The UCAS JourneyMaking a successful UCAS application

Alan Jones

Professional Development Team

Key features of admissions scheme

Online application and management

Lots of information and support throughout

2011 - £21 (£11 for a single choice)

Maximum of 5 choices

Some choice restrictions:

Medicine, Veterinary, Dentistry – max 4

Oxford or Cambridge

Simultaneous consideration

‘Invisibility’

Reply to offers only after all choices have

recorded decisions

HOW IT WORKS

Key dates and deadlines

Early June: applicants can register and start

to complete their application

Early September: School can start to submit

completed applications to UCAS

15 October: deadline for

Medicine, Veterinary, Dentistry

Oxford or Cambridge

15 January: main deadline

24 March: deadline for some Art & Design

30 June: deadline to be considered in main

scheme (1 July on – Clearing)

20 September: final application deadline

THEY

ARE

VITAL

Admissions testmay need to be

registered for prior to application

Art & Design courses

Used to have a separate application route (Route B)

Brought into main system in 2010

Some courses have a later (24 March) deadline

- some applicants do 1 yr foundation course before applying to university - need time to decide on specialisms and for referee to get to know them well enough to write a meaningful reference

Likely to require portfolio evidence to support application

= Research

= Applying

= Managing

Increase of application fee to £21 and £11

Online reference collection for ‘individual’ applicants

Enhancement of the criminal convictions question

Nominated access details to be available to institutions

Collection of passport details

Confirmation box

for applicants to agree that they have no qualifications

to allow applicants to provide degree level, if held

Increase of application fee to £21 and £11

Onlinereference collection for ‘individual’ applicants

Enhancement of the criminal convictions question

Nominated access details to be available to institutions

Collection of passport details

Confirmation box

for applicants to agree that they have no qualifications

to allow applicants to provide degree level, if held

Apply changes for 2011

New procedure for online references forapplicants registered

as individuals

29 September 2010

UCAS APPLICANT JOURNEY

1 2 3 4 5 6

Research

Requires: Sufficient time Resources Organisation Knowing where to look / what to look for Encouragement and support

Works best when: Systematic Methodical Thorough

Range of resources: Paper Experiential Online

Examples of research resources Paper

HEI Prospectuses Guides/ league tables UCAS published materials

Online HEI websites British Council website Specialist information sites

(e.g. www.skill.org.uk for students

with disabilities/special needs) ‘Student’ focused sites

(e.g. www.woodyswebwatch.com) Related information sites

(e.g. www.highfliers.co.uk)

UCAS websites

Conventions & Exhibitions e.g. 16-17 Nov 2010

(British Council website)

UCAS publications and publications available through UCASbooks

Little Guide Big Map UCASbooks (www.ucas.com/ucasbooks/)

Big Guide Open Days Progression Series

The Big Map

HEI locations

HEI websites

HEI contact information

Student nos.

Student body breakdown

Average cost of accomm

UCAS TV

www.ucas.tv

How to Guides 8Use the guides to get the most out of your

application

Case studies 7 Listen to other students

experiences

Video diaries 2Student accounts of

UCAS

UCAS Course Search

Which courses are offered at which institutions Open or closed for application Entry profiles EP

Specific information about course and university Guide to minimum qualifications/grades required Information about what kind of candidate Guide to the selection process Clues for writing Personal Statement Financial information (fees, bursaries etc) Headline link to unistats website

Most UK HEIs very familiar with Cyprus qualifications Some courses do require A-levels and/or English tests

Unistats website

Compare entry requirements and other

information for different subjects and

institutions

Read what over 177,000 students felt

about the quality of their higher

education experience

Find out the achievements of recent

students and discover what sort of jobs

they are doing six months after finishing

www.unistats.com

When to apply

One application per year

- give yourself plenty of time and make it the best it can be

Deadlines matter

- applications received by deadline will be considered

- applications received after deadline may be considered

- HEIs can close courses after the relevant deadline

Apply early only if absolutely sure of choices

- if only sure of some choices, either wait, or submit with sure choices

and add others later (but not able to change personal statement)

Application numbers spike around deadlines

- Admissions officers may have less time to spend with each!

What information will UCAS require?

