How important are extracurricular activities, sports, hobbies etc for UCAS application?

[BlueSkyHawk]

We're Brits, currently living in the US, but my DD wants to return to the UK for uni. Here in the US, there's a really big focus on what you do outside of school, especially sport, for your college (uni) application. It seems more important than your grades!
My DD is very academic but not at all sporty and I'm trying to reassure her that in the UK, universities are focused on your predicted grades and less interested in extracurricular stuff. But is that still the case? Obviously it's been 25+ years since I did my UCAS application! What kind of extracurricular stuff do you think UK universities expect/are interested in?

My son had very little extras on his application, a bronze file of Edinburgh award and a bit of volunteering. He got good A level grades and was accepted to his first choice Uni.

Some extracurricular attract ucas points, music certificates above a grade 5 for example. But these rarely make any difference between receiving an offer or not.

I don’t think they care about that stuff at all.

My dd has been told basically they aren’t that bothered - a few lines at the end of the personal statement is all they need. More important is a love of the subject and showing extra work outside of the curriculum eg if you want to do Russian, then all the Russian poetry you’ve been reading for fun and all the books on Russian history / culture and so on. Her school have said no-one cares that much for sports etc unless it’s relevant- just a sentence or two at the end. My daughter also went on a Cambridge webinar all about personal statements and they backed this up too, so not just made up by by her school! She isn’t remotely sporty either and doesn’t do many hobbies outside of school so quite glad - I’m not sure shopping and going on Tiktok is what they’re after!

It depends on the uni and course but, certainly, for ‘academic’ universities, they are used as tie breakers between marginal candidates. They are often not read at all.

OTOH, candidates and schools do put effort into them to give themselves the very best chance.

My dd did engineering and the offers were entirely based on grades. They don't seem to have even looked at the personal statement.

Not important at all. The universities are interested in your interest in and engagement with the subject you want to study. The more your DD does outside the classroom in relation to that, the better - they are looking for evidence of extension beyond simply attending lessons - so wider reading and research, online courses, etc will all look good.

My dd only put in half a line about stuff that wasn't about her subject. If your extra curricular is being in a theatre group and you are applying for drama or french cooking and you are doing languages then that's more relevant than being on a football team.

www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/writing-personal-statement/how-write-personal-statement#your-personal-skills-and-achievements

You need to show commitment to your subject, so voluntary work, or relevant work experience, or additional learning, or broadening out your experience in some way is important,

eg, for applying for political degrees, visiting house of commons, volunteering for a political party, etc,

nursing degrees, experience of care settings,

biology degrees, animal shelter experience, or conservation volunteering,

History degrees, volunteering in a museum, experience of archaeological dig, etc.

(In charge of UCAS applications at my school for many years...)

Unless they are activities directly related to the course you are applying for they are completely irrelevant. UK Universities do not take these into account when making offers.

We were told it’s all about super curricular now so demonstrating your interest in that particular subject. This is for academic competitive course. They don’t care if you play the violin etc. Also things that just demonstrate your parents are wealthy don’t impress them much either.

Purely from personal experience - DD3 got offers from all five of her unis (including Oxbridge) with the barest minimum of extracurriculars, and most definitely no sport! The older two had slightly more by way of clubs, but also not sporty, and it didn’t hold them back either.

The school recommended for the personal statement it be 80% academic, 20% extracurricular, and that includes work experience as well as clubs, interests etc

It depends on where your DD is applying to and what course she is applying for. If she is applying to the likes of Oxbridge/Imperial/UCL/LSE then supra curriclars (extra study around there subject outside of school syllabus, work experience around their subject, reading extensively beyond the recommended school texts etc) are very important. She can mention hobbies but only as they pertain to the course she wants to study at the aforementioned institutions.
It's important to be able to demonstrate 'passion' for the subject they are planning to study.

Outside of this, they don't care. A decent PS and getting the required grades should get them offers.

Co-curriculars are more relevant than extra curriculars, so those that complement the subject and show a passion. DD did an essay writing comp and did writing which was relevant to her degree subject, her music, volunteering etc didn’t even make the personal statement.

In her Uni interview they did talk about her EPQ and although the points or grade from EPQ were not part of the offer I do think the EPQ and her essay comp win helped her stand out.

Offers from Cambridge and Edinburgh for my 2 dc with no work experience or volunteering. (They’d both had little non relevant jobs for money though). Ds had done dance and learned a language in his spare time but dd didn’t do anything extra.

Teachers always say this but I really don't think it reflects reality at all. Very few unis even read the PSs, let alone take this stuff into account. It's mostly only relevant for highly vocational degrees.

They might just give you an edge in a very competitive subject at Oxbridge. Not even at Oxbridge if it's something like maths.
Not remotely important anywhere else and certainly not sport unless you are applying for a sporting degree.

Interested in and knowledge about your subject. As someone said above, some uni’s don’t read PS and just go off grades, some do and some only do if the person misses their grades. But extracurricular don’t make much difference.

Not at all. I got into Oxford without a single extra-curricular or ‘co-curricular’, no coaching, no preparation, nothing other than an obsessive interest in my subject. I’ve lectured at three UK universities and been involved in the admissions process, and I skip those parts of the PS.

Former Russell Group admissions tutor here. We are in the tier just below COWI - Cambridge, Oxford, Warwick, Imperial - which are the long term leaders in our out STEM subject.

We do not formally consider the Personal Statement when assessing the application, as we cannot be confident of its authorship or accuracy. (However the interviewer may use such information as a springboard for the interview, and god help the applicant who is found substantially to have exaggerated. OTOH good co-curriculars can do real good at interview, if the applicant can show an understanding of advanced or unusual material.

We don’t care about extra curriculars not relevant to the degree. Many admissions tutors, and I include myself, are impressed by young applicants who manage part time employment, caring responsibilities, etc. As we are far from the only School that does not formally assess the PS, it is good to ask the referee to mention such circumstances.

Not massively important for UCAS. But DS was asked lots about them and his part time employment in his recent graduate job interviews, and very little about his degree.

DS was useless at all sport so it didn't feature at all in his application, didn't seem to be a problem.

The only university that I have heard of that likes sporty types is Loughborough so that might not be such a good choice.

Agree with PP. I know a Cambridge Admissions Tutor and they told me that they only care about grades really. Extra reading or other stuff relevant to the course is essential for interview but ultimately is the scores on the doors that count

Not at all for UCAS, but university extracurriculars were really prominent in graduate interviews.

These are more relevant for vocational courses. Many universities don't care, and many don't even read personal statements.

Schools tend to place more importance on extra curricular activities than universities do.