UK university admissions happen through an online application portal called UCAS. This has the following sections:

1. Register with UCAS and fill out basic information on your identity (e.g. name, address, residency status).

2. Add your existing qualifications and results (e.g. GCSEs) and your current studies (for which your school will supply predicted grades).

3. Add details of your employment history if applicable.

4. Select up to five course choices.

5. Submit your Personal Statement, which may be a maximum of 4,000 characters and 47 lines.

6. Submit your application; UCAS will then collect a reference from your school.

In addition to this, some highly selective university courses also have additional application requirements, which are arranged separately from UCAS.

• For admissions tests, you are required to register as a candidate at a test centre (usually your school). 

• Some courses may also require you to submit written work; creative courses may ask for an artistic portfolio.

• If you are required to attend an interview, the university will contact you directly.

Universities assess applications on the basis of the following criteria:

1. Your existing academic attainment and confirmed grades (e.g. GCSEs).

2. Your predicted grades (e.g. A Levels, IB).

3. The quality and content of your Personal Statement – admissions tutors are looking for evidence of your passion for the subject, motivation for further study, and academic engagement beyond what you learn in the school curriculum. This will help them to get a sense of what you are like as an individual and your suitability for the course.

4. Additional insights about your suitability from the reference from your teacher.

If your course has additional application steps, you will also be assessed on:

• Your performance in the admissions test

• The quality of your written work or portfolio

• Your performance at interview

Competitive UK universities are under increasing social pressure to diversify their intake, and this includes increasing their proportion of state school students. However, this does not mean that they look unfavourably on candidates from private schools. Universities ultimately prioritise academic excellence: they want the best candidates regardless of their background, and as such their decisions will be based fundamentally on evidence of academic potential.

In practice, the emphasis on diversity means that, if two candidates were completely equally academically qualified for one place but Student A had been to a private school and Student B had been to a state school, a university would be likely to choose B (on the grounds that A would have benefitted from the opportunities and support of a private school in reaching this standard).

Similarly, there is an expectation that students who have attended a private school are in a more advantaged position when it comes to achieving the required grades. To balance this, students may receive slightly lower grade requirements than the standard offer due to ‘contextual offers’, an increasingly common measure which enables students’ educational circumstances to be taken into account when assessing academic merit.

UK universities are very keen on taking students from all over the world, and around 20% of students across all UK universities are international. Likewise, teaching faculties include experts from all over the world. This means that UK universities are excitingly global and multicultural places to be.

The number of international students varies across each university; for instance, London universities, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow have particularly high proportions of international students.

UK universities are becoming increasingly diverse, particularly given their high numbers of international students who represent a wide range of nationalities and cultural backgrounds. This can greatly enhance your university experience, enabling you to make friends with other students from all over the world, who speak different languages and bring different cultural perspectives and traditions. You can also find more information about the cultural diversity of particular universities here.

Religious diversity can also be seen in the array of very active societies and places of worship there are for students of different religions. 

Racial diversity, particularly in terms of increasing the participation of BAME students from the UK, is something that universities have been particularly keen to improve in recent years. Outreach programmes and student societies are also helping to increase the diversity of applicants.

In the UK, it is usual for first year students to live in university accommodation. Living in student halls in this way is a good way to make friends! Students may be able to choose their accommodation buildings or colleges, and can consider factors such as location, size, catered or self-catered, pricing, and on-site facilities. In subsequent years, students will typically find somewhere to live in the city with a group of friends, or in private student accommodation; there may also be some opportunities to stay in university accommodation.

At Oxford and Cambridge, colleges are able to provide undergraduate students with accommodation for some or all of the years of their course. Accommodation provision could be a factor to consider in choosing a college, as some colleges are able to guarantee students accommodation for the duration of their course.

In the UK, the academic year runs from September to August, and is split into three terms. It is usual for terms to be around 12 weeks long, sometimes with a ‘reading week’ halfway through. These terms are separated by a couple of weeks of holiday around Christmas and Easter, with the longest break over the summer between each academic year. 

However, the dates and duration of the terms varies considerably across each university. For instance, Oxford and Cambridge have much shorter 8-week terms. Scottish universities also operate on a different basis, with two longer ‘semesters’. 

Many students will take a part-time or occasional job alongside their university studies; there may also be jobs available on the campus. International students should ensure they comply with any restrictions regarding how many hours they can work.

Some universities issue guidance about the number of hours that students should take on to ensure they have sufficient time for their studies, particularly if the workload is high. Students may also prefer to take on work during the holidays for this reason.

The idea of being surrounded by high-achieving peers, who are often very multi-talented as well as academically impressive, may seem a little intimidating. Certainly, the phrase ‘imposter syndrome’ is one that you often hear in regard to competitive universities and courses! However, there are many more positives than negatives to being part of this high-achieving culture: gaining network of friends who are intellectually curious and driven, being able to join in a rich and varied extracurricular scene, and feeling challenged to continue improving and reach a very high standard with your studies. Furthermore, universities recognise the potential pressure that students might experience, and take care to offer very good welfare and mental health provision.