The Student Room Group

UCAS Applications 2011 **Look in Here First**

Deadlines
15 October: Oxbridge/Medicine/Dentistry/Veterinary Medicine
15 January: everything else (except some art & design courses), for guaranteed equal consideration
24 March: specific art & design courses - check UCAS and uni websites for details of which courses this deadline applies to
30 June: for immediate consideration by unis where there are vacancies

International Applicants: should note that the 15 October and 30 June deadlines are the same, and that once the 15 January deadline has passed there are no guarantees that a uni will consider your application. If you are planning to apply later than 15 January, check uni websites and with the Admissions Departments concerned to make sure that this is OK.

Other Important Dates
See the UCAS website.

Applying early: the pros and cons
Some advisers will tell you that applying early gives you an advantage. It doesn’t, and is even less likely to do so given the challenges of the last couple of years, when some unis found that they had too many people who had met their offers for the number of places available. Instead, unis may be slower than before to respond to applications, and more likely to hold over everything until the 15 January deadline. This was already true of competitive courses such as History, English, Law, Economics, where unis like LSE, Warwick, Bristol, Durham, and Edinburgh have kept applicants waiting until March or April for a decision. This can happen even with less competitive courses and unis - some unis have a policy not to look at anything until all applications are in. Others will do a preliminary screening which will weed out the obvious no-hopers and hold over the rest until January.

On the other hand, applying early is not a recipe for rejection on the basis that you *might* be applying to Oxbridge. Unis do not see where else you have applied until all your decisions have been made. All those myths about how Durham will reject you automatically because they *think* you have applied to Oxbridge are just that: myths. It is possible for someone to be accepted by a top ten uni and rejected by others - the reason for this is that unis look for different things in their applicants. No uni is going to turn away a good applicant just because they might have applied to a competitor university!

Choosing unis and courses
By and large, forget ‘career prospects’ and go for what really interests you and you are good at. Avoid applying for a course just because you think it will guarantee you a high earning power in due course. If you fail it or end up dropping out because you hate it, all you will have is dented confidence and debt issues. Equally, don’t dismiss a minority interest course at a lower profile uni out of hand if this is what you really want to do, go for it. Remember that grade entry requirements are often an indicator of popularity/fashion rather than quality, so don’t assume that it’s a rubbish course because the entry requirements are ‘only’ BBC.

A major advantage of not rushing to get your application in early is that this gives you time to consider your choices carefully. The number of threads posted on TSR from June onwards from people wanting to change their minds both about courses and unis demonstrates just how much things can change for you, even in a couple of months. So don’t rush it, even if your school is pressurising you to get it done early. There’s a long time between mid October and mid December - you will be two months further in to your A2 courses by then, and will have a much better sense of how the work is going and whether that A2 in Economics is quite as interesting as you thought it was going to be.

*NEW*
There seem to be several examples emerging now of unis updating their requirements in-year, so it is really important to check the uni/department website (not UCAS or a printed prospectus) for the latest information before confirming your choices. This could save you an unexpected rejection and a wasted choice.

Adding in Choices
The uni and course codes are clearly shown on the relevant UCAS pages: check that you have entered these correctly. Course codes especially can be very similar to one another. You can enter your choices in any order; the system may rearrange them alphabetically, but this doesn't make any difference. All your choices are considered equally and independently by the unis concerned.

Remember that you do not have to enter all your choices at once. It is possible (and can be a good move) to add choices in later, and provided you meet the 15 January deadline you are still guaranteed equal consideration. Bear in mind though that your personal statement can’t be changed (although unis will sometimes accept an updated PS separately) so it makes sense to ensure that this is as good and as relevant to your course choices as it can be. Remember that if you have paid the £11 for one choice, you will need to top this up to the full £21 before you can add any further choices. You also do not have the 14 day 'cooling off' period for choices added in after you submit your initial application, so it's really important to make sure you are happy with your choice/s before you confirm them on UCAS.

Other Technical Stuff
Registering with UCAS
You will need to enter a 'buzz word' to register an application that will go through a school or college. If you have by mistake signed up as an independent applicant this can be changed - just talk to your UCAS co-ordinator; if need be UCAS can help to sort it out.

