UCAS Support for Parents Michael Brett UCAS Coordinator

What is UCAS?  Who we are  We are the organisation responsible for managing applications to higher education courses in the UK.  Our services date back to To meet increasing demand, UCCA (Universities Central Council on Admissions) was formed, providing a centralised application service for prospective undergraduates – effectively streamlining the process.  UCCA formally merged with its partner organisations PCAS (Polytechnics Central Admissions System) and SCUE (Standing Conference on University Entrance) in 1993 to create one independent service.  What we do  UCAS stands for the 'Universities and Colleges Admission Service'.  Our aim is to help students make informed choices that are right for them, guiding them, as well as their parents and advisers, through the entire higher education application process.  Today, UCAS processes over 2.5 million applications every year, for some 650,000 prospective students across the UK and beyond: helping them gain access to more than 340 UK universities and colleges.  We also run several specialist application services – GTTR (Graduate Teacher Training Registry), UKPASS (UK Postgraduate Application and Statistical Service) and CUKAS (Conservatoires UK Admissions Service).  Another important area is carrying out research, consultancy and advisory work for schools, colleges, careers services, professional bodies and commercial businesses. Data collation is an important part of our work, allowing us to provide advice, insights and statistics to our partners and stakeholders.

Helping DLD students through the UCAS Application

Presentation Outline: What students are told  Why go on to higher education?  The applicant journey  Research  Personal statements  HOW CAN DLD PARENTS HELP?

Why go on to higher education?  Increase your earning potential  Better career prospects  It is beneficial for the wider community  Social and cultural reasons (25%, 44%)  It can be immense fun  Independence, self confidence and responsibility  Broaden or deepen interests and knowledge  Better health  Help you develop your future  Transferable skills  Personal challenge  Stop gap

Choosing courses Applying Starting Uni / College Next stepsOffersResults

Online research  UCAS.com  Institutions  Subject specific  Unistats  National press?  Journals  Social media websites  Government sites e.g. GOV.uk, Student Finance England

How do I know if I have got what they are looking for?

Make full use of open days Open day Tips: Book Take PS Go on campus tour Know what Quals you are taking Ask Questions! es/choosinguni/opendays

 Don’t forget about Professional bodies/Charities  Attend/organising events  Coordinator  Admin support  Secretary  Treasurer  Researcher  Web editors  Design and publications Work experience

Key features of the UCAS scheme  Only 1 x application each year/cycle  Maximum of 5 choices for most applicants:  Medicine, Veterinary Science, Dentistry – max 4  Oxford or Cambridge  Online application and management at ucas.com  Apply and Track  2014 fee - £23/12  Once the form is in you can’t make any changes  Simultaneous consideration & ‘Invisibility’  There are opportunities for other choices: Extra and Clearing

Key dates and deadlines  Late June: applicants can register and start to complete their application  Mid September: School can start to submit completed applications to UCAS  15 October: deadline for  Medicine, Veterinary Science, Dentistry  Oxford or Cambridge  15 January: main deadline  24 March: deadline for some Art & Design THEY ARE VITAL Admissions test may need to be completed prior to applying

Making the application Every applicant has five sections to complete, 1 is optional:  Personal details  Additional information (UK students only)*  Student finance  Choices  Education  Employment  Personal statement Forward to Personal Tutor to check (  D.O.S.  Principal)  DLD Reference ALLOW TWO WEEKS  UCAS  Universities / colleges

DLD This year’s lessons:  Ensure you have documentation of ALL previously attained qualifications (e.g. GCSE)  Due to tightening immigration policies universities are increasingly obliged to request proof of English proficiency qualifications during the year, once applications are received  Random checks  This is the same for UK students!  Student’s responsibility – not school’s (all communication is directly with student once application is sent – school has limited power to intervene)

Top Tips for the Personal Statement  Should be relevant to all your choices  Be consistent in your course choices – this makes it easier to write and much more convincing to an admissions tutor  200 personal statements per tutor per week!!!!!  Make yours stand out (for the right reasons) however remember the SIMILARITY DETECTION TEST  Don’t just list what you have achieved, expand and give specific examples and detail  Write it soon, but not before you have CHOSEN the course:  You will need to write a few drafts  Get input on your draft from ONE person at a time

Student workshop 4000 characters including spaces, punctuation and line breaks. or 47 lines (longer words fill up the lines sooner) The personal statement MUST relate to your chosen course(s) of study at all 5 universities to which you apply, to your current A levels, and realistically to your achieved (GCSE and AS) and predicted (A level) examination grades. ‘Personal’ means ACADEMIC

Student workshop The Personal Statement Paragraph 1: Why I am best suited to study YOUR degree course – academic and more general interests, insight, ambitions to learn and understand more. Awareness of world situations relating to the field of study of the degree and how these affect my thinking. Be specific.

Student workshop The Personal Statement Paragraph 2: How my current AS / A2 level studies are enabling me to deepen my knowledge of my chosen interests and how I am able to pursue these interests beyond the scope of the school syllabus. Be specific.

Student workshop The Personal Statement Paragraph 3: Work experience, extra-curricular activities and interests which enhance and develop my skills, knowledge, personal responsibility and independence, all of which make me a promising university degree student. Be specific.

Student workshop The Personal Statement Paragraph 4: Ideas of how my university degree will fit into a longer- term life-plan, including post-graduate study, employment, career, and other aspirations which link directly to the degree course for which I am applying. Be specific, but this time also open-minded – the world (and you) can change very much in three years!

