Beginners Guide to UCAS
Setting the scene
HE provision in the UK
 300 plus UCAS institutions,

including:

4 Northern Irish HEIs

20 Scottish HEIs

280 English/Welsh HEIs
The applicant journey
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Applicant researches where to study
Registers online with UCAS Apply
Completes form and processes payment
Academic reference added by school / college
School / college sends form electronically to UCAS
UCAS processes form and forwards to chosen HEIs
HEIs submit decisions (offer or unsuccessful)
Applicant views decisions on Track
Applicant replies to offers on Track (Firm / Insurance)
HEIs confirm places when results are released
Key features of admissions scheme
 Maximum of 5 choices
 Some choice restrictions:

Medicine, Veterinary, Dentistry – max 4 choices

Oxford or Cambridge
 Simultaneous consideration
 ‘Invisibility’
 Application fee for 2014 - £23 or £12 for single choice
The electronic application cycle
 School or college registers as an online
Apply centre
 Appointed ‘Apply Coordinator’ sets up
staff and centre details and creates
buzzword
 If application contains errors
or omissions, tutor can return
form to student
 Tutor checks completed applications
within staff area and adds reference
 Completed applications are sent to
UCAS
 Student registers using buzzword and
fills in application
 Completed application is forwarded
(electronically) to tutor
School / Centre Perspective
School / Centre Perspective
 August
 Register on UCAS
website – enter personal
details
 Research potential
universities and courses
 PSE 1 – input from
Universities
 PSE 1 -Support to begin
writing personal
statement
School / Centre Perspective
 September
 All personal details entered
 Courses / universities
entered (if known)
 First draft of personal
statement completed –
Principal Teacher of
Guidance will provide
feedback
 Pay UCAS! (£23, £12 for
single choice)
School / Centre Perspective
 October
 Courses / universities
entered
 Final draft of personal
statement prepared in
light of feedback
 Final draft of personal
statement submitted
after October holiday
School / Centre Perspective
 November
 Courses / universities
confirmed
 Application completed!
 December
 Pupil receives feedback
and amends online
application (if required).
School / Centre Perspective – Key Dates
Tuesday 23rd September
Early Applicants – Personal
Statement to Mrs MacKay
Thursday 25th September
First draft of Personal Statement
submitted to Guidance Teacher
Tuesday 15th October
Deadline for early applicants
(Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary
Medicine, Oxbridge)
Friday 24th October
Final draft of Personal Statement
submitted to Guidance Teacher
Wednesday 15th January
Deadline for most courses
Tuesday 24th March
Deadline for some Art and Design
courses
Student / applicant perspective
Experiential research
 Obtain a real ‘feel’ for the institution, subject, course, career:

HE Conventions

Institution Open Days

Taster Courses

Subject specific events




Compose your Future
Design your Future
Examine your Future
Career Fairs
Filling out the application online
Getting started
 Registration only takes 10 minutes (max)
 Use the school/college ‘buzzword’
 No need to pay at registration stage
Should already have been completed in PSE
(Tuesday)
Important dates
 15 October:

Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary and Oxbridge applications
 15 January:

Deadline for all courses except those with 15 October and 24
March deadline
 24 March:

Deadline for some art and design courses
What information will I supply?
Applicants are asked to complete the following sections:
Personal Details
Additional Information (UK applicants only)
Choices
Education
Employment
Personal Statement
Having checked the above, referee will then add:
A Reference
The Personal Statement
You will write a 500 word
personal statement
What admissions staff tell UCAS they are looking for in a
personal statement
Evidence of:

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




Independent study skills
Self-awareness
Motivation and commitment
An understanding of the course
Good numeracy and literacy
Essay writing
Research skills
Time management skills
Enthusiasm to go beyond the syllabus
Supported through PSE, support from
Guidance Teacher
Top Tip – avoid ‘list addiction’
I enjoy watching football, I play netball for Fife schools, I sing in the
choir, I belong to the debating society, I am taking part in the Duke of
Edinburgh Award scheme, I work in Tesco on Saturdays and I shop
for my Granny on Monday after school.
Be selective (i.e. amplify key activities)
I have been an active member of the debating society at school for
the last three years. This has proved really interesting as I have had
the chance to research and defend viewpoints that I would normally
not agree with; an exercise which I’m sure will prove valuable as a
Law degree student.
Error ‘hot spots’

Failure to check entry requirements

Qualifications (eg. SQA results)
missing, or incorrectly named, on
form

Wrong student support fee code

Email address not verified

Ticking criminal conviction box

Forgotten to register for admissions
test

Nominated access
Once the form is submitted…
What happens next?
 UCAS sends form (simultaneously) to all choices on the
form
 Applicant may need to:

Attend an interview

Send a portfolio of work

Sit an admissions test
University and college decisions
 Admissions tutors can make one of three decisions:

Conditional Offer

Unconditional Offer

Unsuccessful
 Applicants then keep a maximum of two offers:

Firm

Insurance
 Any remaining offers must be declined
Conditional offers
Can be expressed in:
 UCAS Tariff points
305 points

 Grades
AAAB in Scottish Highers

 a combination of both
305 points, including a B in Maths

UCAS Tariff
 Points system used to report achievement
 Provides comparisons between applicants with different
types of qualifications and volumes of achievement
Highers
Tariff Points
A
80
B
65
C
50
D
36
Student / applicant perspective
School / Centre Perspective
Tracking progress
Student Track
Student Track
 Enables your students to
follow the progress of their
application (24/7, access
via password)
 Quickest way to find out
about new offers
 Students can reply to
offers
If no offers received…UCAS Extra
 Operates from 25 February to July 6
 Applicants eligible for Extra:

Used all 5 choices

All choices unsuccessful, cancelled or offers declined
 Course vacancies listed on UCAS website
 Allows additional single choices, entered and considered
one at a time
Adviser Track
Why was Adviser Track developed?
Requested by Apply Centres to:
 View applications after submitted
 Centres continue to support students

through the application process
 Communicate with groups and individuals
 Launched 2009
Confirmation (1)
1. Exam results are issued (Scottish Qualifications early August, by letter,
email or text)
2. Admissions staff check if the applicant has matched the conditions of
the offer
3. If yes, the applicant will be sent an official confirmation of their place
4. Time to celebrate!!
Confirmation (2)
Adjustment period
 What is it?
Five day window of opportunity to seek place at
another university or college
 Eligibility
Results must have exceeded CF offer and
subsequently been made UF
Clearing
The stage at which all ‘unplaced’ applicants are
finding a place at institutions that have
vacancies.
The applicant journey
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Applicant researches where to study
Registers online with UCAS Apply
Completes form and processes payment
Academic reference added by school / college
School / college sends form electronically to UCAS
UCAS processes form and forwards to chosen HEIs
HEIs submit decisions (offer or unsuccessful)
Applicant views decisions on Track
Applicant replies to offers on Track (Firm / Insurance)
HEIs confirm places when results are released
School / Centre Perspective – Key Dates
Early Applicants – Personal
Statement to Mrs MacKay
Monday 23rd September
Thursday 26th September
First draft of Personal Statement
submitted to Guidance Teacher
Tuesday 15th October
Deadline for early applicants
(Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary
Medicine, Oxbridge)
Monday 21st October
Final draft of Personal Statement
submitted to Guidance Teacher
Wednesday 15th January
Deadline for most courses
Tuesday 24th March
Deadline for some Art and Design
courses