Higher Education & Applying for University

If you are planning to go to university or you are still unsure if university is the right step for you we hope these notes will give information on what research to carry out and how to apply.

Higher education is not only about studying for a degree. You could also study for a foundation degree or HND/HNC. There are over 50,000 courses which are run at more that 300 Universities and colleges nationwide. So, if you haven't started researching what course you want to study or which higher education institution (HEI) you want to attend, you need to start now!

 

Finding out about higher education

UCAS.com

The essential website, with complete course listings and advice on the application process.
http://www.ucas.com

Stamford Test

Many students do not know what course to study at University or college. The Stamford Test on the UCAS website is a very useful tool; this questionnaire is a way to match your interests, aptitudes and career ideas to the most suitable higher education subjects. Its fun and only takes about ten minutes, many students find this helpful when trying to make up their minds.

Open days

All universities and colleges have open days. Make use of them! We would always recommend visiting the universities and colleges that interest you.

Most students agree that attending open days helped them to make their decision and confirm what felt right for them. By making the effort to carry out this research, you can avoid the disappointment of starting a 3 year course and realising it is not what you expected.

During an open day you should get a tour of the campus and be able to check out the facilities. You will also have the opportunity to ask questions to people who are well placed to provide an insight into both the course and the HEI. You may also get the opportunity to speak with current students, which can be far more revealing than reading a prospectus.

Unistats.com

Unistats is website where you can search, review and compare information about subjects and universities. It also has feedback from current and previous students about their higher education experience.
http://www.unistats.com

If you prefer books there are directories and reference books available from the careers library.

Useful publications are

• HEAP University Degree Course Offers
• The Virgin Guide to British Universities

College Deadlines

If you are intending to apply for a place on a Degree or an HND programme, to start in October of the following year, you must complete your UCAS form on-line by 8th November 2010 at the latest. When you have finished your form it is checked over by your personal tutor and a reference is added. Applications completed after the 8th November cannot be guaranteed to reach UCAS by the closing date of 14th January 2011. All students can apply for a total of 5 courses. It is essential that you research into the courses on offer. This information is displayed on UCAS Course Search by selecting the Entry Profile (EP) of the course.

Information on fees and bursaries and financial support is also available on Entry Profiles. If you are applying for Art and Design courses you will need to make sure that you have checked the deadlines for the courses on the UCAS website. Most of the courses will have the 14th January 2011 deadline but some courses will have a later deadline of 23rd March 2011. You can apply for a mixture of deadlines; however your total number of choices will still be 5 courses.

Please note that if you are applying for Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary medicine/science or Oxford/Cambridge University, the UCAS closing date is 14th October, therefore we advise that you complete your application form by 1st October 2010 at the latest.

Our Careers Service staff can offer help to you through drop-in sessions and workshops on applying to university including support with writing personal statements.

 

The Application Process

UCAS Apply is the on-line application system you can use anywhere and anytime to complete your application to HEI's.

• At the end of your first year or the beginning of your second year a member of the careers team will visit one of your tutorial sessions to assist you with registering on the UCAS web site.
• During this session you will be provided with a Buzzword this will allow you to be identified by Solihull College on the UCAS website.
• You can apply for up to a maximum of 5 courses
• You can apply to the same University or College for more than one course apart from Oxford or Cambridge where you can only apply to one of the universities for one course.

After you have registered on the UCAS web site you will then be able to log into the web site and start completing your application form. The application form has 8 separate sections and all of them need to be completed before the form can be sent to UCAS for distribution to your university of choice.

Personal Details

Some of the information in this section will automatically be filled in with the details you entered during registration. You should check this information is correct and then continue to complete this section. UCAS will also ask for information that universities and colleges require including your nationality and any disabilities you may have.

Additional Information

UCAS will ask for additional details regarding any non-examination based activities you have done in preparation for higher education, together with other information required by universities and colleges to allow them to monitor any applications in terms of equal opportunities.

Choices

In this section you enter the information regarding the courses and HEI's you are applying to. You can enter your choices in any order as there is no preference order. UCAS will sort your choices into alphabetical order.

Education

UCAS need to know where you have studied and also which qualifications you are taking/have taken. You will first need to enter the information of the school or college you attended/are attending, and then list all the qualifications. Make sure you include all relevant qualifications, including those you have taken and those you are currently taking. A university may make you an offer based on the information you provide so make sure it is correct.

Employment

In this section you can provide information of any current or previous work experience you have.

Personal Statement

The personal statement is your opportunity to explain to universities why you are applying for the course. You need to demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment and make sure you stand out from the crowd.

The personal statement is not meant to be a life history! It is specifically about why you are applying for higher education and particularly the course you are applying.

Points to include

• Why are you interested in the course, or how you became interested in the course?
• What are you doing now that supports your interest in the course e.g. visits, work placements and anything you are reading.
• How your current studies relate to the course
• Why you want to go to university
• Any outside/social activities are important, but don't just list these. Always state what you get out of these activities.
• Whether you have any plans to use the skills and knowledge you will gain.

You have a total of 4,000 characters of text (this includes spaces) or 47 lines (this includes blank lines) whichever comes first. You do not have to use all the space provided.

We would suggest typing your personal statement in a word processing programme and then copying and pasting it on to the UCAS web site. This is because after 35 minutes the UCAS web site will time out and you will lose all your work.

Finally each personal statement submitted to UCAS is added to a library of statements. UCAS have a computer programme that will check statements against those in the library to see if they are the same or similar. Make sure your statement is your own work as copying your friends could have disastrous consequences!

Reference

Your application requires a reference from your course tutor. As you will be applying through the college your tutor will complete this section for you.

Pay/Send

This is the final section of the form and you will only be able to access it once you have completed all the other sections. To pay for your application you will need either a credit or debit card. The cost of applying for September 2010 entry if you are applying for more than one course is £19. If you are only applying for one course it is £9. If you only apply for one course and then wish to add another you will have to pay the remaining £10.

After you have paid you can then click send. Your application will then be sent to your course tutor who will check it over and attach the reference. When your tutor has done this and is happy with your application it will be sent to UCAS.

 

Track

When you have completed you application and it has been sent to UCAS you can keep track of any offers made to you from HEI's in Track. To log into track you will need you personal ID number plus the user name and password you used when logging into complete you application form.

 

Extra

If you have applied through UCAS and are not holding any offers, you may be able to apply through Extra for another course. Extra allows you to apply to courses with spaces between the end of February and the end of June. You apply for one course at a time through the track section of the UCAS web site.

 

Clearing

Clearing is an opportunity for applicants who haven't managed to secure a place at university or college for the current year. It begins in august and is a chance for applicants to find a place on a higher education course. If you have not met the conditions of your offers clearing is a chance for you to find an alternative place on a higher education course.

For further information on higher education please come and see a member of the careers team. Alternatively there is more in-depth information on the UCAS web site about the application process.