
Has your child recently finished school? Are they applying for university places this year?
Congratulations to the young people (and to their parents)! Finishing High School means completing a very important stage of education and allows you to focus on the future.
If Higher Education is what your child is interested in, now is the time to find out about the application process and allocation of places. Especially courses which are in high demand, e.g. Computer Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Psychology or Business & Economics are not easy to get into.
It is also worth remembering that UCAS applications for places on MBChB (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) close much earlier than applications to other degrees. Usually, to apply to Medicine, applicants have to submit by mid October each year. On top of school grades, applicants to MBChB also have to provide their score in the University Clinical Apptitude Test, UCAT. Most universities state the minimum UCAT score on their own websites.
To help a little with the jargon:
Students who already have their final results, e.g. those who finished school a year earlier, might get “unconditional offers” as there is nothing more they need to add. These students just need to confirm if they accept the offer and they can then sit back and wait for the start of their first semester.
Students who apply to university and don’t have their final results, i.e. most of the applicants, will be given a “conditional offer” based on their predicted grades provided by their schools. The conditional offers will then become “unconditional” if the August results confirm the predicted grades. However, if the published results are not as good as expected, the unversities can withdraw their offers. This process frees places for “clearing”.
Entry Requirements:
As an example of typical expectations, the University of Edinburgh standard entry requirements are AAAA in SQA Highers or A*AA in A Levels (39 points with 666 at HL in the International Baccalaureate). A “B” in Advanced Higher can count as an “A” in Higher, which is worth remembering!
Clearing:
The Clearing process offers remaining places at universities. These are allocated on the first come, first served basis. To apply for these places, students need to contact the admissions teams at the universities per email and phone as soon as the Clearing opens. However, not all degree programmes and universities go into Clearing. For example, the MBChB Medicine Programme at Edinburgh University never goes into Clearing as it is oversubscribed every year. This will be similar for other universities and courses with a high level of interest.
How our service, BK Tutoring, can support you:
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- curriculum-based online tuition in most high-demand school subjects
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- preparing your personal statement for UCAS applications (there is new way of writing it up from 2024)
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- understanding the entry requirements for your chosen university and degree programme
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- UCAT tuition for applicants to Medicine
Contact us to get expert tuition support for UCAT or for your final exam next summer!
