UCAS Information Evening

Applying To University: Getting Ready

Why University? Graduate career prospects It’s expected Natural next step after A-levels Genuine academic interest Can’t think of what else to do

Why University? Graduate career prospects It’s expected Natural next step after A-levels Genuine academic interest Can’t think of what else to do

Take a Gap Year?

Take a Gap Year? Good to have a break from academia Several advantages to not rushing straight to university Good to have a break from academia Possibility of earning money to help fund all those books at university Chance to experience the world of work before making final choices as to degree Helps to mature you as an individual Try travelling - Travel broadens the mind!

But, once a student does decide to go to university, they need to know about

UCAS – What is it? Central organisation through which applications are processed for entry to full-time higher education (HE) courses in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland They operate on behalf of all full-time higher education courses at member institutions: Undergraduate Degree Foundation Degree HNC / HND Certificate / Diploma of Higher Education

The competitive advantage Gaining a place at university or college has two stages: Research Self presentation (i.e. the UCAS application)

Choosing a Course – Student considerations Vocational interest/career? (Medicine, Law, Engineering…) If not sure about career, pursue your academic interest (History, English, Physics, Biology….) Look up new subjects (Marine Biology, Zoology, Social Anthropology, Archaeology, Astrophysics…) Remember that you will be spending a minimum of three years studying your chosen course/subject, and will ultimately be asked to pay back £27,000 for tuition alone

Researching Universities What sort of course do students want to study Preference as to region? (West of England, the South, Midlands, is Scotland an option?) Students need to use university websites for university specific research. (most are uni name followed by .ac.uk, but Google searches are the way!) UCAS’s own site allows for comprehensive searches of all courses, with plenty of other good information (www.ucas.com)

Unistats (www. unistats Unistats (www.unistats.com) allows for comparative searches to be made:

University Rankings?

Ranking By Different Criteria?

Ranking By Different Criteria?

Self-Presentation – what’s needed? Student’s academic interest and achievement, evidenced by AS grades and extra reading or research or related work experience This feeds in to the Personal Statement on the student’s UCAS form (autumn of U6th year) Other interests – but unis not always that bothered by this; they are recruiting on academic criteria

Applying online

How do you apply? Go to www.ucas.com and click on ‘apply’. Students register using the school buzzword - ‘Hensley’. Much of the form can be filled out now and over summer, though no forms can be sent off until September There is an application fee of £23 which needs paying online (£12 for just one application).

Key Dates Oxbridge and medical forms must be with UCAS by Oct 15th. So completed in school and sent by Oct 1st. Deadline for all other forms is January 15th. 2017 Are there advantages to applying early?

Personal Statements Academically focussed Original (i.e. personal) Not taken from the web or from a friend’s statement Some extra-curricular should be on there There is no perfect template! Advice from tutor, subject teacher, Head of Sixth – but shouldn’t over-ask as everyone has different ideas!

WARNING: Similarity Detection Service Personal Statements are checked against a library of those already in the system, and from a variety of websites and paper publications Each new statement is added to the library after processing

Similarity Detection Service Statements showing a significant level of similarity will be reviewed by UCAS Similarity Detection Service HEIs are notified on a daily basis of any cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect collusion Applicants will also be notified that the UCAS Similarity Detection Service has identified their Personal Statement as potentially plagiarised The decision about what action, if any, to take regarding notified cases rests with the admissions tutors at individual HEIs

Admissions tests 14% of HEIs in UCAS scheme use one or more tests Usually, but not exclusively, used to aid differentiation between most able applicants for high demand courses Generally subject or HEI specific Most common are BMAT (Medicine), LNAT (Law) and UKCAT (Medicine), as well as Oxford tests and now Cambridge “A timed unseen written paper based or on-line test normally taken in the academic year before admission to an HEI, the results of which can be used by that HEI as one element in decision making on an application.” The type of test used depends predominantly on the course and the attributes deemed appropriate for the professional, vocational or academic discipline. They can be aptitude tests, essay writing exercises, problem solving tests, critical thinking assessments, subject specific tests, cognitive and non-cognitive tests. Many tests are designed to enable a correlation to be made between test results and degree success; that is they are designed to be predictive as well as testing aptitude; whether evidence can be presented to support this will require long term study and analysis. The tests can be in the summer/autumn in the academic year before admission or at interview, normally from November onwards in the academic year before admission. A test can be an HEI's own devised test or a test devised by an HEI or group or consortium of HEIs with one or more testing/awarding bodies. A test may be used by one HEI for one or more subjects or may be used by many HEIs for the same subject. SAT Scholastic Aptitude Test uniTEST (Generic aptitude test developed by Cambridge & ACER) BMAT Bio Medical Admissions Test (Veterinary) GAMSAT Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test UKCAT UK Clinical Apptitude Test LNAT National Admissions Test for Law STEP Sixth Term Examination Paper in Mathematics ELAT English Language Admissions Test

