Transcript Slide 1

GOING TO UNIVERSITY
QUESTIONS
 Why go?
 What will I do?
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How much will it cost?
Which course?
What qualifications do I need?
Which university?
 How do I apply?
 What happens next?
WHY GO?
 Employers like graduates (transferable skills)
 Graduates are less likely to be unemployed than non
graduates
 2009, average starting salaries for graduates around
£27,000
 Graduates earn, on average, 20-25% more
(£130,000) over their working lives than those with 2
or more A Levels
 Gain independence
 Chance to live away from home
 Make new friends, enjoy new experiences
WHAT WILL I DO?
 Undergraduate Degree Course
Completed in 3 - 4 years
 Single or Combined subjects
Sandwich course combines 1 year’s work
placement with 3 year’s study
 BA – Bachelor of Arts
(Humanities, Social Sciences, Arts)
 BSc – Bachelor of Science
(Science, Technology, Business)
 Foundation Degree Course – vocationally inclined, 1
or 2 years
 HND – Higher National Diploma 2 years
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What will it cost? Tuition Fees
 The maximum fee payable for 2010/2011 is £3290 unless
you are studying at a private institution
 The Tuition Fees Loan is not means tested
 You must be eligible for financial support
 You will not have to pay anything upfront
 The payment of the fees will be made directly to the
University/College by the Student Loans Company
 There will be a report out later this year which will advise
the Government on fees; they may well go UP!
Maintenance Grant 2010 / 11
Household
Income
Maintenance
Grant
£25000 or
less
£2906
Between
Partial grant
£25000 and
£50020
More than
£50020
No grant
Maintenance Loans 2010 / 11
Full Year Student
Loan
Parental Home
Up to £3838
London
Up to £6928
Elsewhere
Up to £4950
Overseas for at least one
academic term
Up to £5895
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
(For a typical 3 year degree)
HE Grant
£0
Bursary
£0
Student Loan
(elsewhere rate)
£14,850
Tuition fee Loan
£9,870
TOTAL
£24,720
AAAAAGH! TOO MUCH – HOW WILL I PAY IT BACK?
 Repayments are based on how much you earn, not
how much you owe
 Repayment is calculated using a formula:
 Salary minus £15,000 (x9%) = Annual Repayment
 Eg £16,000 salary, minus £15,000 (x9%) = £1,000 x
9% = £90 pa = £7.50 per month
PAYING IT BACK
 Earn under £15,000 = no repayments
 Earn £20,000, repayments = around £37.50 per
month
 Earn £25,000, repayments = around £75.00 per
month
 Earn £50,000, repayments = around £262.50 per
month
 From 2011, graduates will be able to have payment
breaks totalling up to 5 years without repayment
 Any debt not repaid after 25 years will be written off!
SETTING THE SCENE
 327
325 Universities / Colleges
 50,000+ courses
APPLICANT FIGURES FOR 2010 ENTRY
 Total Applicants
570,566 (up 22.9% on 2009)
 Number of places on offer
 (approx)
350,000
 So, 38.66% of all applications were REJECTED
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Source UCAS final figures for 2009 entry and 2010 application, www.ucas.ac.uk
Top 10 subjects by application January 2010
Nursing
94,644
Psychology
87,590
Law by Area
83,567
Design studies
82,521
Pre-clinical Medicine
80,894
English studies
58,232
Management studies
57,580
Combinations within Business &
Admin Studies
53,003
Training Teachers
52,871
Social Work
52,238
WHERE DO I GO?
 Close to home?
 Away from home?
 In the city?
 In the country?
 Near the coast?
HOW DO I CHOOSE?
 Visit open days
 Taster days
 Talk to students
 Choose 5-10 and find out more
 UCAS convention
WHAT AM I LOOKING FOR?
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Campus / Non-campus
Do you like the area?
Reputation – league tables
Accommodation
Cost
Self catering
Catered
En-suite
Broadband
University or privately rented
 Study facilities – IT / Library
 Sports & Social
 Make an informed choice
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WHICH COURSE? WHICH UNIVERSITY? WHAT
QUALIFICATIONS DO I NEED? HOW DO I
APPLY?
Gaining a place at university or college has two stages:
 Research
 Self presentation (i.e. the UCAS application)
THINK ABOUT
 What do you enjoy in school/outside
 List your possible careers
 Discuss Options
 Research your interests
 Does your potential career choice require any specific
qualifications?
