1. UCAS Parents’ Information Evening 2017

2. Life Beyond St Margaret’s
University
College
Apprenticeships
Employment
Gap year
Over 90% of last years cohort applied to University and so I will focus on how to apply.

3. What is UCAS?
Universities and
Colleges
Admissions
Service

4. The Application Process is done online at www.ucas.com/apply
The UCAS website is ‘live’ now but applications cannot be sent electronically until 6th September.
Your daughter can apply for up to 5 courses.
For medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry, they can only make 4 applications to these subjects, plus one other.
Your daughter can apply for more than one course at any university, but it is unusual for anyone to apply to the same Uni for more than two different courses. However, they can make only one Oxford OR Cambridge application.

5. How do Universities decide to whom they will make an offer?
They look at:
Grades already gained
Predicted grades for next year
Personal Statement
School Reference

6. What are UCAS points? These are mostly used for English Universities.
UCAS awards points for all exams passed.
Points are also awarded for some dancing and music exams at grade 6 level or above.
See online, or your daughters UCAS folder, for the points tariff, but as a guide an A at Higher is worth 33 points, a B 27 points and a C 21 points. An A at AH is 56 points.
If you pass AH after a Higher, you only get the points for the AH and the same applies for Nat 5 and Higher.

7. St Margaret’s Timescale
“Early Bird” applications
Oxford, Cambridge (Oxbridge), medicine, veterinary medicine and dentistry - First drafts of PS to be with Ms Brown by the end of August. This should be worked on in the summer holidays. Final applications will then be sent by Ms Brown to UCAS by 15th October.
All other applications
First drafts of all other PS to Ms Brown by end of September. Once complete these will be sent to UCAS by 15th December.

8. What happens then? UCAS will acknowledge their application.
Your daughter can then follow her application through TRACK on the UCAS website. Each university also sends out a paper copy of their decision.
Once they have heard about all their applications, they will be given a date by which they have to have made up their mind which offer they want to accept.

9. What could the offers be?
Unconditional
Conditional – they will specify what they want your daughter to get in VIS
Unsuccessful

10. Will your daughter have an Interview?
Maybe!
Cambridge and Oxford interview having made an initial selection through their rigorous assessments.
Most medical schools interview, but not Edinburgh for example, although this is set to change.
Interviews are usually held for primary teaching, architecture, veterinary medicine and sometimes engineering.
All girls will receive at least 1 mock interview and more than this if they wish.

11. How do they accept an offer?
Once UCAS has been notified of their decision they cannot normally change their mind.
They can accept an unconditional offer.
They can accept a conditional offer (CF) as their first choice with an unconditional insurance offer (CI) if they don’t get the grades.
They can accept a conditional offer as their first choice with a second conditional offer which needs lower grades as their insurance offer.

12. What happens if they don’t get any offers?
If they find themselves without an offer for whatever reason and they have used all 5 choices, they can then use UCAS Extra as of 25th Feb 2018.
They get another chance to apply to more courses, but one at a time.
If their first Extra choice does not make them an offer, they can then apply for another course.

13. What happens if they don’t get the grades for my Firm or Insurance Offer?
They then enter CLEARING and find out which universities still have places available for the course in which they are interested.
Full Clearing opens Thursday 5th July 2018.

14. Adjustment Period
Only for applicants with a firmly accepted conditional offer.
If an applicants exceeds the conditions of their offer, they have 5 days to research places more appropriate to their performance whilst still holding on to their original offer.
Adjustment starts on 18th August until 31st Aug. When they register they only have 5 days to research other courses. They will get a countdown in track.
Applicants must consider accommodation and student finance before considering this option.

15. Personal Statements 47 lines, 4000 characters
This is your daughter’s chance to sell herself
They want to convince the universities to make them an offer rather than someone else
They must show passion for the subject they are applying for
‘Academic extra-curricular’ interests
Positions of responsibility
Extra-curricular activities
Work experience

16. What could be included on a Personal Statement?
Head Girl/Senior Prefect/Prefect/Library Prefect/Department Prefect
Budapest/Geneva/Tanzania trip etc
Maths Challenge
Food Hygiene certificate
House Captain/Vice Captain
Prefects’ Leadership course
Sports Captains
Young Enterprise
Colours – music, sport, debating
Exchange student
Duke of Edinburgh Award
Summer Orchestras
Hockey/netball/basketball teams etc
Theatre companies
Hockey Youth Umpire
Volunteering
Grades for music, dancing etc
Work experience
Debating and Public Speaking
Buddy
Paired Reading

17. Deadline reminder “Early Bird” applications
First drafts of PS to be with Ms Brown by the end of August.
All other applications
First drafts of all other PS to Ms Brown by the end of September.