Tag Archives: application

Why Birmingham City University Should Be Your First Choice

December 2, 2010Applications, Event & deadline reminders, UCAS2011, application, applying, birmingham city university, deadline, september, UCAS, universityShona McQuillan

If you haven’t yet made your mind up about your university choices for a full-time undergraduate course commencing in September 2011, you’ve only a few weeks to submit your UCAS application by the on-time deadline, which is 15 January 2011 for the majority of courses. As a university, we’re currently seeing a 40% increase in UCAS applications compared to the same time last year so, with increasing competition for places on university courses commencing next Autumn, it’s important to act now.

Why Choose Birmingham City University?

We’re one of the most increasingly popular universities in the UK, having seen our applications rise by a phenomenal 78% since 2008. With a real commitment to providing courses that are relevant and robust and a reputation for being a university that listens to its students, it’s not difficult to see why we are frequently becoming the first choice for many prospective students.

Learn more about the University
Understand our commitment to developing courses and providing support which contribute positively to the future employability of our students.
Find out about how we support students throughout their studies
Discover excellent libraries and learning facilities including academic skills support for students. Take a virtual tour of our seven libraries.
Find out about the Students’ Union and how they nurture a lively and involved student culture.
Learn about how we work collaboratively with our students to develop courses through our highly regarded Student Academic Partnership scheme. We recently won, in conjunction with our Students’ Union, the prestigious 2010 Times Higher Education (THE) Awards in the ‘Outstanding Student Support’ category for our work in this area.

Find out more about our fantastic range of courses by visiting the courses section on our website and, if you have any questions, why not get in touch with one of our course advisers?

Clearing 2010: top tips to guide you through it

August 1, 2010Advice Features, Clearing 20102010, application, applying, birmingham city university, Clearing 2010, courses, late, places, UCAS, university, vacanciesShona McQuillan

Here at Choices we’ve helped thousands of students to explore their options and make the right decision about higher education. We work alongside clearing helpline staff and admissions tutors to help students find their way through the Clearing process and secure a place at university.

Here are our top ten tips for surviving Clearing and finding the course that’s right for you.

1 Don’t Panic!
If your exam results are not quite as good as you expected remember to keep calm; the right course for you may still be out there. There’s a good chance that you will be able to secure a place at university through Clearing. Many students find university places through Clearing! You are certainly not alone and you have some excellent options awaiting you.

If you narrowly miss the grades you require you should check the status of your application on UCAS track before you start ringing universities to enquire about places on alternative courses through Clearing. In some cases if you are only a few UCAS tariff points short of the required grades the university may still be able to confirm your place, but this will be at the discretion of the admissions tutor. Continue reading Clearing 2010: top tips to guide you through it →

New Era for Nurse Training Courses

April 22, 2010Advice Features, Applications, Course Features, Health, Subject areas, UCAS2013, application, apply, applying, birmingham city university, degree, diploma, nurse, nursing, phased out, qualifications, training, UCASShona McQuillan

BCU000000-572 Back in September 2008, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) ratified proposals to make nursing an all-graduate profession. As a result of their decision, universities who offer qualifications at diploma level will be phasing out these courses over the next couple of years. All nurse training courses will be offered at degree level from September 2013.

When is Birmingham City University phasing out its pre-registration nursing diploma?

Birmingham City University is already in the process of phasing out our nursing diploma qualifications. The children’s nursing branch of the diploma course will cease to be offered after April 2010, and the other branches (adult, mental health and learning disabilities nursing) will not be offered again after the final intake in April 2011.

Does Birmingham City University offer a pre-registration nursing degree?

Yes. The University already has a well-established nursing degree course which offers training in all four branch specialisms and this course continues to go from strength to strength, providing students with the knowledge and skills they need in order to succeed in becoming a qualified nurse.

Continue reading New Era for Nurse Training Courses →

Mid-UCAS Application Cycle Activities: Interviews, Offers and Late Applications

February 18, 2010Advice Features2010, acceptance, application, Applications, autumn, birmingham cuty university, choices, decline, insurance, interview, late, offer, UCAS, universityShona McQuillan

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.

2010 Entry: Applying for Undergraduate Art & Design Courses Through UCAS

October 28, 2009Applications, Art & Design, Subject areas, UCASapplication, applying, art, ba, birmingham city university, degree, design, route a, route b, UCAS, undergraduateShona McQuillan

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.

Q&A: Applying for a full-time degree through UCAS

October 2, 2009Extra, Q&A, UCASadvice, application, applying, birmingham city university, change course, defer, Extra, feedback, insurance, offer, qualifications, UCAS, universityShona McQuillan

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 →

Open Days at Birmingham City University

June 9, 2009Event & deadline remindersapplication, applying, birmingham city university, open days, options, UCASShona McQuillan

One of the best ways to help you narrow down university choices is to attend university open days in advance of making your UCAS application. Open days provide the chance to talk with academic staff from courses which may interest you, see the facilities available to students and generally get a feel for where you could potentially be studying. Open days are a great opportunity to find out more information and ask any burning questions you may have that may not have been answered in the course literature, prospectus or website. It’s all about giving yourself the best chance of being in a position to make an informed decision when the time comes to complete your UCAS form.

Birmingham City University are holding open days on Friday 19th and Saturday 20th June. If you’d like to come along and find out more about the wide range of exciting courses on offer here, please visit the main website for more information and to register in advance.

If you can’t make our June events, there will be more opportunities to visit us with further Open Days on 22 and 26 August 2009 (for clearing) and 9 and 10 October 2009.

Parents’ Guide | Part 2: In advance – the paperwork

May 7, 2009Parents' Guideaccommodation, application, applying, birmingham city university, crb, criminal records bureau, degree, finance, forms, funding, grants, loans, nhs bursary, occupational health, parents, student, student financeShona McQuillan

In the second part of our Parents’ Guide series, we look at some of the paperwork you’ll need to consider completing for your son or daughter’s course.

Student finance forms

Student finance forms for tuition fee loans and maintenance grants and loans are usually completed from March onwards but application forms for support can be submitted once an application for an undergraduate course has been made. It’s important to ensure that these are completed and submitted in good time. For continuing students the Local Authority will continue to process these and then confirm personal eligibility to financial support. This information is then passed to Student Finance England who will process your application for payment. New student applications must be made directly through Student Finance England. When your son or daughter enrols at university, the university confirms this with Student Finance England who will then release the payment.

Continue reading Parents’ Guide | Part 2: In advance – the paperwork →

UCAS Route B Art and Design Applications Deadline

February 27, 2009Event & deadline remindersapplication, applying, art, courses, date, deadline, design, route b, UCAS, universityShona McQuillan

The deadline for applications for Route B Art and Design courses is 24 March 2009. However, applicants are strongly advised to submit their applications to reach UCAS by 6 March 2009.

UCAS Extra

February 10, 2009Applications, Extra, UCASapplication, applying, birmingham city university, choices, course, courses, degree, Extra, UCAS, UCAS Extra, universityShona McQuillan

UCAS Extra allows applicants who’ve used up all their choices on the UCAS application form and have not secured an offer of a place with these choices an additional chance to be considered for another course or university before Clearing starts.

It allows eligible applicants to approach individual universities to see if they can be accepted onto a course there.

To be eligible to use Extra you need to have:

• already made five choices;
• received decisions from all these choices; and
• either had no offers or declined all the offers you have received.

UCAS created the Extra scheme to specifically help those who are still seeking places to try and avoid having to go through Clearing if at all possible. Continue reading UCAS Extra →