UCAS INFORMATION EVENING MR COLQUHOUN - DHT

The role of UCAS UCAS processes applications for full-time courses at higher education providers in the UK.

Choices available Higher education. Further Education. Apprenticeships and traineeships. Studying abroad. Gap year. Getting a job. Understand the options available at www.ucas.com/alternatives Apprenticeships give you the opportunity to work for an employer, earn a salary and gain a qualification at the same time. Traineeships provide essential training to prepare for work and gain skills to help you get an apprenticeship or a job. For more information see: www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/what-study/apprenticeships-traineeships-and-school-leaver

Why higher education? Opportunities while studying: chance to study a subject they are passionate about achieve a qualification that could lead to their chosen career gain confidence, independence, and important life skills that will widen their prospects make lifelong friends With a degree: the opportunity to follow their career path better job prospects many employers target graduates higher earning potential

Respect Responsibility Ambition Bannerman High School S6 leavers Employed Further Education Higher Education Training Unemployed Seeking Boys 23.21% (13) 23.21 (13) 44.64 (25) 1.79 (1) 7.14 (4) Girls 8.64% (7) 13.58% (11) 76.54% (62) 1.23% (1) Respect Responsibility Ambition

Things to consider There are a number of things for an applicant to consider when applying for higher education, such as: The subject they enjoy – investing time, money, and effort If it is right for their career path – check with employers Location – city/rural, transport links The study style that suits them Finances – course fees, travel, and living costs Extra-curricular activities Which modules are the most interesting and relevant to the applicants career aspirations? How many lectures are there and how much group work will be done in seminars? What combination of exams, coursework or presentations is the course assessed by? Who are the tutors and are they experts in areas the applicant wants to learn about? What subject areas do they specialise in? Can applicants study abroad or get help with work placements? Do they have sports facilities or societies to join? How near home, a city center or the countryside are they?

Funding

Research – it’s free Search tool – to look for providers, courses, and minimum entry requirements. Open days and virtual tours – a great way to explore campuses and facilities. UCAS higher education exhibitions – useful to see different universities and colleges, and explore options. Learn from others – student videos, blogs, and case studies. Career options – our career finder tool is ideal for considering the options after education. Our search tool has over 37,000 courses in the UK. It includes detailed information about the universities and colleges. You can search by course, university or college, or location. Every year, many applicants are unsuccessful for reasons that could have been avoided if they had undertaken better research. When UCAS interviewed current students in their second year asking them what advice they would give to their 18 year old self, ALL of the students said – ‘do more research!’ Nearly all courses on ucas.com have an Entry Profile that contains detailed information about what the provider is looking for in terms of their applicants – a bit like a job description. The best time to attend open days is before you submit your application – in plenty of time! Find all the information about open days and virtual tours at www.ucas.com/events/exploring-university. Find out about exhibitions at www.ucas.com/events/exhibitions Videos and case studies are available at www.ucas.com/connect. For career finder tool look at https://careerfinder.ucas.com.

Researching courses Your son or daughter can use the UCAS search tool at search.ucas.com. Key features include: mobile-friendly design  advanced filtering and sorting options  ability to shortlist and save course searches  free text search  suggestions for misspelt searches

Open days and virtual tours

Open days search tool

Virtual tours

Entry Requirements Entry requirements vary from course to course and between universities. Likely that more qualifications are required at second sitting (after S6 rather than S5). Prospective students must check entry requirements by researching course specifications or by speaking to the admissions office for individual faculties at their chosen establishments. Equal consideration – this means that if you meet the published deadlines then a provider must consider your application. Applications received after the deadlines will still be forwarded to universities and colleges, providing they have vacancies, but they are not obliged to consider them. We send the application on to each of the chosen universities and colleges at the same time. Each university or college has access to the information about their choice only. They must not ask you to reveal your other choices. This is what we call invisibility. Only much later in the application cycle, when you have received decisions on all your choices and replied to any offers, will each university or college be able to see details of the other choices. This ensures that each university or college decides independently whether to offer a place and what conditions, if any, to attach to an offer. You do not need to rank your choices in order.

Apply key facts Application is entirely online. Maximum of five choices. Some choice restrictions: for medicine, veterinary science/medicine and dentistry there is a maximum of four choices can only apply for either Oxford or Cambridge Simple application cost: one choice – £18 two to five choices – £24 Equal consideration if deadlines are met. Invisibility – universities cannot see where else someone has applied. Equal consideration – this means that if you meet the published deadlines then a provider must consider your application. Applications received after the deadlines will still be forwarded to universities and colleges, providing they have vacancies, but they are not obliged to consider them. We send the application on to each of the chosen universities and colleges at the same time. Each university or college has access to the information about their choice only. They must not ask you to reveal your other choices. This is what we call invisibility. Only much later in the application cycle, when you have received decisions on all your choices and replied to any offers, will each university or college be able to see details of the other choices. This ensures that each university or college decides independently whether to offer a place and what conditions, if any, to attach to an offer. You do not need to rank your choices in order.

Making the application Apply is the UCAS online application system. Every applicant has six sections to complete: Personal details Student finance (UK and EU only) Choices Education Employment Personal statement.

