🇬🇧 The UCAS Pathway

Marie Russell
Aug 25, 2021
4 min read

Updated: Jun 19, 2024

✍🏼Updated June 2024🗞️

🗝 UCAS stands for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. It's the United Kingdom’s equivalent to the CAO.

🤨 Has it crossed your mind to take a closer look?

👀 Let’s look at a few things about the process:

✍🏼 The Application

The UCAS Application can be broken up into three parts:

application form
personal statement
reference

🚨Advice!

Start it as soon as possible!

Application Deadlines?

🔑14 May 2024 – you could start your undergraduate application for 2025 entry courses, but you cannot submit it to UCAS until 3 September 2024.

🚨15 October 2024 for 2025 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – deadline for any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.

📆29 January 2025 for 2025 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – deadline for the majority of courses.

😮‍💨26 February 2025 Extra Courses open - you may be able to add additional courses to your application

4 July 2025 is the last date to apply for a course on UCAS

😮‍💨 Clearing: UCAS has a unique process called “clearing” which allows you to apply to additional colleges if you get rejected from your initial choices, giving you another backup option for your backup option! This process goes on into the summer months.

👍🏻 Advantages of the UCAS Pathway?

The choice of courses: There are almost 30,000 courses to choose from across the UK, including a large selection of creative courses.
It‘s a potential backup option for the CAO.
Eligible SUSI grant applicants can use their grant in UK & Northern Irish universities.
The student finance option is very appealing & compatible with certain types of citizenships.
The cost of living is lower.
Good experience and motivational process.
Admissions is not based solely on grades: UCAS considers your health, passion for a subject, family circumstances, disabilities, etc. not just your academic ability
The chance to move to a new location.
Clearing offers further backup options and flexibility beyond typical cut off dates.

👎🏼 Disadvantages of the UCAS Pathway?

Since Brexit, most European Union citizens choosing to study in a UK or Northern Ireland university will be liable for international fees. (In 2023 this was £9,250 for most UK & Scottish universities & £4,395 for NI universities). So it’s expensive and this is required annually.
Stress & expense of moving to another country.
Maximum of 5 choices on your main application, amidst a lot of variety - so narrowing your selection down can take time.
Earlier application deadline in 6th year for certain courses & universities.
It can be time consuming working on your application; at a time when studies are busy - personal statement, reference etc.
This option has become less appealing (particularly the fomerly free admissions in Scotland), so you are less likely to know someone else setting out (then again - this could also be an advantage 😉!)

🎬 Where to Start? 10 Tips 🔟

1️⃣ Go to https://www.ucas.com and familiarise yourself with the site.

2️⃣ Register, using an email address you will have continued access to.

3️⃣ Keep a secure record of your “Personal ID” and your login details.

4️⃣ Ask your school if they have a “buzzword“ for UCAS. This will allow teachers to add a reference later in the process. Your guidance counsellor will help with this. Don't worry if they don't - you can apply as an independent candidate.

5️⃣ Take your time completing the personal details. Consider part-time work, voluntary roles and/or work experience you may have to add. These will portray skills that can later be highlighted in your reference and personal statements. Remember this is not a purely academic selection process. These skills may well match those desires by the course faculty.

6️⃣ Stick to the facts - like any application process if you are truthful you’ll always be in a strong position to sell yourself and backup what you’ve written.

7️⃣ Take time and seek advice selecting your courses. You can chose from 1, up to a max of 5.

8️⃣ Research each course on its own merits. Make sure you know what is on the module descriptors. After all, you wouldn’t choose a restaurant without reading the menu?! Use the se room on the website where it allows you save your selections as you deliberate. This should take more than one sitting. The best made decisions are often slept on!

9️⃣ You can only choose 4 courses from the categories of medicine, dentistry, veterinary and veterinary science.

🔟 You can’t apply for both Oxford & Cambridge - you must pick one.

🕵🏽 It all comes back to ⌚️investing research time into the bank of YOU.

🧐 Be curious, this is seriously beneficial homework.

🪜 You don’t have to know where this ladder will take you, you’re just establishing the next step.

To get in touch for advice/support with your UCAS journey DM or:

📧 pathwaysguidance@gmail.com

🕸 www.pathwaysguidance.ie

📞 0868773289

Marie 🪶