Personal Statement Workshop

Welcome

Timetable for the day

2-2.15pm: Introduction and aims of the session

2.15-2.30pm: UCAS Application process overview

2.30-3.10pm: How to support students to complete a strong personal statement

3.10-3.25pm: Break

3.25-4.10pm:Breakout sessions and feedback: Access and BTEC

4.10-4.25pm: Panel session 4.25-4.30pm:Round up and evaluations

What would you like to get out of today?

UCAS Application overview

The basics • Part time HE courses: Apply direct to institution

• Full time HE courses: Apply through UCAS

• Most full time higher education courses offered by further education (FE) colleges are now included in the UCAS system

• Some private universities and UK Conservatoires require direct application

• Admission test

A few facts and figures – 2014 cycle

• The proportion of the 18 year old population in England who entered higher education and held a BTEC qualification increased to 6.7 per cent in 2014.

• Young women are around a third more likely to enter higher education than men in 2014, a similar proportional difference to recent cycles

• 122,147 students were studying HE in English Further Education Colleges (FECs) of which 10,321 were students at FECs in Greater London. Approximately 1 in 10 HE students study in a further education college

• Young people from the most disadvantaged areas in 2014 were around 40 per cent more likely to enter higher tariff institutions than three years ago.

UCAS Application Process: An overview

Register Personal details

Additional information Choices

EducationEmploymentPersonal StatementReference

Declaration Payment Application sent

Track application

status

Timings

20th October Deadline for accepting Clearing applicants

31st AugustDeadline for any remaining conditions to be met and end of Adjustment

30th June Final deadline, all applications received after this date will automatically enter Clearing

24th March Deadline for some Art and Design courses

15th January ‘On time’ application deadline

15th October Medicine, Veterinary and Dentistry deadline Oxford or Cambridge deadline

Now Research/ Attend Open Days and apply

Replying to offers Application received at UCAS on or before

University or college must make a decision on or before

15th January 2016 5th May 2016

30th June 2016 14th July 2016

Last offer received by… The applicant must reply by…

31st March 2016 4th May

5th May 2016 8th June

8th June 2016 23rd June

14th July 2106 22nd July

Replying to offers

Accept: Firm• The applicant’s first choice• If it is an unconditional offer, the

place is theirs• If it is a conditional offer, they must

now meet the specified conditions

Accept: InsuranceThe applicant’s second choice, in case they miss the conditions of their firm acceptance choice

DeclineAny other offers the applicant has

Results

If the applicant…

… meets offer conditions … exceeds conditions ... doesn’t meet conditions

The place is theirs and they will receive confirmation of this both through UCAS and from the university directly

They can go through Adjustment to look at available courses with higher entry requirements

They do not have to give up their firm acceptance place to use Adjustment.

1. Their firm choice MAY still accept them (but this isn’t guaranteed)

2. They may have a place at their insurance choice

3. If they don’t meet their insurance choice offer, they can go through Clearing.

Clearing, Adjustment and ExtraClearing • Available July to September each year

• If applicant holds no offers• Applicant contacts university or college directly to discuss vacancies

Adjustment • If applicant has not only met the conditions of their firm choice, but exceeded it

• It provides an opportunity for them to reconsider where and what to study.

• Applicant has 5 working days to accept another offer

Extra • Available February to July • Applicants are eligible for Extra if they hold no successful offers, cancelled

or declined all offers • Apply to courses one at a time and university/college has 21 days to

respond.

Other important dates to think about

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb March Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct

From Spring 2016: Apply for student finance

January 2016 onwards: Scholarship / bursary application deadlines

May 2016 onwards: Accommodation applications open

October 2015 onwards: Open Days and UCAS conventions start

From December 2015:Post Application Open Days start

August 2016:On line enrolment begins

Sept/Oct 2016:Term starts!

Tariff 2017 • For those applying in 2016/17, and start university or college from September 2017.

• Numbers are different but on the whole you need to achieve the same grade, and the new system will not in itself change entry requirements for university or college courses.

• The new UCAS Tariff points should not have any impact on students’ decisions about qualification choices at school or college, or their preparation or application to a higher education course.

• The primary purpose of the new Tariff is to provide a broad measure of Level 3 qualifications that can be used by universities and colleges for reporting purposes. The new UCAS Tariff, like the current Tariff, will be used by higher education funding bodies that collect data from universities and colleges each year. The new Tariff simply provides a new way of calculating the points for this purpose.

• The new Tariff is designed to provide a fair and more transparent process of allocating Tariff points across a wider range of qualifications, to support widening participation.

Tariff 2017

The new Tariff operates as follows: 1. Qualifications are allocated a size band of 1 to 4, based on their guided learning

hours. 2. Qualifications will also be allocated a grade band of 3 to 14. These grade bands

spread across the breadth of Level 33. The size band and grade band are then multiplied to form the overall Tariff score.

• Universities and colleges are free to choose whether or not to use the Tariff and how to deploy it. The introduction of the new Tariff does not alter this.

• In line with good practice, it is recommended that admissions decisions should not be made based on Tariff points alone

Precision marketing data service• Clearing opportunity for applicants who find themselves without a place

• UCAS will send your application to up to 5 universities or colleges suited to your grades and other requirements

• Universities or colleges then contact applicant directly about courses they think maybe of interest.

• Applicants opt in

• The service works by comparing the qualification profiles of unplaced applicants to the profile of applicants that have been accepted on university and college courses in previous cycles.

Resources UCAS resources • www.ucas.com/advisers/guides-and-resources

Student Loan Company • http://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk

Scholarship and bursary information • http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk

Course searches and information • http://unistats.direct.gov.uk

• http://www.whatuni.com/

How to support students to complete a strong personal statement

Breakout session

How much do you already know?

1. As of June 2015, what was the total number of applications made to UCAS?

2. Of this total how many of these applicants were over 35?

3. Second to A- Levels BTECs are the most widely held qualification held by applicants, according to the UCAS end of cycle report (2014) what is percentage ( in England)?

4. On average how many Access to HE students apply each year for a degree course?

Answers

1. 673,040: a 2 % increase from last year

2. 28,280

3. 6.7%

4. 20,000

Discussion Groups

Focusing specifically on Access and BTEC learners in your group discuss:

1. What barriers to higher education have your learners faced / or you anticipate would face?

2. What additional support, if any, do your learners need when applying for higher education/ or do you anticipate they would need?

Then, come up with 3 questions per group that you would like to present to the panel to answer.

Panel Session

Sue Betts, Director, Linking London

Andrew Jones, Deputy Director and IAG Specialist, Linking London

Tim Dhir, Education Liaison Officer, Kingston University

Shannon O’Neill, Politics & International Relations, Kingston University

Coming up…NNCO activities

• Online personal statement checking service• Collaborative Student Ambassador Scheme • Adviser Site • Subject specific workshops • HE in London launch • Mailing List

www.linkinglondon.ac.uk/nnco