What you need to know to apply to university through UCAS

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Applying to university can be a long and complicated task with lots of steps to take, but the uni experience is absolutely worth it. To make getting through the process easier, from filling in UCAS forms and writing your personal statement to replying to offers and more, we’ve created this useful guide to university applications. It’s packed full of helpful information that’ll come in handy whether you’ve no clue where to start or find yourself stuck along the way.

CONTENTS

How do you choose a university course?
How do you choose a university?
What is different about Oxbridge applications?
What is different about medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine applications?
What is different about STEM applications?
What are the university application deadlines?
How do you apply to university?
What tests will you need to take to apply to university?
What are university entry requirements?
How can you improve a uni application?
How do you write a personal statement?
What to do if you miss the application deadline?
What should you do after applying to university?
How to apply for student finance?
How do you respond to university offers?
How do you defer your university place?
University application FAQs

How do you choose a university course?

You’ll want to have figured out what you are planning to study at university before you start filling in any applications, because you’ll need to select your course choices on your UCAS forms.

When you begin thinking about what you want to study, it’s useful to ask yourself some questions to help you get an idea of what to look for. Here are some good questions to start with...

What subject do you want to study?
What are you interested in?
What qualification are you looking to get?
What career would you like after university?
What courses would help you get your dream job?

Once you’ve got a subject picked out, you should start looking at courses to see what’s available. Websites like ours let you browse lots of the courses that are out there, and university websites can offer more information on how courses are run. There are a lot of factors that go into making a course choice, including...

Course content
Entry requirements
Qualification levels
Assessment types
Study opportunities (placements, study abroad, etc.)

How do you choose a university?

With a course choice in mind, you should start looking for universities that offer this course (or similar ones). There are a lot of things to think about when choosing a uni – you might end up being there for three or more year, so it’s important to really consider your options thoroughly.

Again, you might want to ask yourself a few questions to get an idea of what you want out of a uni...

Where in the country do you want to study?
Do you want to study close to home?
Do you want to study in a large city?
What facilities will you need your uni to have?
Do you want to go to a big or small uni?

When it comes to finding out more about unis, there are a few different options that you can follow which will help you to learn what they have to offer. This can include...

Using our website to search for unis
Reading uni reviews
Ordering a uni prospectus
Going to an open day
Emailing your questions to a uni

What is different about Oxbridge applications?

If you’re looking to study at Cambridge or Oxford, there are a few differences in the application process that you’ll need to be aware of. For starters, you can only apply to either Oxford University or Cambridge University – not both of them. With that in mind, make sure you’re certain which one you want to go to when you make your application.

Secondly, the deadline for Oxbridge applications is much earlier than for most standard university applications. For 2024 entry, your application should be submitted by 16 October 2023. This is due to the competitive nature of Oxbridge applications and allows more time for the lengthier process.

It’s also likely that you’ll need to sit a test or submit an essay as part of your application to Oxford or Cambridge, depending on your course. These assignments will be looking to establish whether students have the skills and aptitude needed for their selected course.

What is different about medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine applications?

Similar to Oxbridge applicants, students looking to study medicine, dentistry or veterinary subjects will need to be aware of some important differences in the application process. The main difference is that the deadline to apply for most of these subjects is sooner than most other subjects. For 2024 entry, the deadline is 16 October 2023.

Students applying for Medicine courses will need to pass one of a number of tests, including BMAT, UCAT, GAMSAT and MMI. Additional tests usually aren’t required for Dentistry students, although some universities will want you to pass the UCAT test before beginning the course.

What is different about STEM applications?

While the application process for STEM subjects is similar to most other subjects, it can be useful to note that there are a growing number of scholarships, bursaries and grants available exclusively to students looking to study a STEM subject. This can make going to uni much more affordable, so if that is a concern for you, this is something that you’ll want to consider.

What are the university application deadlines?

Deadlines for university applications will vary slightly between years and will potentially depend on the course or university that you’re applying to. The two major deadline dates for UCAS applications for 2024 entry are...

16 October 2023 – for Oxbridge applications and applications for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine subjects
31 January 2024 – for most other undergraduate uni applications

If you’re applying through your school or college, you should make sure you know their deadline to get your application in on time, as it might be a bit earlier than the UCAS deadline.

How do you apply to university?

When you’re ready to begin your application, the first thing you’ll need to do is register with UCAS on the UCAS Hub. This will be where you’ll fill in the application and track it once it’s completed. There is quite a lot of info to fill out, but you don’t have to do it all at once – you can save your progress and come back to it later (but make sure you submit the application before the deadline).

The UCAS application form will ask you for a lot of details about yourself and your university choices. This can include information about your personal circumstances, your education and employment history, your plans for paying for university, your course choices and more.

You will also need to write a personal statement as part of your uni application. This will be used by universities to find out more about you as a person, what skills you have and the reason why you want to study with them. Your personal statement can be up to 4,000 characters or 47 lines (whichever comes first).

A reference from someone who knows you academically is also needed for your uni application. This could be a teacher, a head teacher or a tutor – you’ll want it to be someone who can provide the unis with relevant information on your abilities, your attitude to education and your suitability for university.

With all of this sorted, you should check all your answers to ensure everything is correct, and then submit your application. The application fee is £27.50, though if you can’t afford this, you should talk to your school or college, as they may be able to cover the cost.

