Agents’ newsletter
October 2008
Update on Improvement in Agent Services
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Successful year
Agent referrals remain key to the University’s Internationalisation Strategy and so we remain committed to continuing to
improve the services we offer you. In response to the significant growth in international applications our Admissions Office
has been restructured to create a team dedicated to processing these. Two teams have been developed work with specific
countries, with Assistant Team Leader Wendy Scattergood’s team working with the Indian subcontinent, Mexico, South
America, Central Asia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Africa and Assistant Team Leader
Julie Walker’s team working with Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, Middle East, USA and Canada. The
Assistant Team Leaders will be the main point of contact for agents enquiring about the status of their applications. Please
use the following contact addresses to help fasttrack your applications and related queries: ug-ad@exeter.ac.uk for
undergradute applications and pg-ad@exeter.ac.uk for postgraduate applications. If you still use ad-agents@exeter.ac.uk
please make sure you remove this from your address lists.
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Improving our services
With this new team in place the Admissions and International Offices have agreed a new Service Level Agreement with the
aim of significantly improving on last year’s average processing time of 20 days. 80% of agent-referred undergraduate
applications will be processed within 5 days working days, 80% of online postgraduate applications in 10 working days and
80% of paper postgraduate applciations in 15 working days. These turn around times refer to the time between
acknowledging reciept of a complete application to the e-mailing of the offer decision. The variable SLA for postgraduate
applications reflect the considerable advantage to you and us in using the online system see: http://www.exeter.ac.uk/
postgraduate/admissions/applyonline.shtml. Please note that this service now includes a facility to upload and attach
supporting documents such as transcripts and references and the second field is a drop down list of our authorised agents.
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What you can do
Please note for an application to be considered complete all sections of the UCAS / PG
application form must be completed, academic transcripts must be included and at least one
reference on headed paper should be provided. In the case of UG applications the University
works solely with UCAS forms which are distributed electronically - forms which are incomplete
are therefore seriously delayed. In the case of UCAS forms and online PG applications hard
copies of supporting documents are NOT required (including sealed references which can be
opened & scanned by agents) unless specifically requested so please save the postage and
trees! To ensure that we are aware that the application is agent referred please make sure the
company name is included in the first line of the ’Correspondance’ address box.
Key dates
From next month we plan to reinstate e-mailing monthly application status reports for our
agents. This will help you to keep track of the applications you have referred as well as give you
the opportunity to inform us of any applicants you have referred who are not listed.
• 3-13 November: International Office rep visiting Turkey
• 27 October -13 November: Law rep visiting Beijing, Shanghai,
Nanjing, Wuhan
• 1-4 November: VC &
Senior Management
visiting Taiwan with
International Office
• 6-16 November: International Office rep visiting India
• 15-16 November: International Office rep
visiting Azerbaijan
International Welcome Week Success
With approximately 1500 international students starting their
studies with us this academic year, International Welcome Week
was warmly received. The International Students Welcome
Lounge was open for the week beginning 29 September with
staff and student helpers providing students with key information,
free access to internet computers and entertainment. An International Mini Squash was also
held giving students the opportunity to join one of the 17 international or faith based societies.
www.exeter.ac.uk/international
• 21-29 November: International Office rep
visiting Beijing and
Shanghai
• 24-29 November:
Sports Science rep
visiting Beijing and
Shanghai
• 12 December 2009:
Autumn term ends
Agents’ newsletter
October 2008
School of Education and Lifelong Learning to become Graduate
School
The School of Education and Lifelong Learning has made the difficult decision to become a
Graduate School and will not be recruiting any more undergraduates. Current students who are
studying an undergraduate degree in SELL will be able to continue to do so and can expect academic staffing levels as at present.
Going forward the School will be focusing instead on extending its research and expanding its
postgraduate taught programmes (including PGCE—the qualifying course for those who want to
teach in the UK) and research degrees.
New courses for 2009 entry
The University of Exeter is delighted to announce that 43 new Undergraduate and 7 new Postgraduate courses will be available to prospective students applying for 2009 entry. These
courses include 13 single honours BA degrees within the Business School which will now offer 4
year versions incorporating Industrial Experience or International Study. Click on the links below
for more information:
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Business School courses
Civil and Environmental Engineering (4 year MEng)
Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence (4 year MSci)
BSc Computer Science with Industrial Placement (4 years)
BSc Conservation Biology and Ecology with Study Abroad (4 years)
BSc Evolutionary with Study Abroad (4 years)
BSc Mathematics and Engineering
MGeog Geography (4 years)
BA Geography and Archaeology (combined honours)
MEng/BEng Materials Engineering
BSc Molecular Biology with Study abroad or Industrial Experience (4 years)
MA Archaeology and Heritage Management
MA Climate Change
MRes Earth Resources
MSc Energy Policy and Sustainability
MPA in Public Administration
MRes Renewable Energy
MSc Service Science and Management
Visa Points Based System
Agents will already be aware that the UK government is introducing a new Points Based System for immigration. New arrangements for highly skilled migrants (including post-study workers) are already in place under Tier 1 of the system, and
Tier 2 (skilled workers with a job offer) replaces work permits at the end of November.
Students come under Tier 4 of the new system which will be phased in over 2009/2010. Under the new system, student visas will be linked to specific institutions and institutions will be required to monitor attendance and
report on non-attendance and withdrawals. Agents can find information about the changes on the
Home Office website at http://www.bia.homeoffice.gov.uk/managingborders/managingmigration/
apointsbasedsystem/. Details of the phased implementation are due out this month and we will be
regularly updating agents on the new system and any changes to University of Exeter procedures
over the next few months.
Questions or concerns about the Points Based System can be addressed to Amelia Mansfield, International Student Adviser, at isa@exeter.ac.uk.
www.exeter.ac.uk/international