Entering grades
You must make sure that you entered your grades for all your certificated qualifications correctly. If it comes to light that you have entered incorrect grades (and it’s interesting how often it happens in such cases that the actual grades are lower than what was submitted by the applicant) you must tell UCAS and the unis concerned immediately. Any offer that has been made to you could be withdrawn if it was made on the basis of wrong information, so it is very much worth your while to get this right at the outset. The UCAS page does explain it pretty clearly, but if you still can’t make sense of it see this thread, or contact UCAS directly for clarification. Note that you cannot enter UMS marks, only grades, against the module details, and that it is optional to do so at all. A U grade in anything - GCSE, AS, A2, AEA - does not have to be entered as you do not hold the qualification.

Entering Resits
If you are an A level resit candidate, you may find that 'the system' won't let you enter the resit date. This will be because the last education establishment you have entered has an 'end date' which is before your intended resit date. If you are attending a different school/college to resit your A levels, then you need to enter this establishment with the appropriate dates and your problem will be solved.

Otherwise, your options are:

enter the school/college again, this time marking your attendance as 'part-time' with a start date of 2010 and an 'end date' of 2011 - appropriate if you are attending classes there, or if you won't be attending classes but will be taking the exams using them as the examination centre

if you are entering yourself as a private candidate, add another entry to the Education list, this time describing it as 'self-teaching' or something along those lines, and add the examination centre details to the resit information.



Grade Predictions
I’ve seen a few examples on here of teachers making unfairly low predictions, but generally the “But I know I’ll be able to improve from a C at AS to an A at A2” approach doesn’t cut any ice, for good reason. If a school gets a reputation for inaccurate predictions, this doesn’t help anyone. It also doesn’t help you if you are predicted unrealistically high grades which then become the offer you are working to.

Insist on knowing what your predictions are, however, as this is an important part of making sure your applications are pitched sensibly. Your referee is responsible for entering them on your application.

Personal Statement
Check out the Personal Statements FAQ and make use of the PS Help forum. Whatever you do, do not post your PS, or bits from it, in open forum as the UCAS plagiarism detector will find it. PS Help is safe from UCAS and other prying eyes because access to it is restricted by TSR.

Remember that UCAS removes all formatting and simply cuts off the end of the PS if you have exceeded the line/character limits. Unfortunately the Word line/character count doesn't work for UCAS, so whatever you do check using the preview function in the UCAS form that the PS has been entered properly, and also that you haven't left behind parts of previous drafts - it happens!

Reference

Quality matters far more than quantity. A short reference is not a problem as long as it includes all the necessary information.

If you have pending AS grades and therefore can't enter the module grades, your referee should be asked to mention the stellar grades in your reference. It generally doesn't come across that well if you include this information in your PS.

If you are applying through a school/college centre, you ‘send’ your application to your referee, who will then add your reference and submit your application directly to UCAS. You may have seen your reference before it is submitted, but your school does not have to show it to you. If you want to see it, you can pay UCAS £10 and make an application under the Data Protection Act to do so (once your application has been submitted, of course).

If you are applying independently, the process has changed this year.

Referees should be able to comment on your academic abilities. If you have not done any recent (ie within the last five years) study an employer may be OK, but if in doubt check with the unis as to what they'll accept.



Mistakes on the Form (but it hasn't gone to UCAS yet)
Just spotted that typo in the Personal Statement? Forgotten to put down that resit? Entered a choice wrongly? Ask your referee to send the application back to you, and you will be able to make the necessary amendments and resubmit it for the referee to send off.

Mistakes on the Form (and it's gone to UCAS already)

Exam grades/plans: if you have made any errors (wrong grades, wrong exam board etc) notify UCAS and the unis immediately. You agreed to do this when you submitted your form. Unis can withdraw or change an offer if it turns out that the information you gave was wrong.

uni and/or course choices: you have 14 days in which to correct any errors/change your mind; after that you are stuck with it. So make sure you check your ‘welcome’ letter from UCAS carefully and contact them at once if there is a problem. Remember that you can only change a choice if a decision has not been made, so don't delay. Some unis reply very quickly!

Fee Status: notify UCAS and the unis if this has changed immediately.



