University portfolio help?

So I want to try and apply for animation at university next year. There are a few universities that I am really interested by but I do have concerns that I might not be able to get in. I currently do Graphic Design, History and Government and Politics at A level and have an AS in English Language and Literature. I don't do Fine Art however most of the universities are happy with some art and design based course and a strong portfolio. So I know a lot of emphasis will be on my university portfolio.

I know roughly what I want to include within my portfolio. I have some portrait work, some animal drawings (both of these are realistic. I have these in both traditional and digital media) and a design I did in Graphics which I won an award for (Really proud of this piece but it also demonstrates skills in Illustrator and Photoshop, which I know seems to be required by a few universities). I am doing an EPQ this summer which is an animatic which needs to be done by November but should be complete by the time I go for interviews at university. I am hoping to do a loop animation or two, something like a walk cycle or something and if I have the time I wanted to animate a few parts of the animatic. I was also considering doing some environment design as well, possibly.

Here are my main concerns. Any advice?

-I have no idea how to layout my portfolio. A lot of the universities want an online submission, some want a physical one. I don't know where to begin with either. How would I lay this out? Any advice?

-Sketchbooks. This seems to be something that the universities mention. My main problem is that I don't have all my work consistently in one place so different projects are likely to get muddled. Would it be ok for me to photograph the pages? A lot of these aren't loose and I am worried that some of my work might be considered too weak. For example, in my portrait work, I have some earlier versions of my work with oils but these are quite underdeveloped but in the same sketchbook as other more developed ones. Should I take the whole sketchbook and just not show the underdeveloped ones? I did have plans to have a photobook printed of my sketchbook work and have that as a supporting document to my boards or my other work.

-Life drawing? So that's something that's also mentioned a lot. I don't really have experience with that. My college doesn't offer the relevant class and even if it did it would be a struggle for me to fit in with my timetable. Is it alright to just draw people I see in life? I know some universities do say that clothed is fine. Is this something I really need to include? If I were to include this, I'd use this as a support to my portrait projects as I feel like this is where this fits in best.

Answers greatly appreciated and any other advice?
Also, I really don't know if I'm posting this in the right place.