University Applications 2026 - Support Thread

[Ventress]

DS is applying to start university in Autumn 2026. He's done several open days and has a reasonable idea of where and what he wants to wants to study - History or History & Politics.

He loved UCL and Exeter, liked Warwick, didn't like Bristol. He's also talking about early application but can't decide whether to apply to Oxford or Cambridge. He's also muttering about Durham, which he didn't visit but others in his History class did and loved it.

Anyone join me for a thread to support our DC as they navigate this process? DS is my only child so this is all new to me!

Just checking in as I feel I could probably do with some guidance, as I'm getting nothing from school and not much more from DS! He's an only so this is the first time since I applied to uni myself more than 30 years ago, so I feel like I don't know much
DS probably wants to do Law or Philosophy and so far Bristol is his top choice. We've also been to open days at Loughborough (lovely uni, but probably not for DS as he'd prefer to be in or at least close to a large city), DS went to Warwick with a friend and really didn't like it and we've got Sussex open day booked. He's also considering Cardiff and Southampton. We live in the SE and he didn't want to be too far from home.
He worked very hard in year 12 and was predicted A*AB (plus A in core maths) and is now resting on his laurels a bit. Personal statement and EPQ have not yet been started...😬Next round of mocks will be interesting.

@RoundabootYou're not alone. No work done on personal statement here either.

Though we've visited a couple of Unis my son refuses to look at actual courses and whether any look better than others.

He has in class assessments this week. Despite a lot of nagging all summer he warned us yesterday that he hasn't had anytime to revise properly so keep our expectations low.

He then has mocks in November.

He has got his maths a level in the bag but he really will have to knuckle down if he wants to go to a uni with aspirational grade requirements.

I will be glad when this is over but it will be strange once at uni (should he make it there!) that I will have no idea what he's doing.

What didn't he like about Warwick? I've heard it's like marmite but we haven't had a chance to visit, yet it's in DC's top 5 at present

@Fabfabfab He said the campus just felt really bleak and run down, and he wasn't keen on Coventry either. He's not keen on campus unis in general though so I just think it wasn't for him.

We actually had a good chat this evening and it turns out he has started his personal statement. Apparently they are "walking them through it" at school. Has anyone else had literally zero comms from school? He stayed on for 6th form at the local comp and in general it's a good school and I like how they treat 6th formers as the young adults they are and give them responsibility but the flip side is that us parents get very little info directly from the school. I know from friends that other schools have done info evenings about uni applications so wondering what the norm is?

I’ve got 1 with high aspirations at a comp in a grammar area. I’ve basically asked them how they are supporting Russell Group applicants ans had a phone call with the ucas person today. I’ve sent them a list of DSs super curricular activities as well as asking them what else we can do to support. Make it very clear what your child’s aspirations are. I really think ‘aim high and you are bound to land
Somewhere interesting

Joining in !

Y13 DS wants to do PPE, got heart set on Oxford but cannot decide which college to apply for. Open day last week just made it harder to decide apparently 😭

Serious personal statement refining going on here. 4000 characters including spaces is really not very much. College did an online UCAS information session for parents this week. DD’s internal deadline for early application is looming.

@CalmConfident college choice is a tricky one. I think they can get too invested in the decision and spend so much time and headspace on it. Makes it all the more disappointing if they don’t get a place and so many of them are pooled anyway even if they do. They just need to decide where they feel most comfortable and what is most important to them and hope for the best.

I recommend your DC puts in an "open" application then. Most applicants are reassigned colleges anyway, due to their need to redistribute applications anyway.

Open application if they really don’t mind but were there colleges he didn’t like so much? May as well state a preference.

They say not to worry about the application statistics but I think avoiding the very most popular colleges with the worst ratios makes sense - for the same reason as avoiding an open application unless that college is miles ahead for you.

Then chose for things like old vs new, green spaces, location, size, on and offsite accommodation, what you thought of their open day activities, dining system/kitchen facilities, sport facilities etc. There are unofficial prospectuses on line which give a different view.

Obviously DD has given this quite a bit of headspace! But she decided mainly on the open day experience in the end and where she felt comfortable.

On personal statements, any tips on applying for quite different courses?

DD is apply for Fine Art courses but also education/wellbeing and arts courses which are very different… 4000 characters is not a lot is it??

Also she needs a portfolio which College are supporting but everyone seems to have a different opinion on how to do it. DD must have watched 50 YouTube videos on the topic!

