Top Tips for an outstanding UCAS form – advice

If you understand how Admissions Tutors review your application you are half way towards putting together an outstanding UCAS form.

Admissions Tutors want to fill their places with Good Students. Good Students are the ones who are interested in learning, rewarding to teach, sensible and personally independent.

Admissions Tutors want to assess every application consistently and fairly, so they check your UCAS form carefully using Selection Criteria.

Selection Criteria are written guidelines that Admissions Tutors use to decide whether your application is worthwhile. If your form doesn’t meet the Selection Criteria your application will be rejected unless your reference gives convincing reasons for making an exception in your case (see Top Tip 3).

For most courses the Selection Criteria are available for you to read. Look at the UCAS website and universities’ own subject information pages. Those will tell you what A-level subjects you should be taking, what points they’re expecting, what GCSE background they want, and whether there are other specific achievements  they are looking for.

An outstanding UCAS form makes sure that Admissions Tutors can see that you meet their Selection Criteria!

This is a major part of the Selection Criteria. You need good grades at GCSE and A level.

It is entirely possible to get rejected just because your GCSE results don’t meet the Selection Criteria. If you’ve not done GCSE yet, this is a cast-iron reason for getting the best GCSE grades you can. If your GCSE results are not up to scratch the Admissions Tutor may have mercy on you if your referee makes a good case to say that you are better than those grades would predict, and if any more recent exam results confirm that you’re doing well now.

Your reference will include a prediction of the A-level grades your teachers expect you to get. Knowing your predicted grades is a crucial aspect of making sensible university choices because you’re likely to get rejected if you apply for a course asking for higher grades than your referee says you will get.

It is perfectly in order to ask your teachers what your predictions are. If it looks like those predictions may be lower than you need, the next Top Tip becomes even more important.

Your UCAS reference is as important as your exam results and the Personal Statement on your UCAS form. In it your referee predicts your A-level grades and makes the case for offering you a university place. You need to have your referee on your side and you must make sure that he or she has all the information needed to write a reference that helps you.

Build a positive relationship with your referee: be on time for meetings, stick to deadlines, ask for advice etc. Your reference will be coloured by the experience your referee has of you. If you’re unreliable with him / her you can’t expect the reference to praise your reliability…

Ideally your referee knows everything relevant about you. However, it’s best not to assume so, particularly if you need him or her to make a case for why past results aren’t a real reflection of your ability. Talk to your referee about your application and if necessary give him or her a sheet of points you think are relevant. There’s no guarantee it will get used but if you can convince your referee that you are a serious and capable person, he or she will go to bat for you in the reference.

Predicted A-level grades are decided by your referee, with input from your teachers. If they’re lower than you need them to be you can try pleading. However, while you can expect the benefit of the doubt, you can’t hope for a A grade predictions if you’re scoring solid Cs.

It’s worth trying this idea though. Ask whether your referee will raise your prediction if your work improves over the next few weeks. If your relationship is good and you can pull off the improvement you might find those all-important predictions get higher. You will have shown you can raise your game, and hopefully you’ll sustain the effort to turn improvement into top grades.

The UCAS Personal Statement is where you write about why you want to study your chosen degree, who you are and what you’ve done. What you say matters and how you say it matters just as much. Here’s where you show your commitment and where you describe your interests and achievements. The Personal Statement enables you to speak with your own voice, to come across as a real and worthwhile person. So, it’s VERY important. You can’t submit an outstanding UCAS form without writing an outstanding Personal Statement.

For many degree subjects which lead directly onto a particular career (law, medicine, management etc) you’ll find that the Selection Criteria go beyond subjects and results. Admissions Tutors want to know that you have particular experience, qualities or skills which the career requires. You can find out what these requirements are by reading guides and prospectuses.

Your Personal Statement is where you convince the Admissions Tutor that you meet these ‘soft skills’ Selection Criteria. And ideally your referee will say something positive about these areas too. Make sure he or she knows what you’ve done!

In addition to demonstrating soft skills, the Personal Statement can go a long way to showing an Admissions Tutor that you will make a Good Student, and the final two tips look at aspects of this. For detailed advice we suggest you look at another CIFE guide How to write a good UCAS Personal Statement.

Admissions Tutors love commitment. If you are committed to your subject you are likely to work hard and make a success of the course. Use the Personal Statement to make your case. The best way to do this is through explaining how some relevant practical experience has led to your choice of course.

If you haven’t got anything practical to write about, you still need to say something which reassures the Admissions Tutor that you’ve checked out your proposed degree in detail and that you will enjoy it. For example, you could relate the content of the degree to your interests and to the sort of academic work you enjoy most.

If you are applying for two different degrees (eg medicine plus safety-net subject) it’s fine to focus mainly on the first choice subject, especially if the safety-net one is related to it.

It’s harder if you’ve decided to apply for two quite different subjects, but the best answer will come from asking yourself ‘Actually why am I doing this?’.

If it’s because you can’t bear to choose, you must be careful. Have you done all that you can to compare these courses or are you just avoiding the possibility of a mistake? It’s a tough decision but you need to make it before you fill in the UCAS form. Talk it through in detail with your teachers and family.

Admissions Tutors like to see that you have found time to get involved in challenge outside the class-room. Challenge can be anything you have put personal time and energy into which goes beyond purely social activity.

Why is this valued? One reason is that it shows you’ve got good academic results without having to spend all your spare time studying. You’re likely to have plenty in reserve. Another is that you’ll probably contribute positively to university life by joining in, helping organise things etc.

Finally, students who are independent-minded make the transition from sixth-form to university better. They take living away from home and personal time management in their stride while other students may find it all too much.

Your interests almost certainly help show how you meet any soft skills Selection Criteria. The CIFE guide How to write a good UCAS Personal Statement has a lot of ideas on how to put them across effectively.