachers submit a subject specific report to the referee detailing a predicted grade, aptitude for the subject and his / her commitment and capacity for work. • Each student has filled in a ‘student information sheet’ which allows the student to provide relevant additional information to the referee. • The referee will then compile all the information provided by the students, teachers along with personal information, e.g., personality, contribution to school, hobbies, achievements, experiences etc. • Students will have the opportunity to read the reference before it is sent to UCAS.

14. Part 7 - Payment The application fee costs £23.00 Payment can be made in two ways; • By credit / debit card directly to UCAS • By paying directly to the bursar’s office here in school. • Note: the application will not be sent to UCAS before payment has been made.

15. The next stages • UCAS processes the applications which are then forwarded to the appropriate institutions within one day of receipt. • Students will then receive a ‘welcome letter’, a personal identification number and confirmation of the courses applied to for verification. • Students will be able to access the progress of their application, reply to offers etc and make additional choices through the on-line ‘tracking system’.

16. University Decisions Once an institution has received the application, the admissions team will do one of the following; • Make a ‘conditional offer’ which requires the student to meet previously specified criteria, e.g., grades, points and subjects. • Make an ‘unconditional offer’ guaranteeing a place without meeting specified criteria. • Decline to make an offer whereby the student is unsuccessful in the application.

17. The student’s response • When a student has received notification from all of the institutions, he / she will be asked to select two courses, one of which is CF (firm conditional) and is usually their preferred choice and their second choice CI (insurance conditional). • This is usually done by 5th May

18. What if the student is unsuccessful and has received no offers? • This is where the fifth option can be used! • Alternatively, if all five options have been unsuccessful, he / she can make another course choice through ‘Extra’. • In this case, they can find out where courses haven’t been filled and can make an additional application but this can only be done one course at a time.

19. Post Results • If the student meets the requirements of the CF or the CI, then they are guaranteed their place on the course. • Information should be received from the institution within a couple of days (if not on the day of the results). This again can be checked on ‘Track’. • If the student exceeds expectations, then he / she is eligible for ‘adjustment’ where places are available at alternative institutions. • If the student falls short of the grades required and is unsuccessful, then he / she is eligible for ‘clearing’.

20. Additional Points of Information University of Ulster • ‘Gathered Fields’ - University of Ulster will not be allocating places until after 15 January deadline when all applications have been received. • Grade Ranges- Some courses have had a grade range of UCAS tariff points introduced e.g., 260 –300 and dependent on the number of applicants, the exact requirement will be applied, e.g., 280. • Increased entry requirement for a number of courses. These can be found on the online prospectus at www.prospectus.ulster.ac.uk • Insight nights for Health Sciences, Engineering, Art and Design, Built Environment etc

21. Additional Points of Information Queen’s University • All applications for nursing / midwifery are on a separate application form although being reviewed this year. • St Mary’s University College (QUB) separate application form • New interviewing process for medicine and dentistry • Information evenings for parents – Engineering Humanities, Maths, Business Management • Precise grades only for medicine, dentistry and pharmacy • Above target grade – Actuarial Science, Biomedical Science, Criminology, Film Studies, Physics, Psychology and Spanish • Further information at www.qub.ac.uk

22. Most of all Don’t Panic!! There will be lots of help here at the College!

23. Dates and Deadlines • 15th October - all Cambridge and Oxford applications • 15th October – all medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine / science applications • 7 January – St Mary’s University College • 15 January – All other UCAS applications • 24th March – all Art and Design applications • 5th May – final two choices confirmed

24. Thank you! Any Questions?