14 Personal Statement How To Apply For Higher Education This part of the form is about you. It is your opportunity to convince admissions tutors that you are right for the course. Bear in mind that admissions staff have to select from many applicants who are likely to achieve the academic qualifications required for entry. In many cases, the personal statement is the deciding factor. When completing the personal statement there are no right or wrong answers, and no correct style. Make it sound interesting but keep it concise. Sell yourself, but do not put anything which you cannot substantiate. Write a draft and show it to a friend, teacher or Connexions adviser. Be specific about what you do and where your interests lie. There is plenty of advice about writing your personal statement on the UCAS website. Topics include: . Reasons for your course/ subject choice How and why did you reach your choice? Explain the background to your interest in the subject( s) you wish to study, and your reasons for choosing the particular courses you have listed. . Any job and work experience or voluntary work Explain what you have gained from your experience of work. This is particularly important if relevant to your chosen subject area, but could include general attributes such as reliability, dealing with people, etc. . Your future plans Mention any future ambitions or longer term career ideas to show that you have thought beyond your higher education course. . Interests, activities, achievements These give an impression of you as an individual. Include any positions of responsibility or awards e. g. Duke of Edinburgh or Young Enterprise gained through extra- curricular activities. Keep references to your hobbies/ interests concise, but describe what you have gained rather than just giving lists. Emphasise anything notable or unusual. . Time out If you are planning to take a year out, explain your reasons and briefly outline any plans you may have for the year, along with what you hope to achieve from the experience. . Sponsorship Detail any industrial or professional sponsorship which you have applied for, or secured. It is a good idea to prepare your personal statement offline using ' Word' or other word- processing package. You can then copy and paste this into the ' Apply' system. Similarity Detection All personal statements are subject to ' Copycatch' testing to detect students who have copied all or part of their personal statement from someone or somewhere else. Please note: whilst the information provided about application procedures is accurate at the time of publication, it is possible that entry procedures for 2011 entry may be subject to further change. Always consult up- to- date UCAS information.

When to applyWhat happens next How To Apply For Higher Education Applications should be received by UCAS between 1 September and 15 January in the academic year prior to entry. Late applications ( not recommended) can be accepted up until 30 June. UCAS applications which include Oxford or Cambridge universities need to be made by 15 October, as do applications for degree courses in medicine, veterinary science/ medicine and dentistry. There are also different application deadlines for some art and design courses - see page 16. UCAS Extraoperates from 25 February to the end of June. It can provide an additional choice for applicants who have used all five choices already, and find themselves without an offer, for whatever reason. It is possible to apply during Clearing, which operates from mid- August until late September, but your choice of courses will be extremely limited. Deferred entry If you wish to defer entry in order to take a gap year, you should check with the individual institutions first, to ensure they are willing to accept deferred entry. Alternatively, you can defer making your application for a year. This can be useful if you need to use your gap year to clarify your career plans, but many students prefer the security of knowing that a higher education place is waiting for them on their return. Interviews Whether or not you are called to an interview depends largely on the courses you apply to. Teaching and nursing courses almost always require an interview; other healthcare courses, performing arts, and art and design often do. Offers for other subject areas are mostly made on the basis of your application and examination results only. If you are invited to an interview, prepare thoroughly. Make sure you know what form the interview is likely to take, where you need to go and how to get there. Practise answering likely questions, and have some questions ready to ask in return - write them down if it helps. Remind yourself of what you said in your personal statement, and have examples of your work and your record of achievement to hand. Expect to be nervous, but remember that every other candidate will be too. Use the interview as a great opportunity to sell yourself, and to find out everything you want to know about the course, the institution and the locality. When you have completed your application, check it carefully and send it ( online) to the person who will be your referee ( e. g. your tutor/ head of 6). Your referee will add a statement and forward it to UCAS. You can obtain a copy of all the personal data about you held by UCAS, including the referee's statement, on payment of £ 10. You will also need to pay the UCAS application fee - if applying via your school/ college, they will tell you how to pay. For applications made by 15 January, universities and colleges should make their decisions by the end of March. When you have heard from UCAS about decisions on all your applications, you can accept a maximum of two offers ( one firm and one insurance). Confirmation of the offer will be given after the publication of examination results in August. Don't arrange your holiday during this period. If you do not get the grades you need to meet your conditional offers, you will automatically be sent information about entering Clearing - enabling you to apply to courses which still have vacancies. Additional testing You will need to arrange to take additional tests if you apply for some subjects. Additional tests are commonly required for subjects such as veterinary science, medicine, law and dentistry. Some universities require tests for other subjects. You can find out more information about these tests at www. ucas. com/ students/ beforeyouapply/ admissisions, but you should also check the entry details for your chosen course( s) by looking at the prospectus, on the university website or on the Entry Profiles of UCAS Course Search. UCAS Track The UCAS track system allows you to check the progress of your application, and find out which universities and colleges have made decisions about your application. Track is a secure system - you are provided with a password to allow you to access your information. 15