The UCAS application is your chance to really shine and impress the universities you want to apply to! It is important to give yourself enough time to finish your application, especially the all-important personal statement. To help, SHU Progress has put together some top tips on making your UCAS application as strong as possible.

1) Tell UCAS about yourself 

When making your UCAS application you will be asked if you have a disability or if you have been in care. The information you provide will not disadvantage your application to university in any way but will be used to ensure you receive information about all the support available to you. We have published additional support pages on disclosing your circumstances in your application. You can access these using the buttons at the bottom of this page. 

2) Make an informed choice 

On UCAS you can make a maximum of five choices. Make sure you do your research about the University and the course as both need to right for you. Find out more by watching this video. 

The University: Look at University websites and attend open days, where possible. When choosing where to study you may wish to research beyond the course including looking at the Students’ Union, accommodation, student support and facilities. 

The Course: Make sure you research the content of a course at each institution. Even though they may have the same course title they can be very different. You may wish to compare the modules studied, assessment methods, accreditation and work placement opportunities. 

3) Your Personal Statement 

If you are feeling a bit daunted at the prospect of writing your personal statement, here is some advice that may help you: 

  • Show your commitment: You need to show you are dedicated to the course area you are applying to by talking about why you’re interested in the subject area, and how you’ve demonstrated this. If you are struggling – don’t worry, you still have some time to do something about it e.g. do some work or voluntary experience, join an extra-curricular activity or complete some reading around the subject. 
  • Be original: Make sure you write your own personal statement in your own words. You want your statement to read clearly and professionally, whilst showing your true achievements and interests. UCAS has a similarity detection service and can identify if you have copied your personal statement. UCAS will inform the institutions you have applied to if any plagiarism is detected. 
  • Stand out: Make yourself stand out and show why you should be chosen to study on the course. You can do this by writing positively about your achievements and how these will prepare you for your course or university study. From your achievements you will have a lot of transferable skills or experiences which will relate to your course. 
  • Do not go over: Personal statements should be no longer than 47 lines/4000 characters, so make sure you keep it to the right length.
  • Check it: Get someone else to read over what you have written. Your referee would be a good person to do this.
  • Remember: Your personal statement will go to all the institutions you have chosen. Be sure to keep it generic so it will be relevant to all your choices. To help you get it right, we recommend you that you try out UCAS’ Personal Statement Tool to help consider what you want to include and how to structure it. 
  • More tips and advice: you can find more information and tips for completing your personal statement on Hallam’s website.
4) Your referee 

For your UCAS application you will more than likely require a referee to write a reference about you. Your reference is used by admissions tutors to assess your aptitude, readiness to study and capability. The reference needs to be completed by someone who knows you in an academic or professional capacity e.g. teacher, careers adviser or employer. 

It is important you give your referee lots of notice to write your reference as your UCAS application will not be submitted to your choices until they have completed their section. 

5) Know your entry requirements

Entry requirements can sometimes be tricky to decipher. Some courses require you to have grades in specific subjects, some just ask for UCAS points. This tariff calculator by UCAS is a really easy to use tool which should help you to pick a course to match your grades. 

6) Additional advice on your circumstances 

In addition to our top tips above, SHU Progress has also put together some helpful advice based on your personal circumstances. Please visit the page relevant to you by clicking on one of the links: