How Are Applicants Selected?

Below you will find a brief summary of how admissions tutors select applicants for their courses. Look at this page to see how this translates into the tactics you should employ to give yourself the best chance of an offer. You also need to understand entry profiles and the UCAS Tariff system.

General selection policies

University and college departmental admissions tutors are responsible for selecting candidates. Theirs is a hard job because they do not know if an applicant will get his predicted grades, nor if he will accept the place even if he does get the grades. In a course where there are, say, 50 places and 200 applicants (a fairly low demand course, bearing in mind that each applicant may have also applied for 4 other universities), the admissions tutor will seek to get about 40 firm acceptances and 40 insurance acceptances.

What is he or she looking for? There is little doubt that academic achievement and academic promise are the most important factors, although many other things are taken into consideration.

• Enthusiasm and Academic interest in your subject.
• Academic achievement.
  • GCSE results. Range of subjects studied; time taken to obtain passes, number of A* grades.
• Current progress in A Levels subjects and expected grades. These will form the main part of your housemaster's reference. Your GCSEs and A Level predicted grades are the first thing tutors look for and so can be the most important factor in the selection process.
• Academic potential. Interest in your chosen subject; academic strengths and weaknesses, possibly revealed at interview; academic motivation.
• Personal qualities. Powers of expression, independence of mind, industry, determination, sense of purpose and lots more. Your personal statement and your reference will help the tutor fill in your picture.
• Interests. Again, as revealed in your personal statement. A good, convincing entry could make the difference for a borderline candidate. "Shopping lists" (a tedious list of School and House teams, certificates gained and so on) with no depth are useless.
• Key Skills. Universities are increasingly looking for evidence of "transferable skills." Communication, numeracy, IT, teachability. Ability to solve problems, work in groups, responsible for your own learning and performance.