Is it possible to tell how likely it is a uni place will be offered?

Some excellent courses may also be sandwich courses so do not overlook them either.

MEng does mean the Engineer can get Chartered status quicker but that, to some extent, will depend on the quality of the employer too and how they train their grad Engineers.Doing a stand alone MEng does allow for greater specialism but the MEng courses do specialise more in Y4 anyway so it really depends on the university experience and initial grades.

What type of Engineering does he want to do? As you might expect, there is a pecking of universities and if they can ask for AAA, then they are top drawer, but that does not mean to say that the "lesser" universities have grads that do not do well. They do and they may even stay in Engineering. Plenty of Engineering grads go into the city and train as accountants or similar, so not all go into Engineering grad schemes by any means.

Doing work experience is a big bonus when finding employment so ask around at home for holiday placements. In my DH's company they are always on the lookout for suitable grads so getting in early is no hindrance.

My DS did a MEng at UCL, which was a four year course. He could have cashed in his degree at the end of third year for a BEng.

I imagine a reason for choosing a BEng from the outset is lower entry requirements, and the desire for a 3-year course. If going into one of the big engineering professions, it is quicker to get chartered from an MEng. It's also more desirable for major engineering employers.

If it makes no difference, a BEng saves a year's fee/maintenance, and gets you earning sooner.

Depending on the university and course structure, a 4-year course may give the student the option to do elective courses. In a 3-year engineering course, it is likely to be all compulsory modules.

If your ds wanted to specialise in a particular area for masters he could do a beng first and then apply somewhere different but most places have common first years and depending on results stay on MEng or drop to beng. I think it is more straightforward uni finance wise to apply for a MEng. Have a look via unistats at employability, salaries etc post study. Some non Rg unis have excellent specialised courses with great industry links.

“Unless he chooses the most competitive universities”. I did qualify what I said. I know some do ask for high grades but some don’t and are lower for BEng. You can transfer into MEng if you do well. You wouldn’t put all 5 choices as universities wanting AAA would you? Therefore you can get a place but not everyone will apply for the AAA courses anyway. It’s not as if there are not enough courses to go round. There are; so unless your DS is aiming very high, there’s little need to worry. Plenty of employers will be glad he’s breathing! Believe me! Writing well? A bonus really!

It depends, bubbles - could be anything from AAA.

Engineering is hardly the most competitive to get into. So he shouldn’t have any difficulties unless he chooses the very competitive universities where they get lots of highly qualified applicants. . As employment prospects are good, in most Engineering disciplines, it’s a relatively rosy future - particularly if your communication skills are good as well! It’s just a choice of MEng or BEng, engineering discipline now there are so many choices, and finding out which one he prefers.

What they say in a public document should match what they say at an open day. I am surprised there is a mismatch. I really would ensure the PS is excellent in every way. I assume your DC is not just applying to one university. What do the others want and how do they weight the PS?

I've been to that talk too Lonerica. They said they only check the PS for 'red flags' after selection based on UKCAT, interview etc. But perhaps terrible spelling would be a red flag for a medicine application.

BubblesBuddy that's not what they said at the subject talk for medicine.

Donaj - it IS bums on seats sorry - particularly if they recruited through clearing.

However now that you're actually there they want you to succeed hence the extra classes.

My point was that they didn’t on entry if they do not read the PS. As DH recruits engineers I can assure the standard of English can be woeful and some graduates cannot be allowed to write emails to clients because of this. If only they had been to
English tutorials!

I know most universities will get students up to speed on writing essays but not all degrees require essays.

bubbles I'm in a non RG university and got in as a mature student. My BTEC was so old it couldn't be converted to UCAS points. I'm in a cohort with around 50% mature and the rest I think came either via clearing or with BTEC. So I did have a thought that it was a bums on seats sort of thing.
I couldn't be more wrong. There is a huge emphasis on Academic Writing. We've been assessed on our entry level writing and anyone who isn't demonstrating at least some potential is put into extra tutorials. The University clearly very much expects high standards.

Newcastle say in bold letters that they “take into account your whole application, not just results”. On top of the list is the PS. I would read their admissions document Lonicera.

At the University of Bristol, the PS is weighted 50% when applications are assessed for medicine. I would check the web site for every course. How different they are!

How much weight given to the personal statement depends on the course and the university.

DD is applying for medicine. Newcastle have said that they pay very little attention to the personal statement. They look at it last after weighing up all the other options. Other universities are more interested in it.

If it’s non RG (although some non RG are very competitive eg Bath) then mostly they are recruiting universities and not selecting. Some will look at the ps if they have selecting courses. If they are bums on seats at all costs, then they probably won’t read them. They may also have high drop out rates too. If a young person exceeds the basic educational requirements and has any extra required (portfolio, work experience for example) and can write an accurate ps, then they should get offered a place.

I feel sorry for employers who actually think a degree means they are taking on someone who can write good English when they employ a graduate! Perhaps if people did get pulled up on poor English we might be a better educated country and students from a wider range of universities might get top graduate jobs. Communication is important and anyone who cannot check a PS or get it checked is unacceptably slack. Of course some employers do know and do not offer jobs to people who cannot write an accurate application. Straight in the bin!

OP has posted a lot in the past about her DS doing BTEC in IT/computing subjects. OP also says in the first post that the course is not a RG (~"high tariff") course.

User are you the OP? You seem to know a lot about the course OP’s Ds is applying for?

The UCAS offer rate calculator gives a percentage estimate of how likely an offer will be made based on UCAS’s stats for previous years. It only works for predicted A Level grades though:

www.ucas.com/advisers/offer-rate-calculator/

DD’s bf visited a uni on Saturday where attendees were told that out of approx 1000 applicants an initial 600 would be rejected purely based on their personal statements.

But this is just not representative of an average university course: with income dependent on student numbers, the vast majority of courses simply cannot afford to do anything but offer to all qualified candidates.

You must be talking about a very competitive subject at a very competitive university - most courses have offer rates well above 80%.

Somehow MN seems determined to make university entrance much harder than it actually is. For OP's subject area (tech, computing), for courses that accept BTEC, candidates with the required predicted grades are almost certain to get offers, regardless of the detailed contents of personal statements. For such courses the decisions aren't even made by academics - they are made by administrators according to simple rules set by the academics.

I’m not so sure about that user! DD’s bf visited a uni on Saturday where attendees were told that out of approx 1000 applicants an initial 600 would be rejected purely based on their personal statements - and yes he is now very motivated to work on his personal statement!

That's assuming a personal statement free from spelling and grammar mistakes.

Huh? You seriously think that spelling and grammar mistakes in personal statements are likely to play a role in any university offer?

(OP's DS is not applying to a high tariff, high competition institution and he is not applying for an essay based subject either. The chance that personal statement will play any role in the decision is small, let alone SPAG mistakes in the statement coming into play.)