Guidance for College Applicants to University
Your HNC qualification might enable you to move directly into 2nd year of a degree, or your HND could lead to 3rd year entry. This means you could achieve your degree within the usual 4 year timescale, get into the workforce quicker and reduce your student debt.
Our Student Advisers will be able to tell you about the articulation routes we have agreed with universities. You can also use the Pathways App to research all the articulation routes that exist in the South East of Scotland.
UCAS Key Dates
2nd October 2023
Application deadline for conservatoire music applications – check conservatoires’ websites for information.
16th October 2023
Application deadline for Medicine, Veterinary Science, Dentistry and degrees at Oxford or Cambridge.
31st January 2024
Application deadline for most undergraduate courses and most conservatoire undergraduate dance, drama, or musical theatre courses.
28th February 2024
Extra opens. Extra is another chance for you to gain a place at university or college, between 23 February and 4 July.
16th May 2024
Universities have until today to decide if they’re making you an offer on applications submitted by 31st January.
6th June 2024
You need to reply to offers by this date, if you received all decisions by 16 May.
30th June 2024
Last date for receipt of applications with choices. Applications received after this deadline are automatically
entered into Clearing.
4th July 2024
Extra Closes.
5th July 2024
UCAS Clearing opens
17th July 2024
University decisions due for applications submitted by 30 June.
Research your choices carefully
- Will you be able to meet the entry qualifications?
Don’t forget to check for Nat 5 English and Maths requirements, as these may be required. - Is your Access course accepted at the university of your choice? Use the SWAP Progression Finder to check.
- Does your HN qualification get you 2nd or 3rd year entry to the degree of your choice?
Open Days
Open Days are a fantastic opportunity for you to see the university; its campus/es and facilities, as well as speak with current students and members of staff who teach on the degree programme(s) you are interested in.
More information about Open Days, including how to book on to them, can be found on each university’s website in the run up to the dates.
Application Advice
Your Personal Statement
- Make the space count. Don’t waste precious space by telling us your information that can be found elsewhere in your UCAS Application, and we don’t need “Dear Sir/Madam” at the beginning or “Yours sincerely” at the end.
- Think creatively about your experience for your chosen subject, for example have you been on a visit anywhere related to your subject, or perhaps you keep up to date with sector developments by reading journal articles.
- You don’t have to tell us everything. We would prefer to see a few examples of things you have done that really demonstrate your key skills, rather than a list of everything you have ever taken part in!
- Your course choices should all be in a related field. It will be very hard to impress an admissions tutor with your personal statement if you are trying to make it applicable to very different courses eg. Law and Dance Performance!
- Don’t plagiarise – your statement will be compared to thousands of others in the system from previous years, and against websites, and any copying will be detected.
- Make an impact with your opening sentence. Avoid commonly used phrases like: “From a young age, I have always been interested in…”, “For a long time I have always been fascinated by….” or “….is an area I have always been interested in”. And avoid using quotes!
- Don’t try to be funny. Remember the admissions tutor will probably not have the same sense of humour as you, and any jokes may mean they do not give your application the consideration it deserves.
- Use academic style language and check your spelling and grammar.
Responding to Offers
You must respond to your offers by the deadline or your offers will all be declined by default. You should respond with:
- 1 x Firm acceptance (your first choice)
This can be unconditional (UF) or conditional (CF). If it is conditional, you will need to meet the conditions of the offer. - 1 x Insurance acceptance (your back-up choice)
This can be conditional (CI) or unconditional (UI), but should be lower conditions than your firm choice (make sure it is still somewhere you are happy to study) - Decline all other offers
Additional Support
If you’ve had additional support at college, please forward your support plan and evidence of need to the disability team at your new university. The college will not do this for you.
If you want to apply, or learn more about Disabled Student Allowance, you can find more information here:
Student Award Agency Scotland (SAAS) Funding
SAAS will open for applications in April 2021. Apply once you have an offer of a place and before the deadline of 30th June. Don’t wait until your College results are confirmed before applying. If you miss the 30th June deadline your funding may not be in place for you starting your course in September.
Need help?
The university you are applying for will usually have a point of contact you can use to get help and guidance for the application process. We have listed a few below.