Empty ucas for 2021 uni application

[ROZ12]

Hi

Does anyone know what students will write in their ucas forms this October if everything is cancelled such as summer school and work experience?

the impressive ones will be the ones who write things like "during the lockdown I taught myself to code and wrote a programme to..." or "I set up an online club to..." etc etc - demonstrating a passion for their subject of study that means that shutdown couldn't stop them doing it. those will be the first choice candidates for the universities. however there will be plenty of places left over for the kids who spent the lockdown on playstation, so it will only matter for the courses that are really difficult to get on to.

What is she/he intending to apply for? Demonstrating a genuine interest in the subject (i.e. not just doing the A-level work) is what the personal statement is generally for. If she/he is applying for a more practically oriented course then it will depend very much on which course: what you'd write for engineering is very different from what you'd write for nursing.

• Volunteering to help
• Online learning in relevant area e.g. MOOCs, FutureLearn etc

Some companies are still offering work experience, based at home

Hi

Online work experience would you mind giving me a few details?

that's going to completely depend on what subject of study is being applied for.

Yeah, it really does depend on what course DC would like to do.
One of mine has started a diploma linked to their subject and interest.
We use future learn whilst working from home. Have a look at free OU courses

ROZ12 - tell us the area of interest/subject then we can make suggestions.

The majority of courses don't require work experience. Could you give us a clue?

If work experience is important for a particular course(medicine, vet med, engineering, teaching, nursing etc), it would be unusual to plan this entirely for end of y12. Many will have been volunteering, reading, upskilling, taking courses or have had work experience before then. Many unis do not really place much if any emphasis on a ps for non vocational courses.

Well dd is very confused she wanted to do laws applied for work experience this summer no reply. Now she doesn’t want to anymore and no idea what to switch to? She wants to go uni thou.

For law she could still read up on cases, attend court hearings in due course, volunteer at CAB etc. What other subjects interest her? Many do law conversion courses after a degree or there are now degree apprenticeships for law. Remember everyone applying will be in same boat.

In that case she should take a year or two out, and do some volunteering, travelling or working for a bit until she does know what she wants to do, and apply then (by which time this shutdown will be a long time ago). Despite there being fees and loans, university study is still heavily subsidised and each person only gets that subsidy funding once - it's a massive waste of money to embark on any course of study if it's not something you actively want to do - and when she does discover something she is actively interested in pursuing she will find she has to self-fund for some of the course (i.e. fees of £15,000 with no loans for either fees or maintenance instead of £9k with loans) - there is no rush. Students who wait and don't go to uni immediately after A-levels often do much better in the long run because of the additional maturity.

Overwhelmingly, UCAS - or the personal statement - won't include relevant work experience or 'Summer Schools' for most applicants.

Students who have any sort of life experience outside of school will still be able to include the skills they have gained from those experiences. Part time jobs, hobbies / coaching and mentoring through those hobbies / volunteering or shadowing work at other times, / volunteering with any organistation / evidence of commitment to any hobby or interest over years, rather than specifically 'to put on the application form'.
Mostly though, it is about demonstrating a real passion for / interest in the subject.

Dd1 got into one of the most oversubscribed courses at Oxford with no work experience, or summer schools, or mentoring, or anything really. She just read, A LOT .

Thanks all

My dd has experience from the younger years of a few roles held at school and also hobbies.

As I said she hasn’t chosen her degree and may take a gap year to decide .

If she takes a gap year she won't need to do her personal statement yet.

What A levels is she doing? There are still essay competition being run for history, English etc at various unis which are good for development and PS. There are also virtual masterclasses and MOOCs she could access.

Media , English and psychology

What is Moocs?

Moocs are Online courses - try futurelearn, coursera and openlearn. Many are free and introduce all sorts of subjects which may give her a steer on what to study.

DD is writing hers ( for maths). To include books, podcasts, maths competitions etc, plus some non-maths extra curricular stuff from before the lockdown.

What attracted her to those particular A levels (which 'English', btw?)? Is she interested in any careers which are / involve further study in a natural progression from what she is studying currently?

The UniGuide shows what others who have studied the same A levels have gone on to study at university, which might give her some ideas?
www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer/english-literature/media-studies/psychology?o=102