UCAS Evening Judith Corp - April 23rd 2014

UCAS
   Evening

Judith Corp
   April 23rd 2014

A Bright Future -
             How do we help?
•   Ensure that you meet all the critical dates
•   Provide you with advice and guidance
•   Invite speakers from universities
•   Provide you with a detailed, highly personalised
    reference
•   Help you write a top quality personal statement
•   Give you mock interviews
•   Make sure your application form has no errors
•   Share our experience with you

August 2013 Successes
• 82% All 5 Offers76%(117) Ist Choice
  Success
• 10%(15) 2nd Choice
• 1Upgrade Leeds ( Russell Group)
• 50% Russell Group (Incl 11 to Exeter)

What can students do?
•   Use the careers library in the LRC
•   Research/Visit universities and courses
•   Talk to our Independent Careers adviser
•   Talk to other students about their experiences
•   Go to Open Days-research on Uni websites
•   Proof read your personal statement
•   Check your application is accurate
•   Meet the deadlines
•   Complete list of your GCSEs/AS levels and
    exam boards

New words soon to be Familiar!
• Personal UCAS ID number- issued when you register online used in
  all correspondence
• Buzz Word used to register : WOKGSG15
• CF Confirmed first choice
• CI Confirmed Insurance offer
• Conditional Offer- either specific grade (AAB) or points from 3 A
  Levels(300=BBB)
• UCAS Extra -opens January 15th for students with no offers apply to
  courses individually
• Clearing- opens on results day in August contact individual
  Universities to try to find a place

What can parents do?
•   Accompany your child on visits and interviews
•   Research into funding
•   Talk about campus/city differences
•   Discuss the practicalities of location
•   Teach your child to cook and launder
•   Proof read the personal statement
•   Teach your child to manage money
•   Offer support if things don’t go well
•   Encourage your child to be realistic

Writing your personal statement
DO
•Begin with your passion for your chosen subject
•Explain the skills you have acquired in the A level linked to your
degree course
•Mention the skills acquired in your other subjects
•Mention specific key extra reading you have done
•Write about positions of responsibility you have held
•Write about relevant extra-curricular experience e.g. Duke of
Edinburgh
•Mention any activity where you represented the school
•Mention hobbies and paid employment- in terms of skills learned
•Finish with a positive note perhaps about future career plans

Writing your personal statement
DON’T
•   Try to be different, twee or zany
•   Offer vague generalised comments about your skills
•   Forget to proofread
•   Use colloquial language
•   Write more than 40 lines
•   Use unusual fonts
•   List all the books you have read
•   Keep giving it to different teachers to comment upon
•   Miss the deadline
•   Use a statement from the internet
•   Forget to pay on-line
•   Forget to inform Mrs Manning it is ready

Aptitude Tests
• Some Universities require you to sit aptitude tests
• LNAT - Law
• BMAT - Medicine & some Veterinary
• HAT – History
• ELAT - Literature
• PPE - Philosophy, Politics and Economics
• We hold the tests in school or you can sit them on-line
  but check prospectuses and register as appropriate
• Practice Past Papers are available online and in self-
  help guides

Fees and Maintenance
•   UCAS entry fee £23 (pay online)
•   Tuition Fees vary between Universities £7000-9000
•   Bursaries and scholarships are available
•   Student Loans are available for fees and maintenance, very low
    interest rates
•   Student Loans are repayable only after students are employed with
    a salary of £21000+(Salary £25,000=monthly £30 payments)
•   Means-tested maintenance grants are available
•   www.moneysavingexpert.com
•    www.aimhigher.ac.uk www.which.co.uk/university
•   www.direct.gov.uk       www.whatuni.com
•   www.ucas.com/student
•   www.push.co.uk
•   www.hotcourses.com

Key Dates
• Oxbridge applications by 15th October
    – Submitted ready for school references by 21st Sept
• Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary applications by 15th
  October
    – Submitted ready for school references by 21st Sept
• All other courses by 15th January
    – Submitted ready for school references by 23rd October
•   Interviews - Oxbridge from mid-November
•   Medicine - Jan 2015
•   Until March for other universities
•   May deadline for confirmed/insurance offer choice
•   Results Day Thursday 13th August 2015
•   Clearing from 13th August 2015

If not you, then who …..?

UCAS Predictions
•   Predicted grades tend to be the same as a student’s AS grade (exceptions might be
    made due for example to illness in the exam season)
•   Universities tend to make an offer on 3 A2 levels
•   Tariff Points at A2
•   A* 140                        C 80
•   A 120                         D 60
•   B 100                         E 40
•   Offers could be ABB or 320 points
•   The A2 point Score includes the AS credits but if the student did not continue to A2
    the AS points are added separately and are 50% of the A2 points e.g. C at AS = 40.
•   Most top Universities only make offers on A levels alone
•   Students select their Confirmed Offer (CF) and Insurance Offer (CI) by May 2015
•   You can apply and accept an offer but deferred for one year, best to do that in Year
    13 rather than apply after leaving Weald
•   If you decide on a GAP Year it is best to get University sorted before you go but you
    can apply through Weald even if you have left and we support you throughout.