What UCAS means and why it matters

UCAS stands for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, which is a UK-based organisation whose aim is to operate the application process for British universities. If you plan to go to University, or you are, you have definitely heard or used UCAS.

UCAS Apply service

This company provides an online portal and acts as middle man between students and Universities. In order to apply to University, english and international students must submit a single application via the online Apply service.

When you log into the web portal, you have to complete a number of personal details, which include current qualifications, employment and criminal history, national identity, ethnic origin and student finance arrangements. After this step, you can submit a personal statement and choose up to five courses to apply to.

Personal statement

The personal statement is a letter about who you are and what you have achieved so far. It’s the best and only way to showcase you and how “unique” you are. In the UK, you can only pick five courses, so you need to be careful when choosing. I still remember my choices (Oxford, Imperial, University of Manchester, UCL). The first two happily rejected me. 😉

Reference letter

Alongside these informations, you need to submit a reference letter. You can ask a teacher, adviser or a professional that knows you to write one. This step is important, because it gives the opportunity to show how good you are from the eyes of someone else. My tip would be to think twice before selecting your reference. I chose my english teacher, because I was back in Italy and she saw how I grew over five years of high school.

Submission and offers

You need to submit your application before the Universities’ deadline. UCAS will also ask you to pay a small fee of £24 before the submission. Through the same system, you will be able to see if the University has either accepted you or not. An offer comes in two forms: a conditional or an unconditional offer.

The first one is usually bounded to your A levels results (this varies for international students), while the second means you have been accepted regardless of the outcome. May is the month you need to choose where you want to study in September. At the time, Manchester and UCL had accepted me, but I chose the former.

If you are struggling and don’t know which University you want to go to, look at their Curriculum, understand where you can experience more in terms of life and friends; then make your choice. I made a decision based on money. I knew London was expensive and I liked Manchester’s vision to become one of top 25 Universities in the world by 2020.