Paper based research
 2011 Checklist
 2011 Big Guide
 UCAS subject guides
ELECTRONIC RESEARCH
 www.unistats.com
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Compare entry requirements and other
information for different subjects and institutions
Read what over 177,000 students felt about the
quality of their time at university
Find out what sort of jobs
graduates are doing 6 months
after leaving their course
Electronic research
UCAS website can help with:
 Links to HE websites
 Stamford Test
 Course Search
Entry Profiles
Bursary and Scholarship Comparator
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Entry Requirements
www.ucas.com
THE UCAS WEBSITE
WHICH COURSE?
1
2
HOW MANY COURSES CAN I APPLY FOR?
5
Courses
Invisibility of choices
1
Personal statement
4000
Characters long
ARE ALL UNIVERSITIES THE SAME?
 Red Brick – older, established universities
 New – formed from the old Polytechnics
 Russell Group – 20 research-intensive universities
(some red-brick, some new):
Birmingham LSE
Bristol
Manchester
Cambridge Newcastle
Cardiff
Nottingham
Edinburgh
Queen’s Belfast
Glasgow
Oxford
Imperial
Sheffield
King’s
Southampton
Leeds
UCL
Liverpool
Warwick
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Russell Group – Aims and Objectives:
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inspiring the best undergraduate and training the best postgraduate and
postdoctoral workers to create the next generation of innovators and
leaders
maintaining and developing through their strategic planning processes,
research teams, research facilities and scholarly resources capable of
matching the very best competition internationally
directing research resources to wherever particular research work can be
best undertaken to the highest international standards
focus for best research, including the commercialisation of research ideas
and innovations
taking a central role in the development of UK policy and development,
through commissioning research and public analysis of the very highest
quality.
COMPARISONS – BUSINESS DEGREES
UNIVERSITY
OFFER
Anglia Ruskin
160
Bournemouth
320
Canterbury
200
Edinburgh
300
Leeds
AAB
Liverpool
ABB
Manchester
AAB-ABB
Northampton
220
Warwick
AABb
MAKING YOUR CHOICES
 You apply on-line via www.ucas.ac.uk for up to 5
courses
 Cost:
£11 to apply for 1 course
 £21 to apply for 2 – 5 courses
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You don’t have to apply for them all at the same
time
Pay on-line by card
WHAT ARE ADMISSIONS TUTORS LOOKING FOR?
 Independent learning skills
 Motivation and commitment
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A realistic understanding of what the course entails
Good numeracy and literacy
Essay writing and research skills
Time management skills
 Enthusiasm to learn and to go beyond the syllabus
 Potential for success on the chosen course
WHAT EVIDENCE DO ADMISSIONS TUTORS USE?
 GCSE results
 AS results
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Other academic and vocational attainment
Predicted grades
Personal Statement
Reference
 Admissions tests
 Piece of written work
 Portfolio
 Interview
 Audition
PERSONAL STATEMENT
 MUST be personal – UCAS now uses software to detect
plagiarism
 Hit them hard with why you’re interested in the course
 Show enthusiasm
 Let them know what you’ve learned from your work
shadowing / community service / academic studies
 Show your commitment to study and voluntary work
 Possibly outline your career aspirations
 4000 characters, including spaces
 Spelling, punctuation and grammar must be PERFECT!
 Attend the sessions on personal
statement writing
ADMISSIONS TESTS
 Applying for Medicine / Dentistry / Veterinary
Medicine / Law / OXBRIDGE?
 Chances are, you’ll have to take an
additional test.
Transparent selection process
Admissions tests:
 UniTest
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UK Clinical Aptitude Test (UKCAT)
Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
Medical School Admissions Test (MSAT)
National Admissions Test for Law (LNAT)
 Oxbridge Tests:
History Aptitude Test (HAT)
Modern & Medieval Languages Test (MML)
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Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
Sixth Term Examination Papers (STEP)
ADMISSIONS TESTS – WHAT ARE THEY AND WHY
TAKE THEM?
 Cognitive ability tests (verbal reasoning, numeric
reasoning, abstract reasoning, decision making)
 Knowledge tests – supposed to be GCSE level, but
need to be able to reason with the knowledge
 Writing ability tests
 Examination supplements
 Attitude and personality tests
 To enable universities to choose more reliably
between highly qualified applicants
 To ensure that selected candidates have the mental
abilities, attitudes and professional behaviours
required for success
BMAT – THE BIOMEDICAL ADMISSIONS TEST
 University of Cambridge
A100 Medicine
A101 Graduate Course in Medicine
D100 Veterinary Medicine
 Imperial College London
 A100 Medicine
 University of Oxford Medical School
A100 Medicine
B100 Physiological Sciences
 Royal Veterinary College
D100 Veterinary Medicine
D101 Combined Degree Programme
 University College London
A100 Medicine
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UKCAT – THE UK CLINICAL APTITUDE TEST
 Consortium of 26 Medical and Dental Schools:
Aberdeen
Leicester
 Brighton & Sussex
Manchester
Cardiff
Newcastle
Dundee
Nottingham
Durham
Oxford
 East Anglia
Peninsula
Edinburgh
Queen Mary
Glasgow
Sheffield
Hull York
Southampton
Keele
St Andrew’s
Kings
St George’s
Imperial
Warwick
Leeds
Queen’s Belfast
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LNAT – NATIONAL ADMISSIONS TEST FOR LAW
 Used by:
Birmingham
 Bristol
Cambridge
Durham
Exeter
Glasgow
King’s
Nottingham
Oxford
UCL
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HOW DO I TAKE THEM?
