Applying for Degree Courses

It is often assumed that all applicants automatically apply only for university places. This is not so. Everyone is different, not only in their attitudes towards higher education but also in the subjects they wish to study, where they wish to study and what their ultimate career targets may be.

You must therefore consider all aspects of your application including your objectives and in particular your abilities.


Your success or failure in obtaining a place will be largely determined by your exam results and also by your projected grades at 'A' Level as shown on your referees' report.

This is why a careful strategy is needed. Never assume you will get the place you want at the institution you want. YOU MUST CONSIDER ALL THE ALTERNATIVES.

How can you do this?

1. Choose your course and check the prospectuses of each university, polytechnic and college offering the course.
   
2. Having decided which institutions offer interesting courses then refer to The Complete Degree Course Offers. This reference lists the courses offered in all universities, polytechnics and colleges and provides information on the selection policies adopted, including the level of offers made to applicants, interview questions and many other aspects which concern your chances of an acceptance.

Obtain advice from your 'A' Level subject tutors concerning the grades you could achieve in the examinations. In this way you can judge your chances of being considered by the university, polytechnic or college of your initial choice. If your chances don't look too hopeful, consider those other institutions which might seriously consider you.

Universities are generally more popular than other institutions and because of this their offers are usually the highest. The basis of any application strategy however is to cover yourself in case your 'A' Level grades don't match the offers made by your universities. All universities set their grades against the number of applications and the number of places available; thus the more popular the institution the higher the offer.

In short, universities are more popular than polytechnics and polytechnics are more popular than Colleges and Institutes of Higher Education. The most popular institutions, however, must never be regarded necessarily as the 'best'. In the case of law courses, most institutions are offering the same type of course and only the optional subjects are likely to differ between one institution and the next. The most popular institutions are usually those located in popular geographical areas such as Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, Durham, Exeter, Warwick and Nottingham which attracts many students because of its campus. Similarly, polytechnics in Oxford and Bristol are also very popular - again because of their location.

Your strategy must be to make sure that you include on your application forms some institutions which may make you lower offers. In this way you will cover yourself against a poor exam result.

In addition to exam results, however, some admissions tutors place quite a lot of importance on interviews. Interviews come in all 'shapes and sizes'. Sometimes it will be a straightforward 'one to one' interview. In other cases you may face two, three or even (rarely) four interviewers.

In the case of law interviews, however, admissions tutors will expect you to be 'well read': to be familiar with current legal issues and in prominent law cases which have aroused much public discussion.

(The Complete Degree Course Offers also lists the questions which have been asked in past years and whilst interviews will vary from year to year you will be able to judge what admissions tutors expect you to know.)

Application

The next stage is equally important - submitting your applications - and for those aiming for careers in law there are three main alternatives.

1. For universities (and some colleges) applications are submitted through the UCCA scheme.
   
   
2. For polytechnics (and some colleges) the PCAS scheme applies. (There is one application form for both these schemes).
   
   
3. For other colleges, which are not in either of these schemes (e.g. Holborn

College), applications are made direct to the college concerned.

Once you have decided on the course of study you wish to follow (and if you are applying to universities) you must check the subjects required by the university and also by the Faculty or Department of the university.

There are two types of entry requirements: general requirements and course requirements.

General Requirements

Each institution stipulates certain GCSE (or equivalent) subject requirements for all their courses, irrespective of whether or not these are arts, science or social science courses. ('AS' Level, 'AO' Level or 'A' Level passes are also acceptable instead of GCSE Grades A-C or 'O' Level passes.)

(Check with university and polytechnic prospectuses that you have the right general requirements for your chosen course at the institution to which you intend to apply).

'A' Levels, 'AS' Levels, GCSE (or equivalent)

Minimum entry requirements by way of the numbers of 'A' Levels, 'AS' Levels and GCSE subjects are also stipulated by each university. In the majority of cases most students will automatically qualify because of the subjects being taken in these examinations. It is, however, wise to check these requirements, particularly if you only achieved Grade A-C passes in a small number of subjects at GCSE or equivalent. For example, the minimum entry requirement at all universities is that of two 'A' Level passes and three Grade A-C passes in the GCSE exams. These passes must be in different subjects.

