1. International Teachers & Advisers Conference 2015
The UCAS application cycle explained from start to finish
Tony Charlton
Professional Development Executive, UCAS

2. The UCAS application cycle – from start to finish
Tony Charlton
Professional Development Team
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

3. For my adviser/agent work, what should I know?
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

4. What you need to know The UK Higher Education sector Key UCAS dates
Main UCAS processes
Common applicant errors
How to contact UCAS
Let’s now have a closer look…….
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

5. UK higher education – setting the scene
Circa 380 Higher Education Providers
(HEPs) recruiting via UCAS
35,000 programmes
The largest sector in Europe 22 5 19
336
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

6. Non-UK applications by country
China – 8,010 applicants
Hong Kong – 5,260 applicants
Ireland – 5,170 applicants
France – 4,340 applicants
Malaysia – 4,210 applicants
Italy – 4,120 applicants
Singapore – 3,560 applicants
USA – 3,080 applicants
India – 3,020 applicants
Germany – 2,910 applicants
Source: application digest (15 January ‘15)
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

7. Three steps to applying
RESEARCH
APPLY & MANAGE
PROGRESS
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

8. Key dates and deadlines
27 May: Apply 2016 went live for student registrations
15 October (18:00): deadline for
Medicine, Veterinary, Dentistry
Oxford or Cambridge
15 January (18:00): main deadline
24 March(18:00): some art and design courses
30 June(18:00): final deadline before Clearing
Note: last date for receipt of applications for 2015 entry is 18:00 on
21 September 2015
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

9. The busiest day of the year for applications…
Over 50,000 + applications made in 24 hours leading
up to 6pm, 15 January 2015 deadline!
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

10. Key features of the UCAS scheme
All managed through
2015 & 2016 standard fee - £23 (£12 for single choice)
Maximum of 5 choices
Some choice restrictions:
Medicine, Veterinary, Dentistry – max 4
Oxford or Cambridge
Simultaneous consideration
‘Invisibility’
There are opportunities for other choices:
Extra , Clearing & Adjustment
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

11. Overview of UCAS process1
International applicant researches & chooses courses 2
Registers online with UCAS Apply 3
Completes form and processes payment 4
Academic reference added by centre / independent referee 5
Centre / applicant sends form electronically to UCAS 6
UCAS processes form and forwards to chosen HEPs 7
HEPs submit decisions (offer or unsuccessful) 8
Applicant views decisions on Track 9
Applicant replies to offers on Track (Firm / Insurance) 10
HEPs confirm places when results are released
Applicants who do not secure offers with their initial 5 choices can get additional opportunities later in the application cycle (Extra, Clearing)
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

12. The electronic application cycle
School or college registers as an online Apply centre
Appointed ‘Apply Coordinator’ sets up staff and centre details and creates buzzword
Student registers using buzzword and fills in application
Completed application is forwarded (electronically) to tutor
If application contains errors or omissions, tutor can return form to student
Tutor checks completed applications within staff area and adds reference
Completed applications are sent to UCAS :
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

13. Getting start (Apply centres)
Set ‘buzzword’ (then give out to students)
Create bespoke qualification list (optional)
Review staff log ins
Not an Apply centre? Direct student to register & apply as an independent applicant via UCAS website
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

14. Filling in the form Every non-UK applicant has six sections to
complete:
Personal details
Student finance
Choices
Education
Employment
Personal statement
Forward to referee:
Reference
 UCAS
 Providers
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

15. Adding a provider
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

16. Adding a course
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

17. Dropdown lists ease completion
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

18. Tip: watch for common applicant errors
Failure to check entry requirements
Qualifications (eg. GCSEs) missing, or
incorrectly named, on form
Wrong student support fee code
address not verified
Forgotten to register for admissions test
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

19. Which of the following lines is NOT from a real UCAS personal statement?
It was a catch 12 situation
I think of myself as a worm hearted individual
English is like a second language to I
Twice a week I attend marital arts classes
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

20. An application has been processed by UCAS, what happens next?
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

21. Decision making by providers
Admissions tutors may initially make one of six decisions:
Unconditional offer
Conditional offer
Rejection
Withdrawal
Full
Invitation
Or recommend:
A place on an alternative course
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

22. Offers Conditional offers can be worded in a variety of ways:
UCAS Tariff
e.g. 320 points or
Exam grades
e.g. ABB at A level
Combinations
e.g. 320 points including
grade A in English
GCE A level
Grade
Tariff Points A*
140 A
120 B
100 C 80 D 60 E 40
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

23. Applicants must respond to their offers
Once the final decision has been received, a maximum of two offers may be held
Applicants have a choice of
three reply options:
Firm acceptance
Insurance acceptance
Decline the offer
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

24. Tip: remind students to note their reply dates on Track
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

25. Outstanding decisions and responses
Balancing the UCAS calendar
If an applicant fails to accept or decline their offers by a specified date, all offers will decline by default
If a provider fails to make a decision by a specified date, UCAS will process a reject by default decision
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

26. Confirmation
Exam results are published and passed electronically to member providers by UCAS.
Admissions staff check if the applicant has met the conditions of the offer. There are four possibilities:
2. If a student doesn’t meet the conditions of their firm choice, but meets the conditions of their insurance choice (which should be lower), they will be placed at their insurance choice. It’s also time to celebrate!
1. If a student meets the conditions of their firm choice. It’s time to celebrate!
4. If a student meets and exceeds the conditions of their offer, they are eligible for Adjustment. This provides an opportunity for them to reconsider where and what to study whilst still holding their firm offer.
3. If a student has not met the conditions of their firm or insurance choice (or no insurance), they will be entered into a process known as Clearing.
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

27. A level results day (13 August 2015) – timeline
Adviser Track goes live
Contact Centre opens
Contact Centre and Social Media hub close
06:00
07:30
08:00
17:00
20:00
Start time for entering a Clearing
choice
‘Restricted’ Track goes live
Social Media support starts
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

28. E-clearing… Eligible applicant researches vacancies
Contacts member provider(s) to discuss application
Applicant enters choice details on Track
Member provider considers application
If unsuccessful applicant can start again
E-clearing…
Applicant placed on course
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

29. Adjustment Eligibility
To be eligible to use Adjustment, applicants must have:
Firm choice offer confirmed (CF  UF)
and
Academic results that meet and exceed the requirements of the Firm choice offer.
Adjustment period ends at midnight on 31 August
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

30. Activity time Yippee! Fab!
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

31. Bringing it all together
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

32. UCASINO
15 October and 15 January main UCAS closing dates 15
Maximum number of initial UCAS choices 5
380
Number of UCAS member providers
Standard UCAS application fee 23 2
Number of choices (firm & insurance) that an applicant can hold
Maximum number of choices for medicine, veterinary or dentistry 4 31
Single choice application fee 12 24
Number of universities in Russell Group
4000
Maximum number of characters in personal statement
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

33. Final tip - make your own ‘dummy’ application
Register and start an application
Just don’t pay and send!
Familiarise yourself with what those
you advise will see and do
Have as an ongoing resource to use
throughout the application cycle
All the customer-facing staff at UCAS do this each application cycle
At the heart of connecting people to higher education

34. How to contact UCAS How to contact UCAS Adviser/agents
Applicants

35. Any final questions?
Thank you for listening and joining in. Good luck with your students’ applications!
Tony Charlton
Professional Development Executive E:
24/04/2019