DON’T PANIC!

May 15, 2015 | Posted by ECA UK | No Comments »

For students who still don’t have an offer for September, it may seem desperate, but James Galloway has comforting news and essential advice if you still need to secure a place at a UK university.

It’s that time of year again – Spring has sprung, the birds are singing in the trees, and international students all over the world are excitedly checking their UCAS accounts to find out if they’ve been accepted by their choices. There will be a lot of happy faces. But spare a thought for those who didn’t make it, and are still not holding an offer from their university of choice, or have even missed out on all the courses they wanted to study. And if you are one of the unlucky ones, don’t worry too much – help is at hand.

Even if you’ve missed out on all your choices, there are still some options available to you. The first place you can go is to UCAS Extra. You can find this on the UCAS website, where you made your original applications. If it’s available to you, it will appear as a button when you log-in to track your applications. There is a video and some instructions for you to follow, but it is never easy using the UCAS website. Also, UCAS Extra only allows you to do one extra university application at a time, which might not be enough if you want to get results quickly, or you want to have similar options to when you originally applied.

Another option that you have is clearing. When you make your initial applications, the universities will look at your education grades, or your predicted grades, and then give you an offer from those. If you didn’t receive an offer, but you are confident that your grades are good enough to get you entry into another university of your choice, then you can wait for “clearing”. This is from July to September each year, and you need to act fast when it starts, as there will be a lot of students waiting to do the same. This means that places on courses go fast, and they can fill up very quickly. Because there are limited places on offer, and a large number of students applying to each course, waiting until clearing is not always the best option. It is probably best if you see clearing as your last resort – when all other options have failed, then clearing is the thing to try.

If you’ve been rejected by your university choices, however, then perhaps it is time for a second opinion. For international students coming to study in the UK, using UCAS can be tough, but also the number of courses is overwhelming. Are you sure what you chose are the right courses for you? Does it fit with your career goal? Speaking with an education adviser or agent about your applications will be a great help, as they will be able to look over your previous applications, and give advice about your personal statement, for example, or if your qualifications from home met the course requirements. You will be able to choose a university that is more suitable for you, at a university that is closer to what you are looking for. A consultant may also be able to help you make direct applications to universities through their contacts, which you can’t do on UCAS. Another important factor to remember is that you won’t have to rely on clearing, either.

The important thing to remember is that there are more routes and options than many people realise. You will need to be organised, and get some advice to start planning your strategy now, but you can still find a place. Just don’t panic!

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Category: Applications, Undergraduate