Mid-UCAS Application Cycle Activities: Interviews, Offers and Late Applications
With competition for places on undergraduate courses fiercer than ever this year, it’s important that applicants are well-prepared for upcoming interviews and the subsequent decision making process once offers have been received from institutions. If you’ve not yet applied, you’ll need to think about doing so if you’d still like to be considered for a course commencing this Autumn.
Interviews and Offers
You may find the following articles we previously posted of help if you’re about to start attending interviews or are wondering about choosing which offers to accept:
Late Applications
If you’ve not yet applied and are thinking about studying at university in Autumn 2010, there may still be the chance to apply as a late applicant if there are still vacancies on the course or courses you are interested in. You can use the course search facility on the UCAS website to search for courses of interest. The search results returned will show you a list of courses (and the universities offering them) based on the search criteria you have specified. You will be able to tell whether a course is closed or not by whether or not the letter ‘C’ is shown against a particular course. Where the letter ‘C’ is shown against a course, this means that the course is closed to further applications at the time and you cannot, therefore, enter this particular course choice on your UCAS application form. If a course is available, you are free to add that course as a choice on your form.
Whatever stage of the process you’re at, action is key to ensuring that you optimise your chances of success in securing a university place.
For more information about courses available at Birmingham City University, please call Choices on 0121 331 5595 or email us.
Links Round-up 16-02-10
A brief round-up of news and events for prospective Higher Education students:
- The Guardian have a new series following four students who are applying for university.
- Students in Year 12 can take advantage of benefits of the UCAS Card - including advice on choosing a course and High Street discounts.
- UCAS Extra starts on 25th February. Find out more about UCAS Extra through the UCAS website.
- Those considering a career in teaching should consider the upcoming Train to Teach event taking place at Thinktank at Millennium Point on 19th and 20th March 2010.
- Birmingham Institute of Art and Design is opening its doors to prospective students on 2nd March and 20th April. Find out more about these forthcoming opportunities to visit the institute by visiting their website.
- This year’s Adult Learners’ Week takes place from 15-21 May 2010.
Discover the Springboard to a New Career in Law
If you have a degree but not in Law and you would like to pursue a career in the legal sector as a barrister or solicitor our Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) programme will help you achieve your goal. The GDL also known as the Common Professional Examination (CPE) satisfied the requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA)for intending Solicitors and the General Council of the Bar (for Barristers) as completion of the academic stage of training. It can be studied on a full-time or part-time basis.
We are holding two open days designed to help you find out more about the GDL and about career opportunities in law. Come along and speak to staff and current students, experience a mini-teaching session, and pick up some literature about the course.
Wednesday 2nd December 2009
1-3pm and 6-8pm
Room D123 (Dawson Building)
City North Campus
Wednesday 10th March 2010
1-3pm and 6-8pm
Room C116 (Cox Building)
City North Campus
For more information, contact 0121 331 6248/5640 or law@bcu.ac.uk.
2010 Entry: Applying for Undergraduate Art & Design Courses Through UCAS
Applicants who are opting to apply for full-time undergraduate art and design courses will now be thinking about making their applications through UCAS. There are two application deadlines for art and design courses. Universities decide which deadline to use for each of their courses – these are either 15th January or 24th March.
If you’re unsure as to which application deadline date applies to the university courses you are looking at, the UCAS Course Search facility displays the application deadline.
If you decide to apply for art and design courses with different deadlines, you can submit your application before 15 January for courses with that deadline, then add further course choices before the 24 March deadline using UCAS Track as long as you haven’t used all five choices on your UCAS application form.
Graduate futures: postgraduate study funding
Unlike undergraduate courses, the majority of postgraduate courses are not supported by government funding. This can present a dilemma to prospective students who wish to further their academic studies to the next level after graduation.
There are some exceptions to this, including PGCE and postgraduate Social Work and NHS-funded qualifications, where students may be entitled to financial support. PGCE funding can involve loans and grants from the LEA and a teacher training bursary. Postgraduate Social Work courses may attract funding which can be used for fees and living costs from the Department of Health as can a number of NHS-funded graduate courses.
So, for courses where there’s no governmental funding available, where else can a prospective postgraduate student look for funding?
Continue reading Graduate futures: postgraduate study funding
Q&A: Applying for a full-time degree through UCAS
A Choices’ course adviser answers some common questions about applying through UCAS.
What happens when I make an application through UCAS?
When you submit an online application to UCAS, UCAS forward a copy of your application to the institution or institutions to whom you have applied. Once your application has been received by an institution they start processing it in accordance with their admissions policies.
For some courses, the institution may make an offer on the basis of the information provided within the application. Other courses may require further selection stages, such as interviews, tests or a portfolio review. Once the appropriate selection process for the course has been completed, the institution will communicate their decision to you. You can check progress of your application through the UCAS Track online system.