School System Tutors are main advisers Subject staff are often useful extra consultants Tutors write draft reference Head of Sixth writes final reference Turnaround time – between 1 and 2 weeks, but with caveats Early application helpful to student but does not have impact on university consideration After form submitted, UCAS communicate directly with student “Track” can be used to monitor forms’ progress “A timed unseen written paper based or on-line test normally taken in the academic year before admission to an HEI, the results of which can be used by that HEI as one element in decision making on an application.” The type of test used depends predominantly on the course and the attributes deemed appropriate for the professional, vocational or academic discipline. They can be aptitude tests, essay writing exercises, problem solving tests, critical thinking assessments, subject specific tests, cognitive and non-cognitive tests. Many tests are designed to enable a correlation to be made between test results and degree success; that is they are designed to be predictive as well as testing aptitude; whether evidence can be presented to support this will require long term study and analysis. The tests can be in the summer/autumn in the academic year before admission or at interview, normally from November onwards in the academic year before admission. A test can be an HEI's own devised test or a test devised by an HEI or group or consortium of HEIs with one or more testing/awarding bodies. A test may be used by one HEI for one or more subjects or may be used by many HEIs for the same subject. SAT Scholastic Aptitude Test uniTEST (Generic aptitude test developed by Cambridge & ACER) BMAT Bio Medical Admissions Test (Veterinary) GAMSAT Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test UKCAT UK Clinical Apptitude Test LNAT National Admissions Test for Law STEP Sixth Term Examination Paper in Mathematics ELAT English Language Admissions Test

On the Form Up to 5 choices can be made Different courses at same university are acceptable NOT Oxford AND Cambridge If Medicine or related – only 4 choices, with a non-medicine top up for the fifth “A timed unseen written paper based or on-line test normally taken in the academic year before admission to an HEI, the results of which can be used by that HEI as one element in decision making on an application.” The type of test used depends predominantly on the course and the attributes deemed appropriate for the professional, vocational or academic discipline. They can be aptitude tests, essay writing exercises, problem solving tests, critical thinking assessments, subject specific tests, cognitive and non-cognitive tests. Many tests are designed to enable a correlation to be made between test results and degree success; that is they are designed to be predictive as well as testing aptitude; whether evidence can be presented to support this will require long term study and analysis. The tests can be in the summer/autumn in the academic year before admission or at interview, normally from November onwards in the academic year before admission. A test can be an HEI's own devised test or a test devised by an HEI or group or consortium of HEIs with one or more testing/awarding bodies. A test may be used by one HEI for one or more subjects or may be used by many HEIs for the same subject. SAT Scholastic Aptitude Test uniTEST (Generic aptitude test developed by Cambridge & ACER) BMAT Bio Medical Admissions Test (Veterinary) GAMSAT Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test UKCAT UK Clinical Apptitude Test LNAT National Admissions Test for Law STEP Sixth Term Examination Paper in Mathematics ELAT English Language Admissions Test

Offers Students eventually opt for one Firm and one Insurance choice They are bound to these once made Clearing operates at results time for students who have either not achieved their offers or hold no offers “A timed unseen written paper based or on-line test normally taken in the academic year before admission to an HEI, the results of which can be used by that HEI as one element in decision making on an application.” The type of test used depends predominantly on the course and the attributes deemed appropriate for the professional, vocational or academic discipline. They can be aptitude tests, essay writing exercises, problem solving tests, critical thinking assessments, subject specific tests, cognitive and non-cognitive tests. Many tests are designed to enable a correlation to be made between test results and degree success; that is they are designed to be predictive as well as testing aptitude; whether evidence can be presented to support this will require long term study and analysis. The tests can be in the summer/autumn in the academic year before admission or at interview, normally from November onwards in the academic year before admission. A test can be an HEI's own devised test or a test devised by an HEI or group or consortium of HEIs with one or more testing/awarding bodies. A test may be used by one HEI for one or more subjects or may be used by many HEIs for the same subject. SAT Scholastic Aptitude Test uniTEST (Generic aptitude test developed by Cambridge & ACER) BMAT Bio Medical Admissions Test (Veterinary) GAMSAT Graduate Medical Schools Admissions Test UKCAT UK Clinical Apptitude Test LNAT National Admissions Test for Law STEP Sixth Term Examination Paper in Mathematics ELAT English Language Admissions Test