How do admissions processes work?
Responding to university decisions - worksheet A
Teachers and advisers can provide this resource to their students to help them decide what their next steps will be once they have received a response from the universities they have applied to.
This activity is designed to help your students who have received offers to make decisions on their firm and insurance choice and think about the reasons behind them. Instructions for how teachers and advisers can use this activity are available.
Useful links
Access and Participation Plans
Every university publishes an Access and Participation Plans which sets out what they are doing to reduce inequalities. Here you can find out more about the plans and look up the plan for a particular institution.
Carers Trust
Carers Trust is a charity which works to improve support for those who are unpaid carers for family members or friends. Their website contains resources on the subject of Higher Education
Complete University Guide - Clearing
This article from the Complete University Guide provides a checklist for teachers to get their students ready for Clearing.
Fair Education Alliance contextual admissions report
This report from the Fair Education Alliance published in 2018 examines the current use of contextual data in the university admissions process.
National Network for the Education of Care Leavers
NNECL provides Higher Education activities and resources for care leavers, children in care and those who support them.
Office for Students
The Office for Students is the regulator for the Higher Education sector in England.
Propel
This website provides a guide for teachers to support them in encouraging care leavers to consider college or university as an option.
Russell Group - Pathways For Potential
The Russell Group's Pathways For Potential report sets out a roadmap for tacking educational inequality and improving access to Higher Education.
Standalone
Standalone supports those who have been estranged from their family. Their website provides information about support, financing studies and accommodation options as an estranged student.
UCAS account login
The UCAS website allows applicants to follow the progress of their applications online. They will receive university decisions through this website.
UCAS Clearing
This useful UCAS webpage provides information on entering Clearing.
UCAS Extra
This UCAS webpage offers information on their Extra service, for students who have received decisions from all five universities or colleges and weren't accepted, or if they declined the offers they received.
UCAS Key dates
This is a useful UCAS webpage summarising all the key dates relevant to undergraduate university applications.
UCAS - supporting care leavers
This UCAS webpage provides useful advice for care leavers applying to higher education.
University websites - contextual admissions
Links to further detail on the use of contextual information by our Advancing Access university partners are listed below. Please note this is not an exhaustive list and you should check individual university websites for further information.
- University of Birmingham
- University of Bristol
- University of Cambridge
- Cardiff University
- Durham University
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Exeter
- University of Glasgow
- Imperial College London
- King's College London
- University of Leeds
- University of Liverpool
- London School of Economics and Political Science
- University of Manchester
- Newcastle University – also see www.ncl.ac.uk/schools/partners for more information
- University of Nottingham
- University of Oxford
- Queen Mary University of London
- Queen's University Belfast
- University of Sheffield
- University of Southampton
- University College London
- University of Warwick
- University of York
Universities UK - Fair admissions code of practice
A code of practice for undergraduate admissions published by Universities UK which universities have agreed to follow.
