Declaring criminal conviction on UCAS application

[gingeroots]

Friend has DS who since his application went off has been found guilty of threatening behaviour ( he retaliatiated after being called a f*g nr ).
Legally he is required to contact the unis and declare this ...but any advice ?

Maybe go and see a lawyer first (Educational one) first to get advice about the best way to explain it and what his rights are?

Maybe NUS (Nat Union of Students) will know someone appropriate?

I would contact UCAS, (anonymously if you prefer) explain the whole situation and ask for their advice. They are usually very helpful.

Ok ,good thoughts there ,thank you .

Maybe ask on the student room website ?

It shouldn't prevent him going to Uni.

A friend of mine had a fairly serious criminal conviction, declared it and had to answer a questionnaire about the incident, but it had no affect on her application, or degree pathway.

Declaring it should not cause any problem with admission (it didn't at my Uni department), but failing to declare and then later being found out would not look good.

Of course it also depends if it's a spent or an unspent conviction. If it's spent, you usually don't have to declare these.

Go to a lawyer or Citizen's Advice Bureau for advice. It shouldn't bar him entry to a degree course.

Generally speaking a conviction would not bar anybody from entry to a university course. I must say the type of course(s) has a heavy influence in determining how seriously they view the conviction or the nature of the conviction. If it's a course leading ultimately to the direct involvement with children/vulnerable people e.g. medicine and nursing, then the nature of the conviction is viewed very seriously.

Case study: A few years back a chap was offered a place to read medicine at Imperial College (I think) and just prior to him taking up the place with the required grades having obtained, the uni changed its mind and rejected him on the grounds that he had a criminal conviction (burglary) in spite of the fact the conviction was declared in his UCAS form.

Poor guy was left in limbo for a while but a little later, Manchester (I think) decided to give him a place to read medicine after having read his predicament.

The moral of the story therefore, is to be honest in your application. Declaring a conviction doesn't mean the end of the world. Best advice is to avoid a conviction in the first place.