What tests will you need to take to apply to university?

Whether you need to take an admissions test as part of your university application will depend on the subject you want to study and the uni you’re applying to. Some subjects don’t have any tests associated with them, but other subjects like law, medicine, dentistry and mathematics have tests that you may have to take if you want to study them.

Students applying to the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge will likely need to take a test as part of their application. Other universities will also require students to take tests as part of the application process, though some unis don’t.

The tests that universities will want students to take include (among others)…

Law National Aptitude Test (LNAT)
BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT)
Mathematics Admissions Test (MAT)
Thinking Skills Assessment (TSA)
Graduate Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT)
University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT)

To find out if you need to take a test to apply to uni, check out the information on the course page on our website.

What are university entry requirements?

Universities will state what grades you need or tests you need to pass to be accepted onto a course – these are called entry requirements. You’ll find them listed in the course information for each course on our website.

Many courses will require a certain number of UCAS Tariff points as part of the entry requirements. Your qualifications (like A-levels, BTECs, etc.) are converted into points, which makes it a bit easier for unis to assess applicants. You can use our UCAS points calculator to see how many UCAS points you have.

How can you improve a uni application?

Making your application stand out to university admissions officers might need a bit of forward planning, but it’s worth it in the end. Being able to include things like a part-time job, being part of a club or society, volunteering or having received an award will always get you some additional attention from admissions officers.

How do you write a personal statement?

Writing a personal statement for your university application can seem daunting at first, but there are a few steps that you can keep in mind to make it a bit easier.

Firstly, remember to tailor your personal statement to the subject or course you’re applying for. For example, if you’re keen on reading and applying to an English literature course, include some details of the books or authors you like. This will show that you have an interest and experience of the course content.

Other topics you can focus on within your personal statement can include what you’ve studied at school, your work or volunteering experience, your career plans and how you’ll engage with university life. Try to avoid writing about things that you can’t link back to the course you’re applying for, as this usually won’t be relevant.

Once you’ve written your personal statement, make sure you proofread it yourself, and then ask a friend, parent or teacher to check through it too for any mistakes.

What to do if you miss the application deadline?

If you missed the 31 January UCAS deadline, don’t panic, you won’t be disqualified from submitting your uni application – you can still apply up until June. Even then, if you apply after 30 June, your application will be entered into Clearing.

However, after January, unis may start treating applications on a first-come first-serve basis rather than being guaranteed equal consideration. This means that if you apply late, you might find that some courses might have filled up if they’re very popular.

What should you do after applying to university?

Submitted your application? Excellent news! There are a few things that you can do now, but firstly, give yourself a pat on the back – getting the application submitted is the first big hurdle on your uni journey, and it’s now completed!

What can you do next? You will want to track your application in your UCAS Hub if there are any updates. You’ll also be alerted to any uni interview invites via UCAS Hub, so keep an eye on it.

You can also go to offer holder days (also known as applicant days) during this time. This will give you another chance to check out the facilities, talk to the uni staff and look around the local area, which is important considering you could be spending three or four years at the uni.

This is all very exciting, but don’t forget you’ve still got exams to pass before you can head off to university! Make sure you keep on top of your studies during this time as well.

How to apply for student finance?

At this time, it’s also important to think about how you’ll be paying for uni and applying for student finance. The majority of students in the UK pay for university using tuition and maintenance loans. These are supplied by your country’s student finance company, and you’ll need to apply with them for the loans. The four student finance companies in the UK are...

Student Finance England
Student Finance Wales
Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS)
Student Finance Northern Ireland

You can apply for student finance online. To do it, you’ll need to supply the student finance company with proof of your identity and household income, course start date and end date (if known) and other bits of personal information.

You should apply for student finance as soon as possible, and it’s important to note that you don’t need a confirmed place at uni to apply.

How do you respond to university offers?

If you submitted your application before the 31 January 2024 UCAS deadline, you should hear back from the universities by 16 May 2024. If you receive an offer from a uni, it’ll be either a conditional or unconditional offer.

A conditional offer means you’ll need to meet requirements to be accepted to your course
An unconditional offer means you’ve been given a place on the course

If you received all your uni offers by 16 May 2024, then you’ll have until 6 June 2024 to respond through UCAS. It can be exciting receiving an offer, but we recommend that you wait until you’ve heard back from all the unis you’ve applied to so that you have a full picture of your options. This would also be a good time to go to offer holder days so that you can make an informed choice.

When the time does come to respond to offers, you’ll need to log in to UCAS Hub to do so. You need to submit your firm and insurance choice at this point, though you can choose to accept only offer if you don’t want to use any of your other offers as an insurance choice.

How do you defer your university place?

If you decide you want to take a year out of education between your time in school/college and university, you can defer your uni entry.

You can select a deferred start date when applying for your course, but you should check with the uni before you apply to make sure that they’re accepting deferred applications for that course.

If you’ve been offered a place at a uni already but have decided that you’d like to defer your entry for a year, you’ll need to get in touch with the university to make sure they will allow this. Be aware that you may be asked to reapply.

University application FAQs

If you’ve got questions about the university application process, check out our FAQ article. If your question isn’t answered there, get in touch with us via our handy Contact Us form and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.