Students are asked to complete the following sections:

Personal Details Choices Education Employment Personal Statement

First of all you need to register:

10 minute process Applicant given username Applicant creates password Applicant given Personal Identification Number (PID)

HEI decisions

UCAS processes and makes available to considering HEIs (usually within 24 – 48 hours)

Institutions consider independently ~ UCAS not involved (average waiting time 2009 was 51 days, so patience required!)

Each HEI will record a decision through UCAS unsuccessful offer

- unconditional where qualifications held

- conditional where results not yet known

Track updated and email sent to the applicant

Conditional offers

Could be made in terms of UCAS Tariff score alone

e.g. Score 320 UCAS Tariff points from qualifications to be taken this summer

Could be made in terms of grades or scores e.g. Achieve grades A, A, B in A-levels being taken summer 2011

OR

Achieve a score of 17 in the Apolytirion

Could be a mixture

e.g. Score 360 UCAS Tariff points including a grade A in A-level Mathematics

Could include further conditions e.g. Achieve B,B,C in A-levels and IELTS score of 6.5

Track

Enables you to follow the

progress of your

application (24/7, access via

password)

Quickest way to find out about

new offers

You can reply to offers online

Applicant replies

When? Decisions received from ALL choices If offer(s) made applicant asked to reply and given a date to reply

by on Track Reminders sent, but failure to reply by the reply date results in

offers being declined by default

What replies can be made? For unconditional offers

– ACCEPT

– DECLINE For conditional offers

– FIRM

– INSURANCE “What am I committing to?”

Confirmation

If conditions of a FIRM choice offer are met, applicant is

PLACED with the FIRM choice HEI

If conditions of a FIRM choice offer are not met, the HEI

could (at its discretion) still choose to confirm and the

applicant would be placed with the FIRM choice HEI

ONLY if conditions of a FIRM choice offer are NOT met

and the FIRM choice HEI does NOT confirm does the

INSURANCE choice come into play.

Extra 5 choices used – no offers held

None received Offers received but declined Choices withdrawn from

If an offer is received, replies made as in main scheme If an offer is declined or no offer is received another

EXTRA choice can be added

Ends 6 July (cannot add new choices after this)

From 25 February able to add 1 EXTRA choice Courses in EXTRA marked X in Course Search Choice added via Track HEI has 21 days to record a decision

Exam results that are NOT sent to HEIsby UCAS should be sent direct by either:

The student The student’s study centre

CONFIRMATIONWhen HEIs make

final decisions basedon applicants’ exam results

CLEARING

Clearing

Anyone who applies and pays the full application fee before 30

June and gets no offers

OR Applies after 30 June but before 20 September and pays the full

application fee

OR Applies before 30 June, gets offers but declines them all or fails

to meet conditions and doesn’t get PLACED is

AUTOMATICALLY entered for Clearing

The stage when unplaced applicants try to secure one of the places that are still available

Clearing 2011

+

Clearing: What happens when?

Some people eligible mid-July (but no vacancy list)

Track is ‘frozen’ the weekend before A-Level results

are published in mid-August

Vacancy list published on UCAS website 1 minute past

midnight the night before A-Level results are published

Track is ‘unfrozen’ the morning A-Level results are

published (always a Thursday)

Option to ‘Add Clearing Choice’ via Track appears

18.00 GMT on the day A-Level results are published

PLACED applicants and Clearing

Any applicant who has been PLACED with a university or

college has made a commitment to the HEI

No simple automatic process to get out of the commitment

ONLY option is to ask HEI to change record to a decline

i.e. be holding no offers and go into CLEARING

Applicant would have to: Contact HEI direct Explain circumstances / what they wish to do Seek HEI agreement (it is at HEI’s discretion) Ask HEI to action decline (UCAS cannot)

Adjustment

New process for 2009

For applicants whose place has been confirmed at their

FIRM choice, and who have MET all conditions of offer and EXCEEDED at least one condition

Can hold on to confirmed place while seeking a more

aspirational one for UP TO 5 DAYS MAXIMUM (Consecutive 24 hour periods - clock starts when applicant PLACED

or A-Level results day, whichever is later – end time shown in Track)

No vacancy lists2009

1600 registered 382 adjusted

Adjustment 2011

+

Questions

Alan JonesProfessional Development Officer

UCAS Customer Service Unit:

+44 (0)871 468 0 468

open Monday to Friday,

08:30-18:00 (UK time)