Course Requirements

Many different subjects are offered at 'A' Level - including several subjects of a vocational nature such as Accountancy, Art, Business Studies, Theatre Studies, Communication Studies and Psychology, Music, Home Economics, Engineering Drawing and Technology.

Many university courses have a very strong academic (non vocational) bias, the purpose of the course being to provide you with a broad 'education' and not a 'training' for a specific job, and consequently universities often tend to prefer the purely academic subjects such as English, Geography, History, Religious Studies, Languages and Science subjects. For certain courses, therefore, they may not accept the more vocational 'A' Level subjects. CHECK THE LIST OF APPROVED SUBJECTS IN THE PROSPECTUS.

It must also be noted that some 'A' Level subjects are similar in subject matter, such as Art and the History of Art, and Law and Constitutional Law, and these subjects may only be counted as one 'A' Level, even though you may have chosen them as two separate subjects, for exam purposes.

Now let us take a look at the application schemes in more detail.

The UCCA/PCAS Form

As in the case with all application forms, you should read through the form carefully beforehand to familiarize yourself with all the information you are asked to provide. UCCA (Universities Central Council on Admissions) and PCAS (Polytechnics Central Admission System), however, also publish their respective handbooks and you MUST also read through these instructions prior to completing the form.

It is also very important to remember that when your form is received by UCCA or PCAS, a photocopy is made of it which is reduced in size almost by half. Neat handwriting or printing is therefore essential. Typing is acceptable.

The main sections on the form are as follows (some minor changes might have effected.)

1 Surname/Family name, Correspondence address/postcode/telephone, Home

address/postcode/telephone

Depending on your personal circumstances you should remember that you could receive instructions or advice from your universities, polytechnics or colleges during Christmas, Easter and Summer vacations. Students at boarding schools, for example, should use an address (probably their home address) from which such information can be forwarded without delay.

2 Personal details

Some of this information needs to be coded. Details of these codes are provided in the UCCA/PCAS handbook.

3A Universities/Colleges in the UCCA Scheme

3B Polytechnics/Colleges in the PCAS Scheme

All courses in the UCCA and PCAS Schemes are listed in the respective handbooks. When you have decided on your subject you will need to give details by way of the university, polytechnic or college code name, the university, polytechnic or college code number, the course code and the course code name. All these details are given in the UCCA/PCAS handbooks.

In many cases you will wish to apply for the same subject at each of your universities, polytechnics or colleges. However, problems may occur if you wish to (or have to) mix your subject choices. For example there are some non-law subjects in which only one or two courses are offered, such as Retail Management, Brewing, Animal Nutrition and Wildlife Management. In such cases it may be necessary to consider other subjects to go on your application form and you should choose subjects which are similar in subject content, e.g. Business Studies courses with Retail Management, Chemistry with Brewing, Animal Sciences with Animal Nutrition, or Ecology with Wildlife Management. However, if you are choosing very popular subjects such as Medicine, Veterinary Science, Pharmacy or Law then you should not mix these with any other subjects in Sections 3a or 3b. Admissions tutors are looking for motivation and any evidence that interests are divided may result in a rejection.

It is, however, possible to vary your course choices if they have a common element running through them such as combined courses with history, as below:

History/Spanish History/Philosophy History/Religious Studies History/Spanish History/Spanish

On the UCCA section of the form you are permitted to apply for up to five courses. On the PCAS section of the form you may apply for up to four courses. All institutions to which you apply are listed alphabetically and there is no way in which you can show a preference for any institution.

