18 year old DS just decided that he would like to apply for Uni after all and we have no idea what to do next.

[mckenzie]

He's been at a specialist college for year 12 and 13 and is leaving with a higher level BTEC. We have been told his predicted grade which we've put into the UCAS system and it gives him quite a few points.

DH and I are completely ignorant about Uni applications etc .

Please may somebody guide us as to what DS needs to do now to try and give him a chance of getting a place?

TIA

If he's leaving college this year, he needs to get in touch with college to ask if he can submit his UCAS form through them and if they will give him a reference.
Get him to think about whether he wants to be near home or away and then look online which unis do a course he's interested in with acceptance at his points level.
Then he needs to check the course content as two courses in the same subject can vary massively - one could be practical, another theoretical, one might focus on topics he loves another on ones he hates, Once he's chosen up to five unis that fit the bill he fills in the UCAS form and writes his personal Statement, which is just an explanation of why he wants to do the course and what he'd done that demonstrates interest in the subject (any extra reading, work experience, relevant hobbies, plans for future career etc.)

You could also look to see if your local FE college offers HND and degree courses. It might be a good starting point as they can talk you through the UCAS process too.
And congratulations to him, it’s great when a few more doors are suddenly opened.

If he is thinking applying for September this year, he won't get the five choices now. However there is still plenty of time to apply and look round - many universities will be holding open days around now aimed at the current year 12 students but it is no problem to go along to those. Same as if he was applying earlier in the year, it's best to get to as many as he can to get a feel for the course and the place. If you can't get to all of them now then they will more than likely be holding events for clearing to coincide with a level results day.

At this stage he won't be able to get a conditional offer (I.e. an offer subject to certain grades in his btec or tariff points) so he will need to wait until he's got his grades before he actually gets the offer. However I would suggest he contacts whichever university he decides to go to as soon as he knows even before he gets his results because there are two ways to apply at this stage - through clearing which involves him applying via UCAS in which case he can get all that ready in advance of his results or some universities allow a direct application called an RPA which bypasses the UCAS process (but doesn't allow for the flexibility of applying to multiple places). Either way before he gets his results they are likely to say he needs to wait for his results but at least he can be ready to go when he does get them. Assuming he gets the grades he will get an unconditional offer and he's good to go.

A surprising number of people leave it very late to apply which is normally no problem from the university side (unless there are interview / support arrangements to factor in) but obviously the earlier he can know where he's going, the more chance you've got to make other preparations like accommodation etc.

Hope that helps and good luck x

He'll need to apply through clearing - details here:
https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/results-confirmation-and-clearing/what-clearing

The standard process is to apply through UCAS by mid January before the September he wants to go. The application includes his grades (or predicted grades) and a reference from college.This would give him 5 choices. The unis would then make offers (or not) and he would choose which offer to accept.

Clearly he has missed that deadline so his alternative is Clearing. He will get a lot less choice through this because the popular courses will be full. He needs to check out which courses have spaces and talk to the uni directly to see if they will accept his qualification. He can then makes a late application to the uni still through UCAS,

Would he consider applying for next year and then he'd have the chance to look round unis, explore courses and accommodation giving him a lot more choice?

Why not take a gap year and apply to start in 2020? That will give him time to decide what course and where he wants to go without rushing into something in clearing? He will have his grade and can get a firm offer at a place of his choice.

Clearing is open so if he hasn’t already applied or accepted an offer he can make an application through clearing and UCAS.

Thank you so much for the replies. I will mention the idea of deferring for a year but I get the impression that he's pretty much made his mind up that this is what he wants to do. He just didn't think to convey that to DH and I

We've got a family conference booked for this evening to discuss it all further

DH is really keen for DS to go to university and I was very impressed with DS's thought process re choice of course. It's really early days of course and I very much appreciate all of your advice and thoughts. Thank you.

He'll need to get his loan application in ASAP by the way as he's already passed the deadline to guarantee the loan arrives in the first week of term.

I applied in August for September entry in 2017. I went straight to the uni I wanted and got offered a place for my course. Admissions will talk you through the UCAS steps. I applied for my finance in late August and received it at the end of October but because I'm a lone parent I had to faff around with birth certificates etc so your sons should be far more straightforward. The uni were ok with waiting for fees. I was a bit skint but it all sorted itself out in the end.

There is a process called UCAS extra although the deadline for that may have passed. Clearing would be the next option and if has results in hand he should get a quick response. What subject is it for?

Seconding Titchy get his student finance application done ASAP - tonight if possible! He doesn’t need a place to do this he can just put in where he hopes to go and what he hopes to study and change it later

Does he know what he wants to study?

For BTEC he should have is result by now, theoretically the external moderator can change it but I've never known it happen.

OK get him to answer these questions.

1. is he sure he wants to go this year?

2. what course does he want to do? Does it lead to a specific career or would he need more qualifications?

3. which are the best places in the league tables for his chosen subject(s)

4. campus preference ie is he going to be living at home? Does he want somewhere like Keele where the campus is self contained with shops, ATM, accomodation, lectures in the same place or would he prefer a campus in a city centre or split across a number of sites. Eg UCLAN is mainly in Preston city centre but has campuses in other towns.

5. contact his chosen uni to discuss the course, vacancies, campus type etc.

6. look into accommodation if leaving home, he might not get a place in halls so what will he / you do?

7. finances - apply for a student loan and look at how he will fund his studies.

How did it work out OP?