III. Admission to uk colleges and universities and tuition fees

1. Consider the vocabulary which may be of help while talking about the admission procedure to uk universities and colleges

• to admit — to allow entry; to give entrance or access • to be admitted to/ a university, to be accepted by a university • admission - the act or process of admitting; the state or privilege of being admitted • to apply for admission, e.g. She applied for admission to Moscow University. • admission application, to submit an admission application • applicant/a candidate • university admission board, an admission office, e.g. Before she took her entrance exams, she had submitted her admission application and her school leaving certificate to the Moscow University admission board. • to enroll in (AmE), to enter (BrE) (a) university • reference — a statement (letter) regarding a person's character, abili­ties, etc. • referee — someone who writes a letter about someone else, describing their work or personal qualities

2. What is your view of an ideal university admission system? Think in terms of its a) main objective

b) screening devices

c) stress levels for applicants

d) efficiency

3.A Read the text about the British admission system and be ready to discuss it, contributing your own ideas. Applying for uni: when and how

Now you've figured out which universities and courses you like the look of, it's time to apply. To be admitted to a British university, a person has to apply to the Universities and Colleges Admission System (UCAS). It deals with placing the applicants into a university or a college and handles all UK full-time undergraduate applications. You can get an application form from schools, colleges, and career offices and or you can apply on the UCAS website using the Electronic Application System (EAS).

Completing the Application Form:

– Get hold of UCAS's free handbook. It contains all the details and the course and institutional codes you'll need for the form.

– Only the original UCAS form will be accepted, so practice on a photocopy. Write clearly, use a black, ballpoint pen or a standard black typeface (e.g. Times New Roman, no smaller than 12 point). Decide, if you want to defer an entry and put a D in the deferred box, if you do, leave it blank, if you don't.

– On the application form, you have to list six universities in order of preference. You can also write only two or three names, stating that if not accepted by these universities, you would be willing to go to any other. Remember, it costs £15 to between 2 to 6 places – or £5 to apply to one.

– You have also to list Route A or Route B courses, you would like to apply to. If you're applying for a medical course, only four of your six courses can be for this subject. For most courses UCAS must receive your application form between 1 September and 15 January in the academic year before university entry.

– Sell yourself in your personal statement.

– The form must be sent together with an account of your out-of-school activities and two references, one of which must be from the head teacher of your school. To obtain a reference from him/her pass your form, together with the completed and stamped acknowledgement card and fee, to your referee, and then forward your application to UCAS.

– Don't attach additional papers to your application. Wait until you've received your acknowledgement letter and application number from UCAS, and then send anything straight to the university quoting your application number.

– You can only apply once each application year.

Selection

UCAS sends photocopies of the application form to the universities concerned. Each applicant is first considered by the university admission board. Students are admitted to British universities largely on the basis of their performance in the examinations for the General Certificate of Education at ordinary and advanced levels. The selection procedure is rather complicated. In some cases the board sends the applicant a refusal. This may happen, for example, if the board receives a form in which their university is the applicant's sixth choice and the university already has many candidates. If there are no reasons for immediate refusal, the university admission officer passes the applicant's papers on to the academic department concerned. One or two members of the department will then look at the candidate's application, see what he says about himself, look at his marks at the ordinary level examinations. see what his head teacher and the other referee say about him. This will allow the department to make the applicant an offer (either a definite offer or a conditional one) or send him a definite rejection.

As a rule the department makes a conditional offer. This means that the applicant will be accepted by the university if he fulfills the requirements stated in the offer concerning the results of the coming Advanced Level examinations. In his turn, the applicant may accept the offer conditionally.

When the Advanced Level examination results come out in August, the university admission department assesses whether the applicant has fulfilled the requirements of the conditional offer, and, if he has, mails him a definite offer. The applicant must accept or refuse within 72 hours.

Clearing: How It Works

If you don't quite match the grades for your Conditional offer, you can still get a place at university or college through the Clearing system. Clearing isn't a mad scramble for a handful of places, nor is it a 'last-ditch' option -over 40,000 people each year find a place through the system.

The Clearing Process

The UCAS Clearing service matches candidates up with suitable higher education vacancies.

If you're eligible for Clearing, UCAS will automatically send you a Clearing Entry Form (CEF) and an information booklet.

Vacancies are listed in the Independent and The Independent on Sunday starting from the 12 August 2003 for Scottish vacancies and from the 14 August for the rest of the UK.

Vacancies will also be published in the Daily Mirror in August 2003.

Call our free BBC One Life; results helpline on 0808 100 8000. Open continuously from results day until 31 August 2003, you can talk to a careers adviser who will have access to all the latest information on Clearing, vacancies and even be able to tell you if you've got your place - even if you're not got your results yet!

Remember, Clearing Is Not An Option For You If Any Of The Following Apply:

You have withdrawn from the UCAS scheme.

Your conditional offer has been confirmed.

You decide not to take your confirmed offer.

Take a look at our Clearing Q&A for more information.