Remember that you signed an undertaking that the information you provided on the form was complete and accurate. Do not be tempted to tell lies, whether by 'forgetting' to put down that D grade GCSE or the AS result you didn't like, or by putting down a higher grade than you actually got. You will be found out eventually having wasted a lot of people’s time, including your own.

Once my application has gone in, how long does it take for my Welcome letter to arrive?
Usually within a few days if you are UK based. Once your application has been fully processed, you can usually get in to Track without having your letter to hand, using your UCAS ID number without spaces/hyphens and hitting the 'lost password' button.

Will I get Offers and When?
No-one can say. Sometimes people who on paper should get an offer don’t, and vice versa. However, you can reduce substantially the risk of ending up with more rejections than offers: How to Avoid Getting 5 Rejections

On its arrival, an application generally falls into three categories: Yes, No, and Maybe.

The ‘yes’ category will include people who very clearly and significantly exceed the standard required. These people are likely to get early offers from unis unless there are further selection procedures eg aptitude tests and/or interviews required.

The ‘no’ category will be people who simply do not meet the course entry requirements and/or their application is not strong enough compared with the expected standard; these people are likely to get a quick rejection.

The people who can end up waiting a long time for a decision are in the ‘maybe’ group: those whose applications meet the essential requirements and the minimum standards expected, but where there are far more applicants than offers to be made. These go through a process of assessment which may include structured scoring systems for the paper application, aptitude tests, and ‘informal’ interviews. Which of these will apply depends on the course and uni.

Note that high entry requirements or so-called ‘prestige’ are no guide to how long it might take for a decision to come through. It can and does happen that Kent will take longer to send a decision through than Durham. Some people get offers within days, others will wait months for a rejection. A browse around the forums would show up that Manchester, for example, has tended to be quick off the mark, whereas Edinburgh is much slower. In the 2009-10 round, Sheffield was sending out offers very quickly. However, as noted above, things may be different this year for all unis.

Understanding your Offer
Conditional offers may be based on grades or UCAS points and sometimes a mixture of both (or an offer may be expressed in both grades or UCAS points, in which case you must achieve one or the other). You may be required to achieve a particular grade in a specified subject. Certain subjects may be 'excluded' from an offer - eg General Studies, Critical Thinking, a mother tongue language. If you don't understand your offer email the uni admissions department and ask for clarification. Email is better because then you have a written record of their response should there be any query later.

Unconditional offers mean that the uni has accepted whatever qualifications you have achieved already as sufficient to meet their entry criteria. It is clear then that someone who is still doing their A2s or equivalent is unlikely to get an unconditional offer unless they already have achieved A2s in some subjects, or they are resitting but the grades they already have are sufficient for that uni.

Note that an unconditional offer is NOT the same as a 'matriculation' offer - EE - which is made occasionally by Cambridge and one or two other unis. It's called a matriculation offer because the national minimum entry (ie matriculation) requirement for all unis is two A2s, or equivalent (for mature students/those taking IB/students offering other qualifications similar in standard to A2s).

How will I know when a uni has made a decision?
Some unis acknowledge applications, others don't. Sometimes even between uni departments different acknowledgement arrangements apply. A lot of acknowledgements come by email, so check those spam folders regularly. (NB: this is not the time to have a 'joke' email address - set up a sensible one if you need to and check it at least once a day.)

When your Track changes you will get an email from UCAS. These are sent out twice a day, but Track itself is updated pretty much constantly as decisions come in from the unis. This can include weekends too. It may be that you'll check Track and find a decision, when you haven't had an email to alert you to it. Also - not all emails saying that your Track has updated mean that there is a decision, though most do. If there isn't a new decision, something else has changed - the terms of an existing offer, a course code, whatever. Look around and if you can't work out what the change is contact UCAS to find out.

Rejections will show up on Track as 'unsuccessful' against the uni choice; you generally won't get a letter from the uni itself (unless it's Oxbridge, in which case you'll normally get the letter first).

Offers will also show up on Track, but most unis will write or email you to say that they are making you an offer. It's a race to see which you get first :smile:. If the offer is on Track, you can find out what its conditions are by clicking on the course code. Quite often unis won't tell you in the letter or email what the conditions of the offer are, and when this information gets to UCAS depends on the Admissions Office staff sending it through. This can sometimes take a few days.

