The Student Room Group

University S5

Hey,
Basically I'm thinking to leave school this year and either do Journalism or Primary teaching at Uni, the thing is, the school isnt helping me very much :/ Can someone please explain these things to me:
What is UCAS
Why are S5s discouraged from applying for Uni
What are the benifits and disadvantages of this

Thanks :biggrin:

Ps: I'll only be 17 when I go

Scroll to see replies

Original post by aroy45
Hey,
Basically I'm thinking to leave school this year and either do Journalism or Primary teaching at Uni, the thing is, the school isnt helping me very much :/ Can someone please explain these things to me:
What is UCAS
Why are S5s discouraged from applying for Uni
What are the benifits and disadvantages of this

Thanks :biggrin:

Ps: I'll only be 17 when I go


Hi there. :smile: I applied in S5 and I am now going in September. UCAS is the University and College Admissions Service and it is a government funded organisation which deals with everything to do with applying, receiving offers, sending your results to universities and sending you important documents like unconditional offer letters and other things like that. You apply directly to them, you don't apply to the universities you want to go to directly. In your application you put in general information like your name, date of birth, phone number, as well as the qualifications you have received as well as the qualification you have yet to receive (your highers in this case). You then write a personal statement (with a limit of 4000 characters iirc). Then you get one of your teachers to give you a reference and they put it on your application electronically and then you send it away to UCAS to be processed and then it is then sent to the universities you want to apply to. It costs £21 I think. Since you are with a school you would have to apply with your school rather than independently. You have 5 choices to fill up on your application. I might have forgotten something but that is basically the gist of it. And the deadline is around the 15th of January.

As for your second question I'm not sure. Maybe schools like to keep as many people onto S6 as possible as it fills courses and keeps jobs? Maybe they think that most people in S5 aren't ready to go to university at the end of it and would benefit from another year at school to mature more? What your school thinks of you leaving to go to university after S5 is not important and their opinions shouldn't make you hesitate about doing what you want to do. If you want to go to university after S5 then you go and do that. :smile:

The benefits of going to university early?

You finish your degree earlier than your peers and you enter employment quicker.

You will be able to get stuck into the subject(s) you enjoy the most instead of having to study subjects that you might not like at secondary school.

Independent learning.

Sixth year can be a bit of a wasted year for some and it can be boring. By going to uni you won't have to do that.

You will be around people that have a similar passion for your subject.



Disadvantages?

If you move away to go to university it will be hard but that is the same really for people in S6.

It is a stressful year as you will be doing UCAS and studying hard.

You don't get an extra year to mature, but that shouldn't be a problem if you are already mature.

First year of university might be hard as you won't have developed some of the skills that you might have developed doing advanced highers or more highers.



I hope this helps. :smile:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 2
If you want to do primary teaching, you will need work experience otherwise it is a no go I think.
Your school will help you alot once you are in 6th year to do your UCAS application.
Id recommend to stay until the end of 6th year. Work hard and get the grades in 5th year then just relax for 6th year :tongue:
Original post by aroy45
Hey,
Basically I'm thinking to leave school this year and either do Journalism or Primary teaching at Uni, the thing is, the school isnt helping me very much :/ Can someone please explain these things to me:
What is UCAS
Why are S5s discouraged from applying for Uni
What are the benifits and disadvantages of this

Thanks :biggrin:

Ps: I'll only be 17 when I go


Since UCAS has already been explained, I shall not bother re-explaining it :tongue:.

S5s are discouraged from applying to uni for a few of reasons. The first is that there are so many people staying on to S6 that there aren't enough hours in the day to write the references and do the personal statements and stuff. Another is that with all the work you need to do in S5, especially if you're doing 5 highers, there is already a lot of stress and work in your life, and having to stress about personal statements, and taking days off for open days and interviews (for teaching) just isn't a good idea. If you applied to 5 universities, and got 5 interviews, and had visited all 5 beforehand, you'd end up missing 10 days of school, which is not good when you have to do really well in your exams.
Also, in S6 you get more time to do work experience etc. because you usually do fewer subjects, and if you don't have experience, you won't get into teaching. When I was applying, I had to work my bum off just to get enough experience to get interviews, and in the interviews they would ask about the experiences you'd had and what was good/bad etc. and the more experience you've got, the easier it is.
Plus, if you are applying in S5, you will get a conditional at best. Some universities will give interviews based on predicted grades in the first instance, at one university I applied to, you either had to be holding an A at Higher or be predicted one in order to have your personal statement read, after all those with an A or predicted an A were put into the interview or non-interview pile, those with a B were looked at, then those predicted a B... so other than it being harder to get an interview, you will then have the added pressure from knowing that you have to get certain grades in your exams. At least if you wait until S6, you know whether you'll be likely to get an unconditional before you apply.

The biggest benefit of applying in S5 would be that you get a second chance while you're still in school, and that you'd get the experience of interviews if you didn't get in first time. And you wouldn't have to put up with school for that extra (and usually pointless) year.

The disadvantages would be that you're not 18, which would limit what you could do in Freshers' etc. since you won't get into clubs and stuff. Plus, you'd be less mature than most others at university, and so would have less experience, I found sixth year to be really good for loads of stuff, even if I only did 2 subjects an an OU module - I spent time working in a school, helping in classes and spending time with friends doing absolutely nothing of importance in the library, just because we could :biggrin: it really did give me a confidence boost and showed me that I really did want to teach, and it wasn't just me picking the 'easy' subject at university, as my parents have put it several times in the past :tongue:. And obviously, the lack of assistance from the school would be a disadvantage, as would missing out on leavers' balls and yearbooks and stuff.

