UCAS in Great Britain

UCAS in Great Britain

Europe

Are you planning a bachelor’s degree in Great Britain? If you want to apply specifically to a university on the British Isles and have already decided on a study program, it is best to send a direct application. For everyone else, a group application via the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, or UCAS for short, is a good alternative.

UK and international students can apply to all public universities in the UK using the centralized application process. To learn more about United Kingdom and Europe, please visit petwithsupplies. UCAS allows you to apply for up to five different full-time courses at a maximum of five different universities and colleges. The organized allocation of study places is therefore similar to the Foundation for University Admission in Germany.

Application process via UCAS

When applying via the UCAS system, the application requirements must first be met. Meets this requirement for the applicant to, in a first step, an online registration at UCAS made.

  • Motivation letter
  • Reference letters
  • Current school grades from the last interim report (basic course, advanced course and, if already available, Abitur section)

Letter of motivation for applying via UCAS

In contrast to Germany, a letter of motivation is standard at almost all British universities when applying. When applying via UCAS for several courses of study at a university, the content of the letter of motivation will be tailored to the target university.

In contrast to this, if a collective application is made via UCAS for several universities, a statement is created for all of them. In this variant of the letter of motivation, neither specific universities nor courses should be named by name.

The English-language letter of motivation may not exceed 4000 characters. The character and line limit is fixed and should be taken into account when writing so that you do not have to make any unnecessary corrections afterwards.

If students apply for several bachelor’s programs in the same subject, the letter of motivation should make it clear why this subject is of general interest to the applicant. The reason for this can be, for example, the choice of a basic or advanced course in the Abitur, internships, workshops or club membership.

In the letter of motivation, international students should also explain why they are interested in studying in the UK, what prospects they can expect from studying in the future and what English language skills they have.

Reference letter for an application via UCAS

Applying through UCAS to study in the UK is only possible with a full reference. If possible, the reference provider should have a subject-specific reference that the applicant has known over a longer period of time and can thus assess the academic skills and personal strengths. Students can usually obtain a reference from one of the following people:

  • Teacher
  • instructor
  • English language teacher during a language course
  • Lecturer during an Academic Gap Year or Foundation Degree

Ideally, the reference letter should be written directly in English so that no translation is required. It should also contain information about the applicant’s knowledge of English. Most important, however, is the technical suitability, which, for example, the teacher of the advanced course in mathematics can assess. In the reference letter, too, it is important not to address a specific addressee, but to keep the letter general.

Proof of language proficiency

Applicants whose first language is not English are usually required to provide evidence of the English proficiency required for the Bachelor’s degree in order to apply to study in the UK. This evidence can be provided either in the form of the Abitur certificate or as a separate English language certificate in the form of the TOEFL or IELTS.

UCAS: Advantages of applying through an agency

When applying in bulk through UCAS in the UK, prospective Bachelor students can use the advisory services of certain organizations or agencies.

  • Checks of the application form and other documents such as reference letters and letters of motivation
  • Correction suggestions
  • Review of missing application documents
  • Reminder of the deadlines for filing
  • Dispatch of all application documents

If all entries on the UCAS form have been checked for completeness and correctness, applicants only need to transfer the UCAS fee. The fee is calculated depending on the time of application. For a late application, slightly higher fees apply.

All data are transmitted from UCAS to the respective British university. These view the entire university-relevant UCAS entries and communicate the results again via UCAS.

UCAS application deadlines

The application deadlines at UCAS are the same every year and can therefore be ideally planned for studying abroad. For example, if you want to start in the winter semester of the following year, you should apply before January 15th.

In principle, however, you can still apply until the end of June of the same year. After the regular application deadline, however, as in Germany, only remaining places will be allocated. To avoid this, the first UCAS deadline should be observed.

Courses at universities in Great Britain can also start in January in individual cases.

UCAS timeline: an overview of the most important dates

Date Deadline
September 15th UCAS application start
15th October The application deadline for the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Medical degrees is 6:00 p.m. UK time.
15. January The application deadline is 6:00 p.m. UK time for the majority of all degree programs. Exceptions are some courses in the field of art and design as well as courses at individual colleges.
February 25th Extra begins: An additional option for all applicants who have not received a suitable study place offer to apply for other desired study programs.
May 6th Anyone who has received a confirmation by March 31 (except for applications made through Extra) must re-register for the study place offer by this date in order to be entitled to the study place.
June 4th Anyone who has received a confirmation by May 7th (except for applications through Extra) must register for the study place offer by this date in order to be entitled to the study place.
25th June If you have received a confirmation by June 6th (except for applications through Extra), you must register for the study place offer by this date in order to be entitled to the study place.
June 30th Applications submitted by 6:00 p.m. UK time will be forwarded to the relevant university or college. All applications received after this period will only be considered in the clearing. In clearing the effected assignment of the remaining places.
2nd July The application period to apply within the Extra ends.
July 23 Anyone who has received a confirmation by July 6th (including applications that were made in the Extra) must accept the study place by the specified date before the entitlement to it expires.
21st September An application via UCAS is only possible in exceptional cases for the coming semester. Applications must be submitted by 6:00 p.m. UK time.

UCAS in Great Britain