University of Sussex
Postgraduate Apply Online
Guide for Agents
Weblink: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/pgapplication/agency/
Email: agentsapplications@sussex.ac.uk
Contents
Creating New Applicants
Searching for Courses
The Application Form
Personal information
Address
Education and Qualifications
English Language
Experience
Other Information including Finance
References
Monitoring
Passport and Visa
Declaration
Tracking the Application
Housing
All applications are now submitted online, more than 50,000 applications have been received online since it
was launched.
This ensures a faster application process, as applications can be submitted easily, the complete application
is received by the Admissions Office more quickly and the offer letter can be seen and accepted instantly.
You can now give your students read-only access to enable them to track the application’s progress too.
Creating New Applicants
Log in to your online application account via www.sussex.ac.uk/pgapplication. If you have forgotten your login details or need them reset, please contact agentsapplications@sussex.ac.uk.
The Home page will enable you to search for your previous applications or create a new applicant:
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When Adding a new applicant, you are required to provide the following information:
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Title: Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms
First names: Exactly as it/they appear on their passport
Surname/Family name: Exactly as it/they appear on their passport
Domicile on entry: The applicant’s current domicile
E-mail address: The applicant’s personal email address. The university will not contact the student directly
but they will receive copies of some emails (confirming when they have received an offer, for instance). The
personal email address also acts as an identifier where applicants have the same name and DOB.
(If the applicant has studied at Sussex before) the applicant’s surname at that time: If applicable, if not, leave
this blank.
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When you create a new application/search for an existing record, you can use any of the search boxes to
locate a specific applicant or search ‘@’ to generate a list of all of your applicants. The blue box will show the
Applicant Number, after submission.
Click on the green arrow to select the applicant and, to begin the application process, press ‘Search and
Apply’:
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Searching for a Course
Use the ‘Postgraduate Course Search’ facility to select the course that the applicant requires. It is possible to
use the A-Z list, search from a drop down list of subject areas or type a keyword into the text box.
Use the Filtering Options to limit the list according to Mode of Attendance (full time or part time), Level and
Point of Entry – this will make it easier to find the specific course that you are looking for.
A list of relevant courses will be generated, select the correct course by pressing Apply’.
If there is no Apply option, the reason should be shown when you press the ‘information’ button. It is not
possible to apply online for certain course or courses may have closed.
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When the course has been selected, this will appear on the Home page. It is possible to remove the course by
pressing ‘Delete’ or start the application form by pressing ‘Apply’.
If an applicant wishes to apply for more than one course, it is possible to press ‘Search and Apply’ again. It is
only possible to apply for up to 3 courses.
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The Application Form
The Checklist
In order to submit the application form, you are required to complete every section of the Checklist. This
enables you to track the progress of the application and ensure that all the required information has been
supplied.
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Personal Details
This section must be completed first, before completing the other sections of the form. This is because the
applicant’s nationality is required in order to answer questions throughout the application. It is important that
all required personal details are provided and that they are accurate.
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Addresses
2 addresses need to be provided for applicants. The ‘Home Address’ should be the applicant’s personal
address, the university will not write to the student at this address but it is required for our records.
Your office address should automatically appear as the ‘Correspondence Address’, please contact
agentapplications@sussex.ac.uk if the address needs updating or does not appear.
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Education and Qualifications
This section has been improved to differentiate between students with UK qualifications and students with
non-UK qualifications. This is to help us contact students about appropriate funding opportunities, if
available. Therefore, it is important that you are accurate when providing the details of any Higher Education
qualifications that the applicant has taken/is taking.
Adding qualifications for International (Overseas) Institution attended
This section will default to International (Overseas) Institution, you can switch to a UK qualification by clicking
on the blue text:
Qualification: Please provide the specific title of the award – i.e. ‘Bachelors Degree’, Associate Degree, ‘Pre
Masters’.
Class or Grade (CGPA): Provide this, where the overall result has already been received.
Description: This is not mandatory but can be used to explain more about the course, list specific modules or
provide information about prizes/awards won.
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Adding qualifications for UK Institution attended
This section will default to International (Overseas) Institution. When an applicant holds a qualification from a
UK University, switch to a UK qualification by clicking on the blue text and complete the drop-down boxes, as
appropriate:
All information saved in this section will be displayed in a text box, where you can edit, delete or add
supporting documents:
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English Language
Applicants must indicate whether their first language is English. Where an applicant’s first language is not
English, there are 3 options available:
o
o
o
Applicants with no evidence of English language
Applicants with a recognised secure English language test
Nationals of specific countries
Applicants with no evidence of English language
If the applicant has not taken a recognised English language test or they have made an appointment to take
one in the future, please select ‘None taken’ from the drop down list. When the test result is received, please
send it to the university at pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk quoting the Sussex Applicant number.
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Applicants with a recognised secure English language test
If the applicant has taken a test that is included in the list of recognised tests, please select this. Where
appropriate, please provide the score(s) achieved, the date taken and the test reference number if applicable.
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Nationals of specific countries
For nationals of some countries, including India and Nigeria, we may accept the applicant’s school leaving
qualifications as evidence of their English language ability. If the applicant’s nationality suggests that we
might be able to accept this, please select the qualification from the drop down list.