The personal statement The only section your son or daughter has control over. Their only chance to market themselves individually. One personal statement for all choices. Max. 4,000 characters, 47 lines. Min. 1,000 characters. No spelling/grammar check. No formatting.

The personal statement

When to apply 1 October (18:00 UK time) – for music courses (via CUKAS.COM) 15 October (18:00 UK time) – deadline for Oxford or Cambridge, and most courses in medicine, dentistry, or veterinary medicine/science. December 2018 – school deadline for undergraduate courses. 24 March (18:00 UK time) – deadline for some art and design courses. Applications received after deadlines will still be forwarded to universities and colleges, providing they have vacancies, but they are not obliged to consider them.

Tracking applications Track will allow your son or daughter to: follow the progress of their application online see their choices and personal information see their offers reply to offers online

Decisions and replies Provider decisions: unsuccessful unconditional offer conditional offer – qualifications and achievements and/or UCAS Tariff points Once all decisions are received, they can hold up to two offers: one as their firm choice one as their insurance choice (if they want to) all other offers are declined Track will show their reply date.

Other options Extra (24 Feb – 4 July) If all five choices have been used and they have no offers/rejected all offers. Clearing (from early July) If there are no offers, or have applied after 30 June deadline. Adjustment (from A level results day) If they’ve gained better results than the conditional offer they hold, they could apply for a different course or university.

What should your son/daughter should be doing now? Research Extra-curricular activities Work experience Ask key questions Meet deadlines Go beyond the syllabus Focus on this year’s studies Meet Deadlines Personal Statement Contact universities

How can you support ? Use the parents/guardians’ section of the UCAS website – www.ucas.com/parents – and sign up for the newsletter. Use the parent information tool for advice, hints, and tips to help someone you care for through the application process. Offer to attend open days; you may have a different perspective. Make sure they read everything carefully that is sent to them. Support your son/daughter’s management of their application.

FOCUS WEST - Top-up Programme -

Summary of Programme Activities The Top-Up Programme runs from November to April each year, providing a ‘mini higher education experience’ for participating pupils. Trained postgraduate tutors recruited from across the FOCUS West HEIs facilitate ten sessions in schools and one held on an HEI campus – Glasgow University. Pupils are introduced to the essential skills, learning methods and environments with which they will need to be familiar to become successful HE students and effective independent learners. Apprenticeships give you the opportunity to work for an employer, earn a salary and gain a qualification at the same time. Traineeships provide essential training to prepare for work and gain skills to help you get an apprenticeship or a job. For more information see: www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/what-study/apprenticeships-traineeships-and-school-leaver

Summary of Programme Activities Pupils choose an academic subject to study during the course, for which they participate in a seminar and complete a written assignment. The essential skills are taught via subject-specific and generic sessions. Work completed during school sessions is put into practice during the campus sessions. 10 sessions in school Friday period 3 starting Friday 20th November 2017. Apprenticeships give you the opportunity to work for an employer, earn a salary and gain a qualification at the same time. Traineeships provide essential training to prepare for work and gain skills to help you get an apprenticeship or a job. For more information see: www.ucas.com/ucas/undergraduate/getting-started/what-study/apprenticeships-traineeships-and-school-leaver

Campus Visit Friday 15th February 2019 Campus sessions give pupils the chance to: practice note-taking during a university lecture participate in a university seminar experience using a university library and electronic library catalogue find out about university support services meet current undergraduate students Which modules are the most interesting and relevant to the applicants career aspirations? How many lectures are there and how much group work will be done in seminars? What combination of exams, coursework or presentations is the course assessed by? Who are the tutors and are they experts in areas the applicant wants to learn about? What subject areas do they specialise in? Can applicants study abroad or get help with work placements? Do they have sports facilities or societies to join? How near home, a city center or the countryside are they?

Assessment Pupils are assessed on their performance during the Programme and receive a certificate of completion and a student profile, giving feedback and grades in three areas: overall performance seminar preparation and performance written assignment. The profiles of all pupils who achieve 3 B grades or above are forwarded to the admissions officers of the HEIs to which they are applying. Equal consideration – this means that if you meet the published deadlines then a provider must consider your application. Applications received after the deadlines will still be forwarded to universities and colleges, providing they have vacancies, but they are not obliged to consider them. We send the application on to each of the chosen universities and colleges at the same time. Each university or college has access to the information about their choice only. They must not ask you to reveal your other choices. This is what we call invisibility. Only much later in the application cycle, when you have received decisions on all your choices and replied to any offers, will each university or college be able to see details of the other choices. This ensures that each university or college decides independently whether to offer a place and what conditions, if any, to attach to an offer. You do not need to rank your choices in order.

Completion of the programme can: Lead to an amended offer for entry requirements. (Each institution makes its own decisions) Initially Glasgow University, Strathclyde University, Glasgow Caledonian and UWS Information is forwarded on to other Scottish institutions Is valid for 2 years (HNC + University)

UCAS Application Students taking part in the Top-up programme must include this as part of their UCAS application: Education section – instructions to be issued. Personal Statement/Reference – e.g. include that you are taking part in the Top-up programme to help with the transition from school to university.

Useful websites: www.ucas.com www.saas.gov.uk www.planitplus.net www.myworldofwork.co.uk www.focuswest.org.uk

Any Questions?