1. Personal Statement Workshop Welcome

2. Timetable for the day 2-2.15pm: Introduction and aims of the session 2.15-2.30pm: UCAS Application process overview 2.30-3.10pm: How to support students to complete a strong personal statement 3.10-3.25pm: Break 3.25-4.10pm:Breakout sessions and feedback: Access and BTEC 4.10-4.25pm: Panel session 4.25-4.30pm:Round up and evaluations

3. What would you like to get out of today?

4. UCAS Application overview

5. The basics Part time HE courses: Apply direct to institution Full time HE courses: Apply through UCAS Most full time higher education courses offered by further education (FE) colleges are now included in the UCAS system Some private universities and UK Conservatoires require direct application Admission test

6. A few facts and figures – 2014 cycle The proportion of the 18 year old population in England who entered higher education and held a BTEC qualification increased to 6.7 per cent in 2014. Young women are around a third more likely to enter higher education than men in 2014, a similar proportional difference to recent cycles 122,147 students were studying HE in English Further Education Colleges (FECs) of which 10,321 were students at FECs in Greater London. Approximately 1 in 10 HE students study in a further education college Young people from the most disadvantaged areas in 2014 were around 40 per cent more likely to enter higher tariff institutions than three years ago.

7. UCAS Application Process: An overview Register Personal details Additional information ChoicesEducationEmployment Personal Statement ReferenceDeclarationPayment Application sent Track application status

8. Timings 20 th October Deadline for accepting Clearing applicants 31 st August Deadline for any remaining conditions to be met and end of Adjustment 30 th June Final deadline, all applications received after this date will automatically enter Clearing 24 th March Deadline for some Art and Design courses 15 th January ‘On time’ application deadline 15 th October Medicine, Veterinary and Dentistry deadlineOxford or Cambridge deadline Now Research/ Attend Open Days and apply

9. Replying to offers Application received at UCAS on or before University or college must make a decision on or before 15 th January 20165 th May 2016 30 th June 201614 th July 2016 Last offer received by…The applicant must reply by… 31 st March 20164 th May 5 th May 20168 th June 8 th June 201623 rd June 14 th July 210622 nd July

10. Replying to offers Accept: Firm The applicant’s first choice If it is an unconditional offer, the place is theirs If it is a conditional offer, they must now meet the specified conditions Accept: Insurance The applicant’s second choice, in case they miss the conditions of their firm acceptance choice Decline Any other offers the applicant has

11. Results If the applicant… … meets offer conditions… exceeds conditions... doesn’t meet conditions The place is theirs and they will receive confirmation of this both through UCAS and from the university directly They can go through Adjustment to look at available courses with higher entry requirements They do not have to give up their firm acceptance place to use Adjustment. 1.Their firm choice MAY still accept them (but this isn’t guaranteed) 2.They may have a place at their insurance choice 3.If they don’t meet their insurance choice offer, they can go through Clearing.

12. Clearing, Adjustment and Extra Clearing Available July to September each year If applicant holds no offers Applicant contacts university or college directly to discuss vacancies Adjustment If applicant has not only met the conditions of their firm choice, but exceeded it It provides an opportunity for them to reconsider where and what to study. Applicant has 5 working days to accept another offer Extra Available February to July Applicants are eligible for Extra if they hold no successful offers, cancelled or declined all offers Apply to courses one at a time and university/college has 21 days to respond.

13. Other important dates to think about Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct From Spring 2016: Apply for student finance January 2016 onwards: Scholarship / bursary application deadlines May 2016 onwards: Accommodation applications open October 2015 onwards: Open Days and UCAS conventions start From December 2015: Post Application Open Days start August 2016: On line enrolment begins Sept/Oct 2016: Term starts!

14. Tariff 2017 For those applying in 2016/17, and start university or college from September 2017. Numbers are different but on the whole you need to achieve the same grade, and the new system will not in itself change entry requirements for university or college courses. The new UCAS Tariff points should not have any impact on students’ decisions about qualification choices at school or college, or their preparation or application to a higher education course. The primary purpose of the new Tariff is to provide a broad measure of Level 3 qualifications that can be used by universities and colleges for reporting purposes. The new UCAS Tariff, like the current Tariff, will be used by higher education funding bodies that collect data from universities and colleges each year. The new Tariff simply provides a new way of calculating the points for this purpose. The new Tariff is designed to provide a fair and more transparent process of allocating Tariff points across a wider range of qualifications, to support widening participation.

15. Tariff 2017 The new Tariff operates as follows: 1.Qualifications are allocated a size band of 1 to 4, based on their guided learning hours. 2.Qualifications will also be allocated a grade band of 3 to 14. These grade bands spread across the breadth of Level 3 3.The size band and grade band are then multiplied to form the overall Tariff score. Universities and colleges are free to choose whether or not to use the Tariff and how to deploy it. The introduction of the new Tariff does not alter this. In line with good practice, it is recommended that admissions decisions should not be made based on Tariff points alone

16. Precision marketing data service Clearing opportunity for applicants who find themselves without a place UCAS will send your application to up to 5 universities or colleges suited to your grades and other requirements Universities or colleges then contact applicant directly about courses they think maybe of interest. Applicants opt in The service works by comparing the qualification profiles of unplaced applicants to the profile of applicants that have been accepted on university and college courses in previous cycles.

17. Resources UCAS resources www.ucas.com/advisers/guides-and-resources Student Loan Company http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk Scholarship and bursary information http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk Course searches and information http://unistats.direct.gov.uk http://www.whatuni.com/

18. How to support students to complete a strong personal statement

19. Breakout session

20. How much do you already know? 1.As of June 2015, what was the total number of applications made to UCAS? 2. Of this total how many of these applicants were over 35? 3.Second to A- Levels BTECs are the most widely held qualification held by applicants, according to the UCAS end of cycle report (2014) what is percentage ( in England)? 4.On average how many Access to HE students apply each year for a degree course?

21. Answers 1. 673,040: a 2 % increase from last year 2. 28,280 3. 6.7% 4. 20,000

22. Discussion Groups Focusing specifically on Access and BTEC learners in your group discuss: 1.What barriers to higher education have your learners faced / or you anticipate would face? 2.What additional support, if any, do your learners need when applying for higher education/ or do you anticipate they would need? Then, come up with 3 questions per group that you would like to present to the panel to answer.

23. Panel Session Sue Betts, Director, Linking London Andrew Jones, Deputy Director and IAG Specialist, Linking London Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer, Kingston University Shannon O’Neill, Politics & International Relations, Kingston University

24. Coming up…NNCO activities Online personal statement checking service Collaborative Student Ambassador Scheme Adviser Site Subject specific workshops HE in London launch Mailing List

25. www.linkinglondon.ac.uk/nnco