Other Issues
Fee Status
If you are not sure what yours is, check with Student Finance before you submit your application. Offers will be dependent on your status and a change could mean that your offer is withdrawn, so avoid that disappointment and get it right before you start.

Changes in Circumstances
If anything changes (eg you move, you decide to drop a subject or pick one up) make sure you tell UCAS and the unis straight away. Do not just drop a subject in the hope that it won't matter - just because it's not included in your offer doesn't mean that the uni didn't take it into account when they made the offer to you.

Exam Certificates
A surprising number of people seem not to bother to collect their certificates from their school or college, who are not obliged to keep them for you indefinitely. Make sure you collect these, or have them posted to you, as you will need them, and not just for uni applications. Employers these days are much more likely than they used to be to check all those claims you made on your CV. It can be extremely expensive to organise 'duplicates' from the individual Exam Boards, so once you have the certificates, keep them safely.

Wiki Articles that might be of interest

UCAS Apply
Tracking and Replying to your Offers
Understanding Conditional Offers
UCAS Tariff
Late applications

And finally....
Even if you are one of the 'lucky' ones whose decisions are all in early, do not be tempted to rush into making your Firm and Insurance Choices. Everyone has at least until early May to make their mind up.
(edited 13 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

I think I might already know the answer to this, but when we add our university choices on the UCAS form, do we have to put them in order of preference? Or does the system automatically arrange our choices into alphabetical order?

Also, if we're applying to Oxbridge, do we have to make our applications to all the universities we're applying to at the same time, in which case, wouldn't they then be able to see which unis we have applied to? Or can we add our choices on gradually?
Reply 2
Introverted moron
I think I might already know the answer to this, but when we add our university choices on the UCAS form, do we have to put them in order of preference? Or does the system automatically arrange our choices into alphabetical order?

Also, if we're applying to Oxbridge, do we have to make our applications to all the universities we're applying to at the same time, in which case, wouldn't they then be able to see which unis we have applied to? Or can we add our choices on gradually?
You don't have to put your unis in order of preference, and unis can't see where else you have applied.

I've moved this into a more appropriate thread for your question.
Reply 3
Minerva

...
Choosing unis and courses
...

Remember that you do not have to enter all your choices at once. It is possible (and can be a good move) to add choices in later, and provided you meet the 15 January deadline you are still guaranteed equal consideration. Bear in mind though that your personal statement can’t be changed (although unis will sometimes accept an updated PS separately) so it makes sense to ensure that this is as good and as relevant to your course choices as it can be. Remember that if you have paid the £11 for one choice, you will need to top this up to the full £21 before you can add any further choices.
...


Could you kindly let me have the UCAS link to this as I have been searching their site and cannot find a confirmation for this anywhere. Thank you.
Reply 4
Hello,

I am a French student and am thinking about appying to British Unis. I want to study aeronautical engineering but I have a few question :

What is the difference between a Beng and a Meng? Is it possible to apply directly to a Meng after A levels or do you have to do a Beng first ?

What are the best unis in this field. I've heard that Imperial and Bristol were very good ones. I don't think I am good enough to apply to Cambridge...

Are interviews complusory for aeronautical engineering in Imperial College, Bristol, sheffield, bath, surrey, southampton, nottingham, leeds ?

Thank you very much for answering. And I wish you good luck for your own application !
Reply 5
Choirboy
Could you kindly let me have the UCAS link to this as I have been searching their site and cannot find a confirmation for this anywhere. Thank you.
Try this. Conversely, it doesn't say anywhere that all choices have to be entered at the same time.
Reply 6
Minerva
Try this. Conversely, it doesn't say anywhere that all choices have to be entered at the same time.


