University Application and UCAS (Universities and Schools Admissions Service)
The majority of students apply to their choice of universities in the Michaelmas Term of their final year. As with everything at Earlscliffe, a personalised approach is provided for university applications. We help Earlscliffe students to make the right subject choices on commencing their studies with us, and guide them carefully through the university application process, while maintaining the focus on academic aims and objectives.
The university application process begins when students start their A-levels at Earlscliffe. We use Unifrog, a dedicated online platform, to help students research, plan and prepare for their chosen post-Earlscliffe pathway.
In the Trinity Term of Year 12, students are taken off timetable for a week to complete their UCAS form and begin their Personal Statements. Subject teachers run workshops to help students with their Personal Statement and provide subject-specific guidance. The UCAS Personal Statement is a 4000-character document which supports university applications. Many staff are available to help students with this and offer personalised coaching to ensure that the Personal Statement is tailored to both the universities and courses that a student is applying to.
Students will need to show enthusiasm and understanding of the subject they want to study in their personal statement. This will include reference to the following: relevant work experience, wider reading, online courses, subject knowledge and why they want to study that particular subject at university.
If students are applying to study at university in the UK, they will apply to five universities (via UCAS) in the Michaelmas Term of their final year. Each student will be given a considerable amount of guidance covering their selection of courses and universities.
UCAS forms are typically submitted to universities just after October half term – except for students who wish to study at Oxford, Cambridge or any of the following courses: Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science, who have the deadline of October 15th. However, if a student joins us in the Hilary term, we will work with them individually to ensure that they meet the final deadline of 15th January.
Once applications have been submitted, we work with students to ensure that they choose the most suitable universities for their final two UCAS choices (first and second choice). If a student is called for interview, we are on hand to provide mock interviews and thorough feedback to help them do their best at interview and secure an offer from their favoured university.
We also provide support for students who want to apply to universities outside the UK. If students wish to continue their studies abroad, they can work on these applications during the time when the other students are working on their UCAS applications, and our staff will support them with their applications to the universities of their choice.
Careers Counselling
Earlscliffe students begin thinking about careers from the moment they arrive. Whilst it is true that many of the students do not know what careers they would like to follow, our role is to guide each student into making informed decisions. This guidance takes many forms.
The Unifrog website is used extensively throughout the students’ time here at Earlscliffe as both a repository for the students’ academic and wider curricular achievements and also as an information portal. This helps the students to be organised as well as informed. We also support students with the use of more specialised portals such as the Medic Portal and the Lawyer Portal. We use the wider careers network provided by Dukes Education to provide the highest levels of support.
Support is also given to the students regarding the logistics of work experience in the summer holidays between Year 12 and Year 13: from the vital work experience required for students who want to study medicine, dentistry and veterinary studies, through to students wishing to study Hotel Management learning the ropes in a hotel during the summer season.
Careers counselling is also an integral part of the UCAS process. Conversations are held between the student and their advisers that encompass not just the choice of degree but also employability. In a world where, increasingly, people have more than one career during their lifetime, they need to at least consider this possibility when choosing their University degree, to give them the widest skill sets possible.
All of this is supplemented with regular visiting speakers who come and give the students an insider’s view of particular careers.