Applying after you've left school

You don't have to be at school or college to apply to uni. You don't even have to have been anywhere near an educational institution for a while.

Anyone can apply directly through UCAS, but, depending on their relationship with their old school, it's probably easier to do it through them.

Apart from anything else, there's a part of the UCAS application which is a reference which you’re not allowed to fill in for yourself. Usually schools do this bit and universities tend to put some trust in what they say because, after all, they've usually known their students for a while and they know their academic record and potential.

So, if practical, it's probably best to get them to write your reference. You'll only have to find someone else to do it otherwise and that may not be easy. If you do find someone, they may not be sufficiently well informed about you or what unis are looking for to provide the perfect reference. And even if they are, there's still a possibility that unis might wonder why you didn't get your school to write your reference. It might be unfair for them to think like that, but why even give them the chance if it can be avoided?

Also most schools will be happy to check your application for you. This may involve reading it through and pointing out errors, advising on style or content and generally helping. Or it may be just checking that you've answered relevantly in all the appropriate boxes. Either way, it's worth getting that help.

Most will also help you out with registering with UCAS and they'll give you a 'buzzword', a code word that goes on your application that means UCAS knows you're attached to that school (even if your not actually a student there).

To get the ball rolling, just get back in touch with your school and tell them you want to apply. The head of careers would be a good place to start or, failing that, the headteacher's secretary usually knows who does what, even when no one else does.

But what if you left a few years ago? Or a few decades? Or if when you left school, both of you were delighted you never had to see each other again?

The best place to turn is your local careers organisations. As the arrangements vary from place to place, the best organisation may be your local Aim Higher office, your local education authority (LEA) or your local council's education department (which is probably the same as the LEA). They may also be willing to provide a reference and help with your application. They'll probably also have a buzzword for you.

For mature students, it may have been a while since you were at school, but often there’s somewhere where you’ve done some other course more recently – perhaps even in preparation for going back to studying. If so, that might be an alternative. They might be prepared to provide your reference and do everything else that old schools would otherwise do. However, it's possible they may not be registered with UCAS yet, in which case they won't have a buzzword.

There's absolutely no rule against applying directly without a buzzword. Instead of going through the school or anyone else, you could, say, get a reference from one of your old teachers  – especially if there's one you got on with particularly well. Officially, it's no biggie not to have a buzzword, but you can't help thinking they wouldn't exist if they didn't add at least some buzz.


More in this section:

• The A-Z of applications
  
• FUQs (Frequently Unasked Questions)
• Completing your UCAS application