Below is an an introduction to applying to Higher Education and an overview of LEAPS support. We'll start off with a basic timeline for the process of applying to university and college from S5.
Timeline
S5: January to March
- Subject choices for S6
Between S5 and S6: Summer
- Research their subject area of interest
- Find out about courses offered at college and university
- Career exploration and work experience
- Open Days
S6: From August
- Schools start to introduce the UCAS system
- LEAPS S6 1:1 Interview
- UCAS Personal Statement
- Open Days
S6: October
- UCAS deadline for Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry and Oxbridge
- College applications open
S6: January
- UCAS deadline for majority of other courses
Scroll down to get more detail on each stage of the process.
S5: January to March
This is an important time for your young people to be making informed subject choices for sixth year. Scroll down for more information about routes into Higher Education and making subject choices for S6.
How does LEAPS fit in?
Firstly, with impartial advice and guidance, as well as application support. This includes exploring courses and options, tips on making strong and strategic applications, career and subject exploration, and personal statement support.
In some schools, called Group 1+ or Group 1, we meet with S5 students from January to March. We discuss their future ideas for higher education, and talk about preparation and qualifications.
In Group 2 schools we offer a Course Checker service – this is an online form where young people share their ideas for higher education and can raise any questions they have. A LEAPS adviser will reply with advice on preparation, qualifications and answer any questions.
Summer between S5 and S6
The summer between S5 and S6 is a great opportunity for students to research their subject areas of interest, both finding out about the courses on offer at college and university, but also what the subject or career itself entails.
You and your young person might be thinking about the types of research and work experience or other activities they would like to mention in their UCAS Personal Statement, or college application.
How can LEAPS help?
We use our S5 Hub to post lots of ideas for how to research subject areas, how to gain experience virtually, but we will also post opportunities for moving on to in-person activities to gain further experience and knowledge.
On our S5 Hub, there is also lots of useful information on, for example, choosing between courses, choosing between colleges and universities and how to understand entry requirements. We strongly recommend that S5 students sign-up to the S5 Hub so we can stay in touch with information and advice at key stages. If they haven’t already done so please direct your young person to the S5 Hub area of our website to sign up, or find out more in our resources section.
S6: From August
In the autumn term schools introduce the UCAS application system to pupils planning to apply to university.
Scroll down to find out more about the UCAS application system, Open Days and college applications.
How does LEAPS fit in?
In sixth year further guidance will be provided when a LEAPS adviser meets all LEAPS students one to one, at an interview organised with their school. At this stage, we talk through students' plans for applying to Higher Education in more detail.
LEAPS eligibility is confirmed at this point so that it can be highlighted to universities at the point of application. The deadline for confirming LEAPS eligibility falls around the end of November each year. The date is communicated to schools in advance.
The second stage is in providing post-application and transition support. For example, offering advice in choosing between offers, ensuring a young person has a back-up plan, applying for funding and accommodation, and support to know what to expect and to feel more comfortable and confident when starting university or college.
This is offered through a range of resources. For example we have a dedicated S6 Blog on our website, updated with posts throughout the year.
During S6 we deliver activities in school, or work with teachers to share resources. We keep in touch with students directly through email and text to inform them of opportunities, and post information on our website and social media.
Subject choice
The subject choice period in S5 is an important time for your young person to be making informed decisions about what to study in S6, particularly if they are keen to apply to university or college.
To study a HNC, HND or degree level course, universities and colleges will ask for certain grades (sometimes in certain subjects) for entry. Young people should research the qualifications required for the courses they may be interested in during S5, as well as if any specific subjects are needed. This will allow them to take any missing courses, or work towards additional required qualifications in S6. Scroll down to find out more about entry requirements.
For many students, S6 is also a good opportunity to start preparing to transition to university, as well as to strengthen the academic skills that will be beneficial during this time. To help with this, LEAPS eligible students may decide to take the Transitions Course as one course option on their S6 timetable when making their subject choice in S5.
The LEAPS Transitions Course is designed to give students the skills and experience needed to make a positive transition from school to university. Throughout the course, they work with academics and students from other schools on developing first year university level academic skills. The course is a unique opportunity to get the ‘uni’ experience before starting for real, helping students to gain confidence and an understanding of what it takes to be successful at university.
The focus is on developing effective academic practice – in other words, how to be successful at university. Students will have the chance to work not only with other S6s but also university staff, academics and lecturers. The course involves a variety of academic fields, but has a focus on strengthening key academic skills such as academic writing, referencing and more.