I’m no longer taking all of the qualifications I listed on my application form. What should I do?
You should put this in writing to the University as soon as your academic profile has changed. The University needs this information to ensure that any decision made on the application is made using the most accurate information provided by the applicant. Should the university make a decision based on information which subsequently changes, the Admissions Tutor will need to review the application in light of the new information. If the changes to the academic profile mean that the applicant will not be able to meet the minimum entry requirements (or specified academic conditions if an offer has already been made) this will be taken into account when reviewing the application.
Continue reading Q&A: Applying for a full-time degree through UCAS
Parent’s Guide | Part 7: The first few weeks at university
In the final part of our Parents’ Guide series, a Choices adviser looks at the initial period following your son or daughter starting their University course.
This is a time of adjustment for both you as a parent and your son or daughter. The silence at home will be an unusual sensation; the reduced need for ‘Dad’s/ Mum’s Cabs’ feels strange and you may be surprised at how much cheaper the weekly food shopping has suddenly become.
Your son or daughter may become homesick at some point. Being in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people can be very unsettling. This is a totally normal and natural reaction by some students when they first join university. Acknowledge any concerns they have and be supportive, but try not to reinforce homesickness by encouraging them to return home at weekends – this will only serve to make them feel more isolated from university life. Part of the transition to university life away from home is a journey of self discovery, development and independence and it takes time to establish.
Continue reading Parent’s Guide | Part 7: The first few weeks at university
Parents’ Guide | Part 6: Arriving at University
So, you’ve got through the seemingly endless paperwork of university applications and student finance forms, you’ve done the rounds of university open days, you’ve experienced the nerve-wracking exam results day and now, quite possibly, feel as if you’ve spent a small fortune on kitting your son or daughter out in preparation for them starting their course. Without so much as a chance to catch your breath, the time’s suddenly here for your son or daughter to take the next step in their life.
Continue reading Parents’ Guide | Part 6: Arriving at University
The exam results are out! Guide to confirmation and clearing 2009
It’s A-level results day and you finally found out what grades you’ve achieved! You’ll probably be eager to find out if you’ve got into your chosen university course. If you have access to the internet, you’ll be able to check your applicant status from today (20th August) via UCAS Track. Alternatively, you can telephone the university directly.
If you’ve met the conditions of your offer – great! If not, don’t panic, as in some circumstances the admissions tutor may still decide to confirm your offer if you have only narrowly missed the conditions of your offer. If you haven’t met the conditions and find that you are no longer holding an offer, be prepared to contact universities to find out about vacancies through clearing.
What if you haven’t got the grades you were hoping for? Here we look at potential scenarios for applicants who may not have met the conditions of their offers and explore what action they could consider taking.
Contact the University
First of all, try not to stress. If you have narrowly missed the conditions of your offer, the university may still be able to offer you a place if the Admissions Tutor agrees to this. The Tutor’s final decision may be dependent upon how many other applicants holding conditional offers have met their conditions and whether any vacancies remain on the course.
If you’ve missed the conditions of your offer by a larger margin, there may still be a possibility of being accepted onto your chosen course or you may be offered an alternative course by the university. This is very much at the discretion of the Admissions Tutor and you should understand that there’s no guarantee that if you’ve not met the conditions of your offer that the university will still be able to accept you.
In either instance, once you know your results you can contact the university to discuss them. The sooner you get in touch, the sooner you can find out what’s happening with your place.
Continue reading The exam results are out! Guide to confirmation and clearing 2009
Insight Out needs creative graduates with good ideas
If you graduated between 2007 and 2009 from any course at Birmingham Institute of Art and Design or a Performance, Media & English degree then the Insight Out course could be the springboard for managing and launching your career in the creative industries.
Times are tough for graduates at the moment, but if you have an amazing creative idea that you want to explore there should be nothing to stop you applying for this 5 week Insight Out: Managing a Portfolio Career programme, designed with fresh new entrepreneurs in mind.
The trend for graduates from creative degrees is to enter into ‘a job contract, self-employment and portfolio working, the choices for art and design graduates.’ (Source: gradireland.com, Art & Design graduates: what to expect after graduation) Portfolio working is essentially juggling a series of part time or freelance roles with full or part time paid work, that leaves little time to use your talents and skills to their maximum potential.
With some planning and the right knowledge of the available support when you first start out in your career, a balance between what you love and what you need to do to financially support yourself can be achieved. This course explores the benefits that can be achieved through tools such as mentoring, investigative thinking, the development of entrepreneurial skills and attributes such as confidence, developing a collaborative approach, creative problem solving, taking initiative, and the all important networking!
Successful applicants can receive up to £850 for attending and completing the course.
Further details can be found on the website http://www.mediacourses.com/insightout/portfolio.asp or you can call 0121 204 9887 to chat to the team.