Most candidates wish to submit the maximum number of course choices in each of the sections 3a and/or 3b although there is no reason why you should not limit your applications to one, two or three if you so wish. Similarly it is also quite in order to apply for two different courses at the same university (except at Oxford or Cambridge) providing there are similarities in the courses chosen). Some candidates do this because they wish to increase their chances of getting a place at a certain university.

4 Planning statistics (occupational background and ethnic origin)

This information is of interest to universities, polytechnics and colleges, but does not affect your chances of being rejected.

5A Academic qualifications (examinations for which the results are known) All examinations taken, including the failures, must be listed.

5B Academic qualifications (examinations to be taken or results pending)

5C Academic qualifications (BTEC, SCOTVEC)

6 Education from age 11 in date order

7 Details of employment to date

8 Name and address of sponsor

9 Further information

This is a very important section and one which requires careful preparation. It is the only section on the form in which you can 'speak for yourself. It is in this section that your character and interests can emerge and if you are applying for a vocational course such as Medicine or Law then you should be able to provide information about your interests in these fields, such as hospital employment or visits to the law courts etc.

For vocational courses, motivation is extremely important and inevitably applicants will wish to impress the admissions tutor. This, however, should not be done by stating how clever, imaginative, hard-working or deserving you are (it has been known for applicants to write glowing references for themselves in this section!). Your teachers will submit their references concerning your attitude and your ability in the examinations (including their assessment of what grades you will probably achieve at 'A' Level).

If you are applying for a vocational course, such as business studies, then work experience is extremely important.

A simple statement, for example, that you have worked on the cash-out at a supermarket is not enough. Try to describe what you learned whilst doing it! Customer problems and attitudes. How did you deal with difficult customers? Did difficult customers fall into any particular age range? What problems did they cause? How did you get on with your fellow workers? Was there a good spirit among the workforce? What did other assistants feel about the management? Was the store well managed? If not, what were the problems? What problems did the management face? Could these problems be easily overcome or were they dictated by Head Office? Was the store well laid out? Was it necessary to make changes to the store layout to increase sales? Was it a profitable store? If not, why not. What was the customer profile - were the majority of shoppers teenagers, middle age female or old people?

By describing some of these aspects of your work experience in detail you have proved that you are aware of what business is about, that you are alert and, above all, that you have taken a real interest in at least one aspect of business. This also applies to other types of work experience.

Some people find it difficult to fill these sections, but others run out of space very quickly! Firstly, you do not have to write an essay. You can save space by not writing in prose. You need to plan it out carefully beforehand, however, and get your parents to help you - they will probably be able to remember some of the things you have done in the past years which you have forgotten all about! This is indeed the purpose of this section. Admissions tutors want a 'profile' of the type of person you are - your interests and your achievements.

It is usual to go back in time about three years - the fact that you were a milk monitor eight years ago in primary school will probably not carry much weight. However, if you won a national speaking competition or achieved something equally notable at an early age then this might be worth mentioning.

Plan out the section methodically. This could be done in sub-sections as follows.

School activities

Positions of responsibility, e .g. school prefect, chairperson, treasurer, secretary of any committees, sporting activities (indoor and outdoor sports), team membership with dates (this will show how long you have been involved with the team). Field courses (more than one day) attended as part of your studies. Business games, school visits abroad. Musical activities - school orchestra - instruments played (if you have taken any music exams, include the grades achieved). School drama productions. If you have taken the lead, name the play and give dates.

Out of school activities

Sport, music, drama, scouts, guides, youth hostelling, fell walking (give name, dates and places visited). Exchange visits abroad.

Work experience

Details of part-time holiday work, particularly if it relates to the subject of your chosen course. Work observation in hospitals, law courts, business organizations etc. (This is important if you are applying for vocational courses.) If you are applying for a vocational course it could be useful to use this sub-section as the main heading.

Proposed career (if decided)

Unless you are applying for a vocational course there is no need to mention a possible future career which is alter all at least four years away!

Finally, photocopy your form for your own reference. If you are interviewed they will probably ask questions about some of the points you have mentioned so - BE HONEST!