Pursuing admission to undergraduate programs in the United Kingdom can be rather a mysterious business. One of the main challenges is UCAS, which was not set up with international students in mind. This guide will help you know what you need to know.
What’s UCAS?
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is the United Kingdom’s centralized online higher education application system. It processes almost 3 million applications each year from about 700,000 people for over 50,000 full-time undergraduate courses of study at the U.K.’s approximately 400 universities and colleges. If you want to go to an undergraduate program in England or Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, you will need to apply through UCAS. (The system also processes applications for many postgraduate, graduate teacher training, and performing arts conservatory programs, which involve separate but similar processes.)
When are UCAS application deadlines?
There are two main application deadlines. The first, on October 15 is a firm one, with the programs involved generally not accepting later applications. However, this deadline involves only students applying for a program at Oxford University or Cambridge University (all subjects, with application for only one program at one of the two universities allowed) and those seeking to enter medical, dental, or veterinary study (who can apply for up to four program choices).
The second deadline is January 15 for all other programs. Students who apply by that date receive program decisions and can make a choice, locking in their seat. However, many programs have additional seats remaining, with more opening up if students who have received conditional admission do not achieve adequate final grades or examination scores. Applications therefore continue, though for a shrinking number of seats. You can use the UCAS search engine to see where vacancies exist in your field.
What if I want to apply now to begin my studies in 2019?
You can still look for vacant seats. Beginning July 5 and ending October 23, UCAS moves from its regular application system to a process called “Clearing.” If you’re in Clearing, you can apply to only one program at a time and, before entering your choice in UCAS, you must contact that program to see if they will accept you.
To do that you’ll want to call the university’s Clearing phone number (available through UCAS). Have your UCAS ID and personal Clearing number as the university will need this to respond through UCAS as required. Also have the course code of the program. Be prepared to discuss what you want to study and your grades. You may be asked additional questions as well. Immediately afterwards you will get an answer as to whether you will be accepted. You can contact more than one program of interest before entering your choice into UCAS, but generally you have twenty-four hours to respond with your choice through UCAS.
What does UCAS application involve?
Whether you’re applying for 2019 or 2020, your first step will be to register to access the UCAS “Apply” section. You’ll enter your name as it would appear on your passport, create a password, and in some cases respond to a few more simple questions. If your school is a UCAS-registered center, you’ll also enter a “buzzword” that the school has given you.
The “Apply” section itself will ask you to provide the following (U.K. residents also have additional information to enter):
- Personal details: more short-answer items such as your name, e-mail, planned entry date to the U.K., planned type of funding
- Education to date: you’ll list secondary and higher education class by class as well as exam-based qualifications. You’ll also need to list tests and classes that you expect to complete before entering your U.K. program, marking those as “pending.”
- Employment experience, if any. Only include paid experience. Volunteering and internships can be discussed in your personal statement.
- Personal statement. Focus on why you chose the course(s) to which you are applying and what related skills and experience you possess. The same personal statement goes to all your UCAS choices so you won’t want to include institution-specific information. UCAS has a helpful page discussing how to get started on a personal statement.
- Fee. For 2020, UCAS application cost is £20 (currently about 425 Egyptian pounds) to apply for one program before June 30, 2020, or £25 for multiple programs or after June 30. Fees are slightly lower for 2019. You will need to pay with a credit card that can be used internationally.
- Reference: completed by your school counselor or another “referee” who can describe your academic ability and potential (in English). This referee will also need to fill in the credentials you marked as pending with “anticipated grades” that would be realistically good results for you. Note that some universities will not consider applications without anticipated grades so be sure your referee knows to provide these best guesses.
What is a UCAS-registered center, and what is the “buzzword” for?
Some schools, advising centers, and agents register with UCAS to simplify management of their students’ applications. Such centers will use their buzzword to access their students’ records, provide references and anticipated grades, and track application results. (UCAS has introduced a new “Adviser” module for 2020 applications to improve this student management.)
If you don’t have access to a UCAS-registered center, or choose not to work with one, it’s not a problem. You simply need to choose your referee and provide his or her name, telephone number, and e-mail to UCAS. UCAS will verify the e-mail and allow the referee access after you indicate that you have finished your part of the application.
The referee or UCAS-registered center will complete their sections and review the rest of your application. If they find a problem, they can send the application back to you to correct and return to them. Once they are satisfied, they “approve” the application and your program choices receive the whole package.
What are Tariff points? What if UCAS doesn’t list any point values for my educational credentials?
Tariff points were created as a way to allow easy comparison of U.K students with different educational qualifications. A number of points are assigned to different grades or results received through each qualification. A full third of UK undergraduate programs state their requirements in terms of Tariff points. However, not many international credentials are included in the Tariff system. The International Baccalaureate is one exception but the Thanaweya Amma, for instance, is not included.
Filling out the education section of the UCAS application is still possible if your qualification is not listed (choose “other” from the drop-down menu). However, you will want to contact your university choices to be sure your credentials are acceptable. Many institutions do accept other credentials even if they list their requirements in terms of tariff points.
What will the programs I select need from me to make a decision besides the UCAS application?
You’ll need to check directly with programs regarding how to provide them with transcripts and other verification of academic credentials/exam results, and what is acceptable as proof of English ability (often an IELTS test at a center approved for U.K. academic visa purposes, but some programs accept other options as well). Some programs may send an “invitation” through UCAS asking you to complete an interview or other requirement.
How will I receive admissions decisions and how do I make my choice?
You will receive decisions through the UCAS “Track” module, often within a few weeks of applying, though some programs wait to review applications until after the UCAS January 15 deadline. Acceptance decisions may be unconditional or conditional (they will often be conditional if you haven’t received final grades, for instance). By the UCAS deadline (which varies by when you were accepted) you need to respond or lose the offers. You can accept two offers maximum. Make a “firm choice” to accept an offered seat when you are ready to make a commitment to attend. If your firm choice is on a conditional offer that may not come through in the end, you will also want to make an “insurance” choice, typically for a program with less demanding requirements.
I’m ready to start! How do I decide what programs to apply to?
In the U.K., undergraduates typically begin specialized study in a particular subject right away. Therefore, in UCAS, you apply not only to an institution but to a particular major or “course” within the institution. You can explore different course subjects through the UCAS subject guides.
Once you’ve found a subject area or two that appeal, you can find where courses are available in that subject using the UCAS search tool. If you have a specific institution of interest you can enter its postal code in the search box too. Note that you have two options when looking at search results, to look at all existing programs or only those with vacancies for the given year.
Listings will give you some brief background on the particular courses, provided by the course itself. You’ll also want to visit institutional websites and perhaps also check with the institution on matters such as campus housing, especially if you’re applying late. UCAS gives some useful tips on questions to consider and links to outside sources of information.
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