Thank you for the link.
UCAS says: "Our welcome letter will explain how you can add more choices later (if you have paid only £9 and choose to add further choices, you pay a further £10)" and I understand this to mean adding more choices to a single one selected earlier.
At the moment I am interested in only two courses but may want to include others later on.
I wonder if anyone, in previous years, has actually been in a similar position to mine and was able to add extra choices at a later date having selected more than one course initially.
Thanks to anyone for help in this matter.
Reply 7
hi
i just finished 2nd year at a university. but i have to pass all my modules to progress to the final year. but i failed 1 module and they have asked me to withdraw. so is there any possibility for me to transfer into another uni for any another course to 2nd year? evntho i didnt pass 2nd year at my current uni, can i stil transfer to 2nd year at another uni? if so, is it too late now or can i do that next year?
Reply 8
el pollo diablo
I started a thread a couple of days ago asking a question relating to this but got no response, so I'll try again here.

I'm applying to university this year, to start in 2011. I already have a degree (hons), so I'll be an ELQ student. I'm applying to Welsh universities, where ELQ fees don't apply. Which fee code do I use?

I'm presuming it's still '02' as, even though I won't be eligible for a student loan and will be paying up front, I won't be paying full (international) tuition fees (and hence I'm guessing my LEA makes up the difference). Can anyone confirm this?

The only other fee code it could be is '01' but that would result in me paying the same fees as international students, and not even all English universities are charging the same for ELQ students as they are for internationals.

Thanks!
If there isn't a separate code for ELQ then I'd go for the Home/EU option, myself, but I'm no expert on this one!
Hiya,
Could someone help me out with a ucas form Q...
When I was in yr10 I selftaught an A-level and sat it externally at another school, so when I enter this on ucas do I have to enter a new centre? When I click add new centre it asks me to input the dates that I was there, whether I was parttime/fulltime...etc, but I just took the exam there.

:s-smilie: Im confused...
Reply 10
samantha411
Hiya,
Could someone help me out with a ucas form Q...
When I was in yr10 I selftaught an A-level and sat it externally at another school, so when I enter this on ucas do I have to enter a new centre? When I click add new centre it asks me to input the dates that I was there, whether I was parttime/fulltime...etc, but I just took the exam there.

:s-smilie: Im confused...
You will have to enter a separate centre for this - just enter that you were self-teaching, giving a start and finish date that covers when you took the exams. I don't think you have to enter the name of the examination centre itself now, because you presumably already have the certificate, so UCAS won't be trying to match up a result later on.
Reply 11
I am English but studying in Spain for Spanish quals. I still haven't got my ESO (gcse equiv) certificate (neither have any of my classmates). Will this be a problem if it hasn't arrived by the time I apply?
Reply 12
I'm considering applying for maths and was wondering if this plan would work.

1. Apply for Cambridge, St Andrews and Glasgow by October the 15th.
2. Wait and see what happens with these ones.
3. Either (a) If I get all rejections apply to like Aberdeen and Strathclyde or something like that OR (b) If I get offers apply to like Imperial and Warwick.

Obviously though, for this plan to work, I need to get replies to my offers in before the final deadline so I can apply to the other places in time.

Thanks for any help.
I know St Andrews waits until well after the January deadline to give out offers, don't know about the others.
(edited 13 years ago)
Reply 14
Antifazian
I know St Andrews waits until well after the January deadline to give out offers, don't know about the others.


Wonderful :s-smilie: Thanks for your help. :biggrin:
Reply 15
Cambridge interview you in December and give out offers in January. I believe Oxford get them out sooner.
Reply 16
I have had a reference from one of my old teachers and friends. I am applying as a mature student for 2011. The reference he has given me is good and complimentary but its kind of short. Is there a minimum length or do you think it will affect my application?
Reply 17
spanishguy
I am English but studying in Spain for Spanish quals. I still haven't got my ESO (gcse equiv) certificate (neither have any of my classmates). Will this be a problem if it hasn't arrived by the time I apply?
No, as long as you accurately enter the information from your results slip.
HEY.

Right, so I did a year in zoology...but I didn't like it so now i'm applying for wildlife conservation in a different university.

I haven't mentioned this in my PS but my referee has in his bit. Does it look dodgy that I haven't talked about it? It's just i've ran out of room and I don't know what to say about it...other than I sucked at it and that obviously wouldn't look that great.

So, any experts on this? Please help, as I'm hoping to send it off asap
You have no choice but to declare your year at university in the education section of the UCAS application. Whether you mention it in your PS is up to you, but you must have gained something from studying a similar subject for a year, surely?

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