S6 Information evening presentation

The role of UCAS UCAS processes applications for full-time courses at higher education providers in the UK. They guide students through the whole process, providing valuable information and supporting services for applicants and their parents.

The UCAS student journey The steps all applicants will take to get to uni. 1 – Research, what are you looking for and do you have what the universities/colleges are looking for? 2 – Making your application 3 – Starting uni – enrolment, finance, life at uni More detail on ucas.com. At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

Before you apply... Go to www.ucas.com . Find out the UCAS deadlines – make sure you know what deadline is relevant to you Research – career options, universities, courses you’re interested in and minimum entry requirements. Go to a UCAS event – even if you’re not sure about what you want to do, speak to those in the know. Learn from others – watch student videos at UCAS.tv. ...it’s all free. Get connected... ...get informed... Research is the most important part of the journey – you need to be fully prepared before you start your application in order to identify skill gaps in a timely fashion. Every year so 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, which is very detailed information about what the institution 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! For example Y12 or 5th year for Scotland schools. Think about the number you are going to attend – do not go to too many as you will struggle to remember each university or college and their individual features and benefits will all roll into one. ...then get applying.

Researching courses Use the UCAS search tool search.ucas.com

Visit, visit, visit …

Things to consider Finance – course fees, grants, travel and living costs Travel – to and from your home Accommodation – University halls or private residences? Living away from home... ...are you ready to ‘go it alone’? At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

The UCAS application At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

Making a UCAS application Begin your application at www.ucas.com/apply Below are the sections that need to be completed: Personal details Additional information (UK only) Student finance (UK and EU only) Choices – make up to 5 choices Education Employment Personal statement A reference References are written by someone who knows you well, usually by a teacher or form tutor To register with Apply takes 10 minutes, then the applicant is able to log in and out of their form as much as they want to complete it. To register they will need the school/college BUZZ word – you may give it out now? Personal details – information about the applicant, nationality, nominated access (if parents wish to help and talk to UCAS or uni’s directly) and how we contact them. A section alongside this is additional information – ethnicity, care, parents’ background questions – remind applicants that not all information will be used to make decisions, some is used for statistical purposes. Student finance – if filled in, we’ll remind students to apply for this and pre-populate some fields in their application with data from Apply. Choices – students can make five choices. The exception is where students can only make four choices for medicine, dentistry or veterinary medicine/science courses, although the remaining choice(s) can be used for any other subject. Students can also only apply to study one course at either Oxford and Cambridge – not both. Education – is the area where most errors take place so take care eg know which BTEC you’re taking. Employment – can be marked blank, and it is paid employment only. Students send their forms to school/college they then send it to UCAS after the reference and checking. UCAS sends it to universities within 24-48 hours. Remind about completing mandatory fields; many are not so you don’t need to fill them in, and the ‘?’ contains help text for each box. At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

When to apply Mid-June Applicants can register and start to complete their application. Mid-September Schools can start to submit completed applications to UCAS. 15 October Medicine, dentistry, veterinary sci/med and Oxford or Cambridge. 15 January Application deadline for most courses. 24 March Many art & design courses (check each course for deadline). 30 June Applications after this date held for Clearing. All applications received up to a deadline will be guaranteed equal consideration by universities. Following the deadline, it is up to a university if they wish to consider the application or not. After a deadline they are able to close courses. When an applicant applies after a deadline date the application is passed on and marked as late – many will still have vacancies and can make the student an offer as normal, but popular courses/universities will not be in this position so it would be wise to check with universities directly first. At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

Decision-making by institutions An admissions tutor can make one of three decisions: Unconditional offer Conditional offer Unsuccessful Or they can offer a place on an alternative course. Institutions can also request an interview, ask to see your portfolio or ask you to take an admissions test. At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

Tracking your application You can see what is happening with your application on Track. Follow the progress of your application 24/7. See your choices and personal information. See offer details. Reply to offers online. Track is our online system that allows you to follow the progress of your application. At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

Replying to offers Once you have decisions on all your choices, you can hold a maximum of two offers: One as a ‘firm’ acceptance – your first choice The other as an ‘insurance’ acceptance – acts as a back-up if you do not get into your ‘firm’ choice. You can then decline any remaining offers. When all decisions and replies are made and you are not holding an offer, you may be able to use Extra or Clearing to find available places Applicants do not have to have an insurance choice if they are certain they would only be interested in one of their offers. Applicants cannot swap between the insurance and firm choices. The insurance choice disappears once they have been placed with their firm choice. At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

Key features of the UCAS Undergraduate scheme One application per admissions cycle. Application fee £24 / £13. Maximum five choices (some restrictions). Nominated access option. Simultaneous consideration. Universities cannot see the other choices.

At the heart of connecting people to higher education Find out more At the heart of connecting people to higher education 06/11/2018

Completing the application Maximum of five choices Some choice restrictions: Medicine, veterinary, dentistry – max. four Oxford or Cambridge Simple application cost: One choice – £13 Two-five choices – £24 Application is entirely online Simultaneous consideration

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.

How can you as parents support the application process? Use the parents/guardians section of the UCAS website/Parent Guide publication – www.ucas.com/parents and sign up for the newsletter. Offer to attend open days, you may have a different perspective. Don’t book family holidays at key times. Make sure they read everything carefully that is sent to them. Support your son/daughter’s management of their application.

New videos for parents UCAS has developed four videos on key topics: The UCAS process Open days Student finance Clearing FIRM = where you really want to go INSURANCE = you would be happy to get into your FIRM choice INSURANCE = somewhere you would be happy to get into your FIRM choice www.ucas.com/parents