What do you feel “looks good” on ucas form or job applications?

[Bonappetite]

People always say that Duke of Edinburgh looks good on ucas form. But what else does?
my dc are particularly sporty or musically minded. Although they have enjoyed scouts. And have recently done some beginner training in sailing. I am on the look out for other things that may look good. All their friends seem to be virtually county level in various sports, but what if you aren’t sporty?

Year 7 and 8 just now

Great point Emmathedilemma !

For UK unis, think super curricular not extra curricular. That stuff isn't really relevant and massively privileges rich kids whose parents can pay for activities.

My DD's sixth form told them not to put DofE unless it was gold. Most of DD's personal statement was about the subject she was applying for. There was only about three sentences about her.

Ah you see my parents couldn’t afford much extra activities for us and I didn’t need it on the forms any way as my grades were good. But I assumed things had changed now, obviously not.

With DofE a lot depends on what the student chooses for their sections and how it links to their course.

This is a good point. I know my niece mentioned hers as he'd volunteered at a castle and was applying for history whereas my dd did hers at her sports club so it wasn't relevant.

Definitely volunteering, and especially over a sustained period. I’m much more impressed at even 1 hour a week helping at Brownies, an old people’s home or charity shop over 1 year or 18m than I am seeing a couple of weeks graft just before UCAS form was submitted.

Also, something that doesn’t look like your parents swung it for you 🤣

My daughter does Fire Brigade Cadets as her only extra curricular activity. Not very many people do it so we thought it would be something interesting to talk about at her first (Saturday) job interview. We wanted her to do something (anything) that would give her something to talk about that shows perserverance, resilience and leadership skills. Something that shows that she'll turn up to work every week, that she can follow instructions and work in a team.

She's likely to do an arts degree so her portfolio will be much more relevant but who knows what they'll ask at her interview and maybe cadets might get a mention?

If not, she's having a brilliant time, learning lots about herself and developing loads of life skills. She's also unlikely to set the uni halls on fire and will be able to put her drunk friends in the recovery position!! 😂

D of E is fine, but appears in many UCAS forms these days. That alone isn't enough to make someone stand out. However elements of it are, if the skills and volunteering , etc are linked to the application.

For DD's course it was the work experience through regular volunteering over the years, that made her stand out - based on the feedback from her interviews. Lots of very relevant experience working in the right type of settings, with a mix of diversity within that.

I’ve always said to my dc that it doesn’t really matter what it is you do it’s about identifying the skills and development from what you have done. For example just saying bronze dofe doesn’t really say much - talking about the teamwork and perseverance in the expedition or the reliability and punctuality for the volunteering or why they chose the skill I think is the important thing. All useful when asked to give an example of team work in an application form or interview.

Something relevant to the subject they want to study.
But mostly the personal statement should show their passion for their subject - why they want to study it, specific aspects that particularly interest them, what they hope to do in the future using that degree.
Right now you'd be better off giving them a wide range of experiences and encouraging them to explore what really grabs their attention.

Not for uni, but at the company I work for we recruit a lot of students. I look for them to have a commitment to something. A good stint of volunteering, a few years as part of a club / team / group, or a year or so working for the same employer before moving to our city.

Actually as someone who reads hundreds of ucas applications every year I’m very aware it’s typically the middle class kids who can afford to have the extra curricular activities, the duke of Edinburgh, the trips to Patagonia “volunteering” to help build a village, etc. I’m just as impressed by someone who holds down a job in McDonald’s for two years while doing Alevels or volunteering in the oxfam shop. I’m mainly looking at the personal statement for demonstrating one enthusiasm for the subject.

The advice from school was that everything on there needs to link to their subject - however obliquely - so if they volunteer at brownies and are applying for a creative subject then you talk about doing craft with them but if applying for economics you'd emphasise helping them pass their Money Manager badge. Commitment to one thing (a job, volunteering, playing in a band, etc) better than a scattergun of lots of things. Also encouraging them to read the news or a magazine linked to what they want to do.

I was looking at degree apprentice applications and scouting or scout leadership would have won an interview regardless of anything else.
Any kind of regular thing which requires contribution and using your initiative would be great.
Volunteering for St John's ambulance or part time job as a life guard or anything like that would help.
Mostly because it shows that you know you have to rely on yourself or a team to get stuff done, not that mummy and daddy do it all for you.

With mine, I think it was the grades that mattered. And interest in the subject.

If they are Yr 7 and Yr 8 I think for the time being they need to focus on being 11/12 and 12/13.

Mine both had a gap year. I think they got their unconditional Oxbridge offers based on 44 IB points and 4 x A* A'levels respectively. Neither did DofE.

super helpful!

