UCAS (Universities & Colleges Admissions Service)

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UCAS ( Universities & Colleges Admissions Service ) is the centralized independent body that organizes the allocation of almost all first degree places in the UK. It is often equated with the Central Allocation Office for university places , but UCAS has no decision-making power about the success of an application.

Application Process - Applying to an English University

Since practically all institutions in England, Scotland and Wales are registered with UCAS, the standard procedure for applying for a British university is UCAS. To do this, the applicant fills out an application form via the Internet and fills it in with personal information, his choice of course, his grades achieved and the personal statement, a kind of application letter, which is forwarded in the same form to all 5 possible course choices. Applications must generally be submitted before January 15th (date can change!) Of the year in which the course is to begin.

Special features apply to prospective medical students: They must have applied by October 15 (date may vary) and only choose four different course options. Art and design students have until March to apply and take Route B. There (only for type and design) you have to express a preference and will be forwarded to universities according to descending preference.

At the very selective universities of Oxford and Cambridge , a slightly different procedure applies than a normal application. Oxbridge candidates can only choose Oxford OR Cambridge. An application for both universities is not permitted, as otherwise the universities would have to contend with many rejections. Furthermore, it contradicts their view, as no one recognizes the other university. In order to also enable the Oxbridge selection process (with interviews etc.), the application deadline for these courses is also October 15th.

A normal application costs £ 23 per applicant if applying for more than one course (as of 2015). There are additional fees for Oxbridge applications that have to be paid outside of UCAS.

After the application has been completed, it is first forwarded to a school employee, who then digitally attaches letters of recommendation and grades to the application. The now complete application is then sent in the same version to all 5 options, which make a decision independently of one another as to whether the candidate is accepted or not. This can also include an invitation to an interview or an open day. Final decisions are sent to UCAS and can be accessed by the applicant via the Internet.

If you have applied by January 15th, you can expect a decision by the end of March. These can either be definitive (if the required performance (e.g. A-level) has been achieved) or conditional (e.g. achieve grades AAA in the June exams - if the applicant applies before finishing school (in GB normal)).

Applicants have to react to offers by a deadline, if they have received any.

  • 1) UF (Unconditional Firm, no Insurance offer)
  • 2) CF (Conditional Firm, no Insurance offer)
  • 3) CF + UI (Conditional Firm + Unconditional Insurance)
  • 4) CF + CI (Conditional Firm + Conditional Insurance)
  • 1) If you accept a firm offer, you have committed to this course.
  • 2) You accept a conditional offer. If they meet these conditions, they are obliged to attend this course, otherwise they fall under clearing. (see below)
  • 3) You accept a conditional offer. If they meet these conditions, they are obliged to take this course, otherwise they are obliged to make a fixed offer.
  • 4) You accept a conditional offer. If you meet these conditions, you are obliged to take this course, otherwise you are obliged to a second conditional offer.

Under special circumstances (death of a friend, illness, etc.), the university may accept the candidate even if the conditions are not met (this also applies to very narrowly missed conditions).

The final inclusion will be made after the A-level results are available.

If an applicant does not have an offer before the exam results, he can apply for further courses, but can only get the places that were not used by the first series of applications.

For applicants who have not been given a place, UCAS offers courses (e.g. IT courses), which offers such a sensible option for these candidates.

Personal statement

The personal statement is an important part of the application, as it allows the institutes to assess the applicant. In this letter he should explain his motivation and skills. However, it only has 4000 characters (including spaces) and 47 lines of space. There has been some discussion lately about including a data declaration as applicants do not commit to writing this important piece themselves. This created a lively market for providers who help with writing.

Qualifications

Conditional offers are issued based on the results of the following tests:

See also

Personal statement

bibliography

  1. ↑ Courses can be chosen freely from all institutes, even for different courses at the same university. Until 1994, applicants had to assign preferences to their course choices before the university made a decision. This has not been the case since 2004 and all 5 options are treated equally, as it is also guaranteed that no university is aware of the candidate's other course choices.
  2. ^ Oxford and Cambridge Application Procedures
  3. ↑ UCAS Apply information ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ucas.com
  4. ↑ Studential guide ( Memento from October 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )

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