Student workshop General Advice – You have 47 lines or 4000 characters – Do not indent paragraphs or use ‘bold’ or ‘underline’ – Leave a blank line between paragraphs – Prepare the Personal Statement in a file then copy and paste it into the online form – Your personal statement should only be concerned with the subject you wish to study and should not refer to specific universities or course details – Ensure you keep a copy of the final statement so that you can look at it if and when you are called for interview – Remember that in an interview you could be asked about any aspect of your Personal Statement

The School Reference  School profile and student’s academic history with some character description  Student’s academic profile and achievement in each subject – explanation of grades/scores  Any additional school contribution (extra-curricular)  Closing endorsement  All references will be commensurate with achieved scores/grades  All grade predictions based on ‘common sense’ / optimistic probability – school must protect reputation for accuracy

The process post-application  When applicants have received decisions from ALL of their choices, if they have offers they will be asked to make replies (and given a date to reply by on Track)  If an applicant does not receive any offers they can make an additional choice through the Extra scheme  UCAS will send reminders – but if applicants fail to reply to offers by their deadline date, offers will be automatically declined!  Applicants can now hold a maximum of 2 offers (others declined)  Firm (if you meet the conditions you will be placed)  Insurance (only comes into play if you are not placed with your Firm choice)

Re-cap: Universities selection tools  Personal statement  References  Qualifications  Admissions tests  Interviews  Additional work  Portfolios  Auditions

Results: Confirmation options 1.Exam results are issued 2. Admissions staff check if the applicant has matched the conditions of the offer 3. If met the conditions of the firm choice, applicant will be placed there. 4.Applicant will be able to view this on track, and will be sent an official confirmation of their place Time to celebrate! 1.Not met conditions of firm choice, but met the conditions of the insurance choice (which should be lower) 2. Applicant is placed at insurance choice Time to celebrate! 1.Not met the conditions of the firm or insurance choice (or no insurance) 2.Applicant is eligible for Clearing 3.Applicant will be able to view decisions on track, and will have a clearing number generated Time to get working!

How can parents help?

How can you support the application process?  Use the Parents section of the UCAS website where you can sign up to the quarterly Parents’ Newsletter  Offer to attend open days – you may have a different perspective  Support your son/daughter’s management of their application  Make sure they read everything they are sent carefully!  Financial assistance – railway tickets  Try to remain impartial

How can you support the application process?  Don’t book holidays at key times: e.g. results day  Prepare them for living away from home:  Cost of living – paying bills  Independent living skills – cooking & washing  Be there: Comforting, proof reading, encouraging, testing, practising etc.

 Choosing courses  Personal statements  Attending events  Using Track  Using Yougo  International students  Using Extra  Making sense of your offers  Replying to offers  Using Clearing  Using Adjustment  Applying in Welsh  Writing references  Understanding the application Process (parents)  Disclosing your disability  Preparing for results  Next steps  Applying  Starting university or college

Official UCAS Support

Russell Group, Oxbridge & Medicine  What is the Russell Group?  The Russell Group represents 24 leading UK universities which are committed to maintaining the very best research, an outstanding teaching and learning experience and unrivalled links with business and the public sector.

The Russell Group  University of Birmingham  University of Bristol  University of Cambridge  Cardiff University  Durham University  University of Edinburgh  University of Exeter  University of Glasgow  Imperial College London  King's College London  University of Leeds  University of Liverpool  London School of Economics & Political Science  University of Manchester  Newcastle University  University of Nottingham  University of Oxford  Queen Mary, University of London  Queen's University Belfast  University of Sheffield  University of Southampton  University College London  University of Warwick  University of York

Medical Schools  Aberdeen (University of), School of Medicine  Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary, University of London  Birmingham (University of), School of Medicine  Brighton and Sussex Medical School  Bristol (University of), Faculty of Medicine  Cambridge (University of), School of Clinical Medicine  Cardiff University, School of Medicine  Dundee (University of), Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Nursing  Edinburgh (The University of), College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine  Exeter (University of), Medical School  Glasgow (University of), Faculty of Medicine  Hull York Medical School  Imperial College School of Medicine, London  Keele University, School of Medicine  King's College London School of Medicine (at Guy's, King's College and St Thomas' Hospital)  Leeds (University of), School of Medicine  Leicester (University of), Leicester Medical School  Liverpool (University of), Faculty of Health and Life Sciences  London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (Postgraduate Medical School)  Manchester (University of), Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences  Newcastle University Medical School  Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia  Nottingham (The University of), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences  Oxford (University of), Medical Sciences Division  Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry  Queen's University Belfast, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences  Sheffield (The University of), School of Medicine  Southampton (University of), School of Medicine  St Andrews (University of), Faculty of Medical Sciences  St George's, University of London  Swansea University, School of Medicine  University College London, University College Medical School  Warwick (The University of), Warwick Medical School

Oxford and Cambridge (also ‘top’ R.G. and Medicine)  Essential that students go to Oxford or Cambridge because they want to study the subject of their choice there and not just because they are desperate be an Oxbridge student  Subject choice must come first and interviewers will very quickly see through lack of commitment if this is not the case  However alluring the image of Oxbridge might be, courses elsewhere may be better suited to the needs, interests, ability, aptitude and character of the individual applicant  Passion for the subject is paramount as well as the necessary skills and knowledge  Applicants should research very thoroughly courses involving the study of subjects not taught at school to make sure they know what they are taking on in terms of grade requirements and additional entrance tests  Prior academic qualifications (i.e. GCSE, AS scores) are essential considerations and must be uniformly excellent

Contact us: Michael Brett - UCAS Coordinator Oxbridge & Russell Group Applications Christine Reynolds - Head of Science Medicine & Related Applications