Applications to UK universities

Applying to the UK for university

The application deadline is fast approaching for some subjects.  Applications are not made directly to the university.  They are made through a clearing house called UCAS at http://www.ucas.ac.uk  The site is very user-friendly and you do not have to complete the application in one shot.  You can enter some information, save it and return to complete it some other time.

Application deadline

15 October - application deadline for the receipt at UCAS of applications for all medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and veterinary science courses and for all courses at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. 15 January - application deadline for all other courses.

.

What to fill in

There are several sections to fill in including sections called Registration, Personal Details, Choices, Education (Manarat!), Employment (paid  only),  Personal Statement, References and Declaration.  OK and the money of course –nothing is free, especially in the UK!  UK candidates can also fill in an additional section, called (rather obviously) 'Additional Information'.

Choices

Make sure you include a range of universities, based on your expected grades.  Even if you expect  straight As, include one or two that accept As and Bs to cover yourself.

Make your choices based  on ranking of the faculty, costs of fees (Cambridge and Oxford are very expensive owing to College and Faculty fees), costs of living (very high in London) and proximity to Muslim communities (London, Manchester, Birmingham…?). 

For information on ranking of faculties, click on the following link:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/universityguide

Personal Statement

This is arguably one of the most important parts of the application: in some cases as important as the grades.  Believe it or not!  It has to be well written in formal English, presented well and should not contain grammatical mistakes. The web site has some good guidance on this.