UCAS applications

UCAS stands for the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. It is the centralised service that all students use to apply to university. That means that anyone who wants to study an undergraduate degree in the UK has to apply through UCAS. 

You can use the UCAS website to research universities, the courses they offer and the grades you need to be predicted to achieve to apply. 

Once you've chosen what you want to study, and which universities you want to apply for, then you make one application online, through UCAS. Then the service takes your proposal to each of the universities and then they let you know whether you have been offered a place and what the conditions of that place are. 

The final stage occurs when you have achieved your A level or BTEC results and you find out through UCAS if your offer of a place at a particular university has been confirmed. 

You can start looking for courses and finding out more about different universities on the UCAS website here. 

There are hundreds of universities up and down the country and at KSA we view them in three key groups according to access type: 

Selective Universities’ targeting criteria is usually mostly 6s and above at GCSE and A levels should be between ABB-CCC for their course offers. This includes universities such as: University of East Anglia, University of Reading, and Goldsmiths University etc. 

Highly Selective Universities’ targeting criteria is usually at least three 8-9 grades at GCSE and the rest 6-7s and A levels should be between AAA-BBB for their course offers. This includes universities such as: University of Manchester, Kings College London, University of Nottingham etc. 

Super Selective Universities’ targeting criteria is usually at least five 8-9 grades at GCSE and the rest 7s and A levels should be between A*A*A*-AAA for their course offers. This includes universities such as: University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University College London etc. 

As part of the application process, you are expected to write a personal statement detailing your suitability for the course and university.  As part of this personal statement there are 3 questions you must answer:  

Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject? – show why you’re passionate about the field. 

Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject? Be reflective - explain why you've made certain choices and what you've learnt, but don’t go into lots of detail. 

Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful? 

For information on courses, applying to University, entry requirements etc: 

www.ucas.co.uk 

-To compare Universities based upon the National Student Survey results, including employment data: 

www.unistats.direct.gov.uk 

-To find out more information about careers and employers, including short video clips focussing on specific jobs and companies: 

http://www.careersbox.co.uk 

-To view the rank order of Universities for your chosen subject area: 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2011/may/17/university-league-table