It's good you are thinking ahead, but an activity they do in Year 7 or 8 is not really relevant to their UCAS form or a job application.
And they are prime years for losing enthusiasm in previous activities.
A lot of volunteering will want the DC to be 14 (or 16) so they are too young. If they are scouts/guides they could help out at cubs/brownies. But tbh they should be doing activities because they interest them and not just to look good on a form. They are more likely to stick at them if nothing else!

Year 7 and 8 is not the right time to be worrying about a UCAS application.

Encourage them to develop a passion in something outside of school studies. Scouts is ideal or it could be local history, cooking, ice skating, archery, stop motion. It could be a school production (front or back stage or a student leadership/ charity committee)

Just something That shows commitment and personal growth and interacting with adults on non student teacher relationship .Developing an interest in world and current affairs.

Develop their self esteem and being able to sell one's self and build up others is also important. To not be conceited .

80% of your personal statement on your UCAS form should be about your passion for the subject you want to study at university. This rises to 100% if applying to Oxbridge. They really do not care if you play the fiddle at grade 8 whilst trekking for your gold D of E - they only care about your passion for maths/english/medicine etc.
Volunteering and work experience is crucial, especially for medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses, and of course you need the grades required for the course you are applying for.
It is a wasted choice to choose a course that requires AAA if you are predicted ABB.
Writing a list of competencies is useless if you can't back them up - you need to show what you have learned from doing X,Y&Z. Use the 'STAR' method to describe your achievements.
Also look at MOOCS when they are in year 12 & 13

For UCAS academics is the most important criteria, its mostly the USA that looks at other extra curricular stuff and takes that into account (I used to be an international college counselor). What I would say always helps is any leadership roles, paid work and service work. It’s better that they have shown commitment to a few activities over a longer time than a scattershot of lots of different things but less commitment. So leading a sports team is just as important as any other kind of leadership.

Many kids these days don’t work before uni, so at least here in the USA paid work is taken into account because it’s accessible to all. It’s obviously not fair if a wealthy student can boast of traveling abroad to do service work which is just not affordable for many students. But anyone can get a paid job of some kind, lowly jobs are expected as they are only teens and it shows responsibility and obviously a dependable work ethic. In fact a lowly job that was held down for some time is seen very positively as so many teens can be unrealistic and paid work is a good reality check. It also shows good time management if they are still doing well in school too.

My kids all starting working as teens and they are all working part time as they study now (22, 19 & 16). My son literally just started his first job on Friday in a Boba cafe and worked 6pm-11pm so he could learn about closing.

I just helped him put together a very basic one page resume (C.V.) which he used when applying.

I have one at uni on the final year of paramedic science and one just started a degree apprenticeship in accounting.

The two things that both used for interviews at uni / apprenticeship that were really helpful were being volunteer young leaders with the younger sections of their scout troop and part time job at McDonald's.

Between referring to those two areas they were able to come up with examples demonstrating most competencies when asked
Ie give me an example of when you have dealt with conflict , implemented change , coped with a disappointing outcome ?

It obviously depends on the degree but showing that they can work with a range of people , lead when necessary and stick at something that's not always pleasant (McDonald's on a Friday night shift ) goes a long way

I don't recruit new graduates any more but it's not about middle class markers like DoE, Queen's Guide, playing an instrument at a high grade, taking a year out and going abroad or playing in a sports team at a high level. We had a job lot of applicants from Bath for a student placement and they were impossible to distinguish them, their CVs were all a list of 'this is what Mummy and Daddy paid for'. It's actually about being able to talk about what you've done and having some passion for it. One new graduate we interviewed gave an example of getting his parents to buy him a pet as an example of his persistence. He got the job. We rate a PT job in a supermarket throughout Uni very highly because it means someone is hard-working and willing to learn.

Having said that my DC absolutely are doing all the middle class stuff themselves because I think it's cultural capital that will pay off much later in more oblique ways so don't underestimate it. It just won't necessarily go on their CV!

My eldest did his UCAS applications in October - for Law at RG Unis. Apart from Football, he has no other clubs / talents / interests. He studies, he plays football, he plays computer games and hangs out with his mates.
He wrote his personal statement - and focused on his interest in the subject, the work experience he had undertaken, the talks he had attended etc etc. It was a really honest, lovely piece of writing. He has all 5 offers already.

DS had offers from everywhere he applied, including Cambridge.

As advised by the university departments when he visited, everything in his personal statement was recent (from start of Y12 onwards) and 95% of it was directly relevant to the subject / course.

Only one sentence at the end was about extra curriculars / contribution to the school & community, and he could have omitted that with no detriment.