Did anyone else&#x27;s college/school have a ucas application deadline?

It's pretty normal. They have a lot of UCAS forms to check, attach references and send off. They can't do these things in an instant, hence why it's necessary to have the deadline.

Reply 4

Origami Bullets

Original post by arson_fire

I would love to see them try to enforce that policy! It`s about time some of these teachers wound their necks in and learned their place.

Their place is to help students get into uni. However, if everyone was to not submit their ucas form until 14th January, then there's no way they could process them all, so some people would miss the deadline and probably wouldn't be able to go to uni that year.

It's for your own good.

Reply 5

Origami Bullets

Original post by arson_fire

Actually, I thought their place was to provide an education to their students - regardless of whether they are going to university or not.

I can understand they don`t want to be swamped but i can`t agree that they can make an arbitrary decision just to make their life easier.

They have many jobs, but in this context their job is to get people into university. If you aren't going to uni, then internal UCAS deadlines are irrelevant to you.

The deadline isn't just there to make their own lives easier (though they have every right to make such a deadline) it's to make it possible to let everyone to apply to uni.

Reply 6

Malevolent

Mine did they always said before December but only 30 percent of the year kept to that because we know thats not the official deadline, so they extended it :lol:

Reply 7

Kvothe the Arcane

20

Mine does. Let's call Fri 13th Sept Fr1, and the following Fri, Fr2 and successive Fris Frn
Iirc
Started Fr1 (Oxbridge/medicine)
Fr2 (other AAA+ courses)
Fr3 (AAB/ABB courses)
Fr3(BBB/BBC courses)
Fr5(CCC/other)
Pretty much like that although it might have differed slightly...

Reply 8

The Empire Odyssey

21

Original post by arson_fire

What about someone who is not sure about applying and needs some time to think about it, but decides over the Christmas break they do want to go. They have every right to apply through UCAS but the school is not making it possible for them to apply.

What happens in our school is that we get told about uni through the 'transition stages of A-levels'. So from June, when we return to study A2 and we are then bombarded to start looking at uni courses, grades, subjects we want to study and our personal statements.

If someone doesn't know whether they want to go to uni or not they are supported through our Sixth Form Adviser, who helps them with job applications, apprenticeships or Higher Educational stuff at college and etc.

So then, they have the whole six weeks over summer to do this AND do the uni things as well, then it's fair on them.

If they haven't made a decision, they will either apply for uni, but do the "Defer" thing (without telling the uni's) and still apply just in case. This is a 5% thing, as most students get persuaded by their friends to just apply without the defer.
But, if they are still unsure, they can carry on their wishy-washy thinking, but their Personal Statements are obviously put at the back of the queue since people who are definite and have done their PS beforehand, the Sixth Form adviser puts their's first because it would be unfair to hold theirs back because some people that are indecisive.

Reply 9

The Empire Odyssey

21

Original post by arson_fire

That sounds fair enough.

But you do still have the right to apply for a university place until January 14th, and I can`t agree with schools that remove that just to make their life easier.

Yeah, our school allows you do that, but because there's like 150 of us and one Sixth Form Adviser who also repeatedly checks PS about 5 times over and sometimes less, but most likely more than that about 120 times is draining and time consuming. Also, she has to make sure Year 12's are registered for their 'Private Study' and not skipping it. She also has to sort out people who are applying for jobs and etc.

Then there's the teachers who are very busy with their other classes, especially GCSE and AS level classes. Some teachers may have other responsibilities such as being second in command in their department, head of a KS, a literacy/science/maths coordinator and setting targets, reports, marking assessments and planning and all the rest. So teachers are just as busy so it doesn't give them much time, which is why they would want to do it fair quickly so the workload or the extra workload does not get heavier.

Reply 10

htr5

7

Original post by arson_fire

Actually, I thought their place was to provide an education to their students - regardless of whether they are going to university or not.

I can understand they don`t want to be swamped but i can`t agree that they can make an arbitrary decision just to make their life easier.

Raise your concern with your school, in fact, I think you should address every school in the country.

Reply 11

jc20

2

My college's deadline is this Friday so everyone's getting busy trying to give theirs in! :smile:

Reply 12

Original post by Cool_JordH

Yeah, our school allows you do that, but because there's like 150 of us and one Sixth Form Adviser who also repeatedly checks PS about 5 times over and sometimes less, but most likely more than that about 120 times is draining and time consuming. Also, she has to make sure Year 12's are registered for their 'Private Study' and not skipping it. She also has to sort out people who are applying for jobs and etc.

Then there's the teachers who are very busy with their other classes, especially GCSE and AS level classes. Some teachers may have other responsibilities such as being second in command in their department, head of a KS, a literacy/science/maths coordinator and setting targets, reports, marking assessments and planning and all the rest. So teachers are just as busy so it doesn't give them much time, which is why they would want to do it fair quickly so the workload or the extra workload does not get heavier.

I think you would be my favourite pupil irl. Thanks for seeing the bigger picture. Processing a Ucas form takes a long time, because there are several layers of approval which the student doesn't see, and if all 150 of you left it until Jan 14th, nobody's would get done. It's simply a matter of time.

To the others complaining that their school is 'preventing them going to university', I'd say firstly you should take responsibility for getting your act together and secondly, your school is highly unlikely to refuse to process your application after the internal deadline, but they have to have some means of getting students galvanised into action without the aid of a big stick. Be adults about it.

Reply 13

Original post by arson_fire

Why not show the students these layers, and show them why it takes so long to process? Explain to them why they need to get their forms in sooner rather than later, and get their cooperation rather than just setting an arbitrary date with little explanation. Treat them like adults and give them some responsibilty.

Well, at the school where I teach, we do do all that. I can't speak for yours, of course, but we make every step of the process crystal clear. There are always those students who don't listen, of course, but we are lucky in having very few of these, because the majority are adult enough to see that it's in their interests to follow the guidance without having it spelled out for them in letters a mile high. It isn't rocket science, after all.

Reply 14

PC2852

10

Mine is by mid December, but I'm 99 percent sure that doesn't mean you can't go to uni next year, it just means you have to apply independently.

Reply 15

Original post by PC2852

Mine is by mid December, but I'm 99 percent sure that doesn't mean you can't go to uni next year, it just means you have to apply independently.

I'm 99% sure they will put it through for you, but are saying this to make sure people get a move on, but I could be wrong. Given that schools are closed from, on average, 20th Dec to 6th Jan and it takes around a week to do all the checking and get the head's approval and so forth, anyone putting theirs in after about 16th of Dec is going to be facing a delay of 3 or 4 weeks before it goes off, because the staff simply aren't there to do it, and anything wrong cropping up in that time could see it actually being delayed beyond the Jan 15th deadline. They are being 'cruel' to be kind.

Reply 16