Final visits planned out and then decision time.

I would spin the fine arts in terms of perhaps doing PG courses in art therapy/education afterwards, hence also applying to ed/well-being degrees, so that you can link the choice of courses? Erm… it doesn’t actually have to be true, just convincing and provide an explanation as to why the courses selected inspire your DD’s passion.

The advice from DD’s sixth form on different courses was to find what was common between the courses and that if they were too different to choose one or the other. It really depends how competitive the courses are. Some admissions departments will accept separate personal statements, I believe, if you get in contact with them directly. There are universities that don’t read personal statements although they may come back to them in a situation with missed grades in the summer.

It's true you can be offered a place at a different college to the one you applied for, but that doesn't happen to most students who get an offer - 28.7% in 2024: https://public.tableau.com/views/UniversityofOxford-AdmissionsStatistics2024CollegeSuccessRates/CollegeSuccessRates

Edit to add - this was in response to @KicksPremium

Thanks for this. Just to add in the caveat that you can be bumped into a different college for consideration prior to offers going out, before even the interview stage and you can still NOT come out with an offer. That is going to change the 28% statistic considerably, if only 28% of those "with offers" have been moved around, there's all the rest without offers, too.

@Roundaboot
May struggle with Law at places like Bristol (or those with std offer of A*AA) with predicted of a B in one. Struggle - as in, getting an offer.
There is another thread where I put the offer rates of some of these, so will dig out.
Also, may struggle with some competitive AAA places, as technically wouldn't have that either. Cardiff and Southampton, for Law, were in clearing this year, so should be ok there.
Loughborough Law is a new course for '26, so pros and cons, but tariff is lower.

Kent, maybe?

Thank you for the info @stubiff . I'd be interested to see that thread if you can find it.
DS will qualify for contextual offers for Bristol, meaning he'd need AAB for law which is achievable. Sussex typical offer is AAB for law too (doesn't qualify for contextual offers there)
We were both really impressed by the law curriculum at Loughborough, as it has a focus on social justice which DS is really interested in but I just don't think it's the right university setting for him.
I'll get him to take a look at Kent too, thanks!

Ok, missing info of contextual! Will need LNAT for Bristol, as well.

@Roundaboot
Actually, just because DC has the grades, as you suggest, doesn't mean they'll get an offer.
The non-contextual equiv of your DC (predicted v offer) is AStar, AStar, A, i.e. one grade above std offer.
The Bristol offer rate for that, last year, was 41%!

The thread I mentioned is https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/5364810-law-at-which-2 but offer rates mentioned are for non-contextual.

Thanks, that's helpful. We understand that having the required predicted grades is no guarantee of offer but it's interesting to see the stats behind that. I'll get DS to adjust his expectations! He may decide to apply for Philosophy at Bristol instead and perhaps law elsewhere. From the stats on your thread, it looks like Sussex had spaces in Clearing last year, which is a good sign.

DD is applying to a popular Oxford college and has been to several outreach Oxford open days and been clearly told it makes no difference to your overall entry chances how popular the college is that you apply to.

Good to hear from a few parents of dc who are going into art. Feels like dd has a lot on her plate at the moment. She is an all-in creative with 3 course heavy A level subjects and in the next few weeks needs to submit her UCAS and her portfolio etc She's been revising her personal statement and the info sort of fits the questions! But we are just really keen for it to come over as her. She does not like to boast, but I think the ps is a place to talk about your successes... She wants to apply to Oxford, although I think her portfolio won't be contemporary or wacky enough, but who knows. I'm a bit worried about the quality of her reference as the teacher doing them isn't usually terribly engaged about other things, like previous school reports.

It is not a place to talk about successes, it is a place to talk about insights. In the US personal essays are indeed a place to lay out your achievements, the Ps by contrast only wants them if they are relevant to the course you're applying for and as I say, you can demonstrate insights around certain experiences and activities.

@KicksPremium Yes, I take your point. Dd has a lot of course specific successes which are very relevant. Think art course and being offered a solo exhibition (not that but a few other similar things) They won’t be mentioned anywhere else and they’re integral to who she is. So, need to figure out the insight aspect!

Good luck. It took my kid last year just ages to really grapple with what it meant to demonstrate "insights" for and about their subject.

My DD's doing her EPQ currently too, still in the gathering resources stage I think, but seems to be on track with her College's timetable. She's also finalising her personal statement for an early UCAS application and doing coursework so it's a busy time...