 There are 365 testing centres around the UK
 You go to them
 BMAT advertises cost as £32.10
 You’ll pay a test centre £62 to take BMAT
 £60 UKCAT
 £40 LNAT
It’s YOUR responsibility to organise!
FURTHER INFORMATION
 Go to www.spa.ac.uk/admission-tests/ for up to date
information on the tests being used and links to
individual websites
 Practice materials can be found on all the main
admission test websites eg:
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www.ukcat.ac.uk
www.bmat.ac.uk
www.lnat.ac.uk
 FAILURE TO REGISTER FOR AND TAKE A TEST
MAY RESULT IN AN UNSUCCESSFUL
APPLICATION TO YOUR CHOSEN UNIVERSITY
OFFERS
“…and they want me to get 280
points including a ‘B’ in Physics,
excluding General Studies and
with not more than 60 points
coming from a 3 unit
qualification…”
Conditional points score offers
 Conditional offers based on total for post-16 programme
unless specifically excluded:
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UCAS Tariff
e.g. 320 points
or
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Exam grades (level / qualification)
e.g. ABB at A level
or
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Combination of both
e.g. 320 points including grade A in English
UCAS TARIFF – A LEVELS
AS GRADE
UCAS
POINTS
A2 GRADE
UCAS
POINTS
A*
70
A*
140
A
60
A
120
B
50
B
100
C
40
C
80
D
30
D
60
E
20
E
40
UCAS TARIFF – INSTITUTE OF FINANCIAL STUDIES
CeFS
UCAS
POINTS
DipFS
UCAS
POINTS
A
60
A
60
B
50
B
50
C
40
C
50
D
30
D
30
E
20
E
20
HOW DO I WORK IT OUT?
 EG:
 A Level English Grade B
= 100 points
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= 100 points
= 60 points
= 60 points
= 40 points
A Level Business Grade B
DipFS Grade A
CeFS Grade A
Extended Project Grade C
 Total Points
= 360 points
FIRM AND INSURANCE CHOICES
 From your offers:
Choose one as a firm acceptance
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Choose one with slightly lower grades as an
insurance
DON’T choose an insurance offer with higher
grades than your firm choice!
 IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE SURE THAT YOU WANT
TO GO THERE! THIS CONSTITUTES A CONTRACT
– IF YOU GET THE GRADES FOR YOUR FIRST
CHOICE, YOU GO THERE, IF YOU DON’T GET
THOSE GRADES, BUT GET THE GRADES FOR
YOUR INSURANCE PLACE, YOU GO THERE!
WHAT DO I DO NOW?
 THOROUGH research into courses / universities
 Draft a personal statement
 Make an appointment to meet your mentor or a
member of the Sixth Form team
 Begin completion of your on-line application
 When you are happy with this, send to referee
 Investigate whether or not you need to register for
additional tests – it’s your responsibility to do this
 Track progress of your application using UCAS Track
DEADLINES
 Check LNAT, BMAT, UKCAT websites for deadlines
for entry and testing
 OXBRIDGE applications MUST be received by UCAS
by 15 October 2010
 All other UCAS applications MUST be received by
UCAS by 15 January 2011
THAT MEANS:
 OXBRIDGE APPLICATIONS TO REFEREE BY
1 OCTOBER 2010
 ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS TO REFEREE BY
15 DECEMBER 2010
 AIM TO HAVE YOUR APPLICATIONS TO
REFEREE BY AUTUMN HALF TERM TO GIVE
YOURSELVES AN ADVANTAGE
USEFUL WEBSITES
 www.ucas.ac.uk
 www.lnat.ac.uk
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www.bmat.ac.uk
www.ukcat.ac.uk
www.unistats.com
www.hotcourses.com
 www.foundationdegree.org.uk
 www.stepmathematics.org.uk
 www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk
THIS PRESENTATION IS AVAILABLE VIA THE
SCHOOL WEBSITE
Questions