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Relevant Experience
Applicants are invited to provide information about work experience; however, it is possible to indicate if they
do not intend to provide this by ticking the box (see below). Work experience is not a requirement for most
degrees at Sussex but if the applicant has relevant experience that may enhance their application, they can
provide it here.
It is useful if a CV can be attached in the ‘Supporting Documents’ section at the end of the application.
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Academic Interests, Personal Statement and Research Proposal
If applying for a Taught course (ie. MA, MSc, Diploma), applicants must provide a personal statement. This
can be attached as a Word document or, if it is less than 200 words, typed into the text box:
Postgraduate Research applicants (ie. MPhil, PhD), should attach a research proposal. Advice about writing a
research proposal can be found on the Doctoral School website: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/doctoralschool/.
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Research applicants can also include a personal statement to provide additional information, if they wish:
o
It is possible to indicate a preferred supervisor here. Or, if the student has had contact with a
member of academic staff, naming them here.
o
Please indicate in this section if the applicant intends to join Sussex for only part of the course, as a
Visiting student. This option is only available to Research students.
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Other Information
This section contains questions about Finance and non-mandatory marketing questions. The only information
that you are required to provide is how the applicant will be funding their studies, this is in the form of a drop
down box.
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The Marketing information section is not mandatory but provides useful background that will be passed on to
our recruitment and marketing colleagues.
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References
It is possible to submit references for an applicant in the following ways:
o The University will contact the referee by email to request it
o Attach the reference to the online application form and submit it with the application
Supplying an email address for referees is not mandatory. However, if you do provide an email address, the
university will automatically send a reference request to the referee.
If you are attaching the reference to the application yourself, do not provide a referee email address.
When the referee details have been submitted and saved, you will be able to either upload a document or
send the reference request email. If the reference request is not received by the referee, you can log back in
and ‘re-send email’.
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Supporting Documents
The Supporting Documents section will summarise all documents that have been attached to the application.
If you wish to add more documents, you can do so here. You are advised to include a CV, where available.
If an applicant has studied in the UK previously, please upload any previous Tier 4 visa they may have
received.
Or, if they do not require a visa, please provide evidence here (i.e a British passport or indefinite leave to
remain)
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Monitoring
Applicants must confirm whether they have/have not got any criminal convictions, this question is mandatory.
Please supply information about any disabilities or special needs the applicant may have. If the applicant has
no disability, leave the disability section blank. This part is not mandatory, so the section can still be saved.
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Passport and Visa
Where an applicant would require a visa to study in the UK, all details must be input exactly as they appear on
their passport. It is mandatory to confirm whether a visa will be required to study in the UK.
If a visa will be required, please provide the applicant’s passport information here. This information can be
input later in the process, but it will not be possible to accept any offer until this information has been
received. Please ensure that this is input carefully and accurately.
If an applicant has studied in the UK previously, please also upload any previous Tier 4 visa they may have
received.
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If their nationality suggests that they should require a visa to study at Sussex, but you have indicated
that they do not need a visa, you will be required to explain why and provide evidence.
If this has been a mistake, you can updated this in the personal details section at the top of the
checklist.
If they do not require a visa, please provide evidence here (i.e copies of their British passport or indefinite
leave to remain)
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Declaration
We have introduced a declaration that must be read and confirmed before any application can be submitted. This
confirms that all information provided by or on behalf of the student is true, accurate and complete.
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Tracking the Application
Once every section of the checklist has a green tick, you can submit the application.
Receipt of the application is confirmed by an email, a copy is also sent to the applicant. Once the application
is submitted, it is not possible to change or add any information to the application apart from address
information. If the passport details change or you need to make amendments after the application has been
submitted, you must email these to pg.applicants@sussex.ac.uk
You can monitor the progress of your application(s) by logging in to your account.
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You can now give your students read-only access to enable them to track the application’s progress too.
Please ask them to visit the following link and send a ‘Reset Password Request’ to the personal email
address that you have used to create the account:
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/pgapplication/reset_pwd_request.php
This will enable them to view the account only.
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If an offer is made, you will be notified by email that the offer letter is now available to view/print online. An
email will be sent to the applicant to confirm that an offer has been made and they must contact your office
for further details.
The Home page will show all applications relating to the applicant. You can view the status of each
application and monitor the receipt of references.
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Once the offer letter has been read, you can Accept or Decline the offer. In order to accept the offer, you must
check the box to confirm that they have read the offer letter. As it is only possible to accept one offer, any
other accepted offers are automatically declined when a new offer is accepted.
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If the applicant requires a visa to study in the UK and you have not yet supplied the required passport
information, you will be prompted to provide it:
It will not be possible to accept the offer until this information has been received:
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After the offer has been accepted, it is still possible to view the offer letter and check the status of the
references.
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Housing
When we begin accepting housing applications, usually starting in April, you will be able to log back in to the
online application to apply online. We will notify you by email as soon as the Online Housing Application is
available.
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If you have further questions about PG Apply Online, please contact
agentsapplications@sussex.ac.uk
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