And that's all I can think of at the moment :smile: Except that I did think of applying in fifth year, but then realised how much work would go into the application process for UCAS. If I hadn't have had all my free periods in sixth year, I don't know when I'd have found the time to do it all! It took hours with the school librarian to sort out my personal statement because it was so long (I do far too much in life according to him). If I'd not have had that time, I don't think I'd be going to university to be honest. I'm really glad I stayed at school for S6, it was pretty worthwhile in the end :smile:
Reply 4
You are discouraged from applying to university from S5 as teachers often feel you are less likely to be mature enough and have enough on your plate already - I think the school also benefits from being able to say X number of pupils made to S6 and got X number of qualifications.

I went to university at 17 even after S6 and though Freshers week was a bit crappy I still had a good social life before I turned 18 - so age would not be much of an issue - though I am aware I grew up a lot during S6.

Advantages of applying now:
You know the fees situation for next year (while the government has a promise it may well be threatened)
You avoid wasting a year in S6 when you'd rather be at uni
You probably aren't at too much of a disadvantage - my brother is applying for engineering and he was told half the intake is probably from S5

Disadvantages:
Less work experience for Primary Teaching than others
Can't say you are on sixth year committee, head team/prefect/house captain, help out in younger class like those applying from S6
Universities may well like you to have done S6 for maturity reasons for teaching
Me and other friends who were 17 seemed to find moving away a lot harder than our older counterparts from England/NI - though this might just be in my circle of friends


If your guidance department does not wish to help you, ask your head of year or equivilant - signing up for UCAS is not that complicated but you need to make sure teachers write you a reference and advise you on your personal statement.
Reply 5
Bumping for you ¤smiles¤
Reply 6
Original post by aroy45
Hey,
Basically I'm thinking to leave school this year and either do Journalism or Primary teaching at Uni, the thing is, the school isnt helping me very much :/ Can someone please explain these things to me:
What is UCAS
Why are S5s discouraged from applying for Uni
What are the benifits and disadvantages of this

Thanks :biggrin:

Ps: I'll only be 17 when I go


I just have one point to make, if you apply in S5 then you cannot get into ANY English universities (except Newcastle). :smile:
Original post by dbou
I just have one point to make, if you apply in S5 then you cannot get into ANY English universities (except Newcastle). :smile:


That is not true. Two quick UCAS course searches for journalism and primary education show that many of the universities listed say that highers are "acceptable on its own & combined with other qualifications".
Original post by chr1stopher11
That is not true. Two quick UCAS course searches for journalism and primary education show that many of the universities listed say that highers are "acceptable on its own & combined with other qualifications".


You're right that a surprising number of English universities will accept Highers. I'm not sure if that would be a good idea in some cases - e.g. I can imagine going from Higher to English first year maths could be a real struggle at any mid-tier or better university. Independently, however, some universities officially won't take you if you're not 18 within x months of matriculation.
Reply 9
Original post by chr1stopher11
That is not true. Two quick UCAS course searches for journalism and primary education show that many of the universities listed say that highers are "acceptable on its own & combined with other qualifications".



Original post by TheUnbeliever
You're right that a surprising number of English universities will accept Highers. I'm not sure if that would be a good idea in some cases - e.g. I can imagine going from Higher to English first year maths could be a real struggle at any mid-tier or better university. Independently, however, some universities officially won't take you if you're not 18 within x months of matriculation.


Turns out i'm completely wrong, sorry for that :smile: I will edit my statement to "Without Advanced Highers it is unlikely you will get into a uni or course that is equivalent to what your Highers would get you in Scotland." 5 A's would get you an unconditional to St Andrews for maths, but it wouldn't get you into Bristol.
Is the Primary Education course the same in England as in Scotland then? Even though the curriculum in each country is different? I thought the Scottish universities were focussing on CfE a lot, whereas the English ones will focus on whatever they do in primary schools...
What do you mean the same? Some bits will only vary as much as they would vary between universities, some bits - as you've rightly pointed out - will be radically different. For a concrete example, I remember there being much talk of different approaches to teaching English to primary-age children in the two countries - we used phonics and they didn't, or vice versa.
I mean, can someone who went to university in England come to Scotland for their probationary year and vice versa? Or go to the other country as soon as they qualify?
As far as I'm aware, no.
So not being able to apply to an English university wouldn't be an issue then :smile:
Unless you wanted to teach in England :p:
Fair point... but free tuition in Scotland makes it cheaper to stick around :tongue:
I'm in the same situation, although I'm hoping to study French and Classics (or French and Creative Writing, depending on the university). It's interesting to see everyone's opinion on the topic. I would say if you are sure you want to go next year, make sure you visit the universities you hope to attend and speak to people within them to find out what's involved. Also try to speak to people who have been at the end of S5 - it's a real eye-opener. Of course I can't give advice from experience, as I too am applying this year and don't have any anecdotes thus far about application processes etc., but if you are sure that this is what you want to do, go for it, and don't let anybody tell you you can't. Do your work experience and find ways to show the university that YOU are best for the position. That'll be the hardest, fighting it out with candidates who may have multiple AHs. Prove to them that you will be best.
Hope I helped (in some way at least, and my waffle hasn't confused you more).

P.S.: Which universities are you interested in applying to???
Reply 18
Original post by InkingTheSky
P.S.: Which universities are you interested in applying to???


I'm looking to head to Edinburgh, well that's the dream anyway! Tbh, I'll go anywhere I can get a place!
Original post by aroy45
I'm looking to head to Edinburgh, well that's the dream anyway! Tbh, I'll go anywhere I can get a place!


I'm exactly the same haha :smile: Edinburgh looks amazing I'm already signed up for the open day, but I'm going to apply basically everywhere that offers French just to make sure I get something. Not chancing having to stay another year at High School.

Quick Reply

Latest