UCAS
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service manages the application process for most universities and colleges in the UK. But it doesn't have anything to do with deciding who actually goes where.
Every May their website lists the universities and courses available. (Although it’s not as easy to use as Push.co.uk’s Uni Chooser.)
Student hopefuls register online at UCAS's website and fill in their application there. The online form has spaces for applying for up to five courses, but it’s not the law to use them all. It’s possible to apply to the same course at up to five different universities, five different courses at the same university, or, indeed, five different courses at five different universities. The first option’s usually the best bet, but if you are kinky enough to chose several wildly different courses, you can sleep soundly knowing that each university you apply to won’t get to see what else you applied for.
Your academic qualifications and grades will be probed with the thoroughness of an eager proctologist, and you have your chance to convince universities how committed you are to the course you’ve chosen, how great you’d be at doing it, and what an all-round academic sex-bomb you’d be to have around.
If you're applying through your school or college, they will also add their own thoughts to the form, including their real opinions about their students, plus a list of their predicted grades - all highly secretive stuff that you probably won't see. If you're applying on your own, you'll be responsible for copying and pasting (by which we don't mean typing your own fictitious or embellished reference) the reference in yourself.
UCAS starts accepting applications on September 1st. For Oxford, Cambridge or medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or veterinary science, the deadline is October 15th, (see Applying to Oxford or Cambridge), otherwise it’s mid January at the latest.
Whenever the form’s sent off, UCAS charge a fee (£7 for one choice, £17 for more) to cover their shuffling costs.
Last updated on: 19 November 2008