Find out more information about the LEAPS Transitions Course here.
Routes into university
There are a number of different routes available to young people who are keen to enter higher education. Some will go straight from school to university, whilst many others will take alternative paths - for example, going to college first and then on to university, or using a college qualification to enter the workplace. These are all great options. Some of the reasons that your young person may wish to consider college are:
1. It's the place to go for certain courses! Programmes such Hairdressing, Professional Cookery, Vehicle Maintenance and more are generally taught by colleges, many of whom have specialist facilities for students to make use of.
2. As a stepping stone! College can be a great way to bridge the gap between the supported learning environment of school and the more independent work expected at university.
3. To confirm they're making the right choice! College offers the chance to try out a subject (and gain a qualification) for one or two years, rather than expecting students to make a three, four or five year commitment when they may not feel ready. If your young person is unsure of what direction to go in, taking stock after actually studying a subject for a period can be really helpful.
Applications for college courses are made directly to individual colleges, unlike those for university which are coordinated by UCAS. To learn more about particular college processes, please see institution websites for more details. You can scroll down on this page to find out more about the centralised UCAS system.
College qualifications
HNC
A HNC is a Higher National Certificate, a one year course at college. A HNC is on the same academic level as the first year of university. This means that students can often use a HNC qualification to gain entry to the second year of a university course, provided it is in a relevant subject.
HND
A HND is a Higher National Diploma, a two year course at college. As it is on the same academic level as the second year of university, it can sometimes be used to gain entry to the third year of a university course, provided it is in a relevant subject.
More generally, there are a number of tools that can help you to check if colleges and universities have particular arrangements in place to accept students moving on from HNCs and HNDs into degree programmes, such as the Pathways website and app. This can be called ‘articulation’ or ‘associate student’ routes. However, it is possible to apply to university from college from a wide range of HNC or HNDs, even where there are no special articulation or associate routes advertised, so it’s always worth checking with a university in advance which HNC or HND programmes they will accept for entry to their courses.
The graphic below provides an overview of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, and how it applies to some of the qualifications your young person may be sitting now, or looking to progress on to in future.
UCAS is the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service and it is basically an online system people use to apply to university, which includes art colleges and conservatoires. Despite the name, it does not process college applications.
UCAS Deadlines
October deadline
There is an earlier deadline in October for application to Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Dentistry, as well as applications to Oxford and Cambridge. It is important for your young person to let their school know if they are planning to apply for any the early deadline options, so they can best support them.
January deadline
The last Wednesday in January is the UCAS deadline for applications to the majority of courses. It is, however, important to note that your young person's school may have an earlier internal deadline, in order for them to check applications and write their teacher's reference in plenty of time.
Personal Statement
When applying, students will share their qualifications and complete a Personal Statement. The Personal Statement is roughly one A4 page where your young person has the opportunity to say why they are interested in the subject, what they understand the subject to be and how they have developed the relevant skills, qualities and experience to help them be successful on the course.
Open Days
Some universities run open days in June, and most are offered from August to November. They provide a great opportunity to get to know more about particular institutions. What is the campus like? Is it a large university spread across a city, or a smaller, campus-based, university? What are the facilities like such as social spaces, sport facilities, libraries, study areas and accommodation? What is unique to the particular course on offer? Open days are a great way to decide between institutions.
Entry requirements
When looking at entry requirements, in particular for universities in Scotland, your young person may notice that these can vary greatly between different courses and institutions. They may also note there are two sets of grades listed: a ‘standard’ or ‘typical’ and a ‘minimum’ or ‘widening access’ set. Minimum offers are made based on contextual factors which may vary from university to university.
LEAPS eligibility sometimes (but not always) counts towards this, as do other factors – for example, school attended, home postcode, or experience of care. This is one of the reasons why LEAPS offer individualised advice and guidance, so we can explore where students may be eligible for contextual offers.
For more information on the contextual admissions policies in place at particular institutions, we recommend making use of their webpages and/or reaching out directly. If your young person chooses to do this, we suggest mentioning LEAPS eligibility when making their enquiry.
University entry requirements
On the right, you will see two example sets of entry requirements for the BSc Psychology courses at Queen Margaret University and Edinburgh Napier University.
Queen Margaret University
Here, grades of BBBCC / BCCCC at Higher level are listed, with no specific subjects required. We also notice that there is a requirement at National 5 level for English and Maths. In this case, if your young person didn't already hold National 5 English and Maths, they may think about choosing these for S6 to allow them to meet this requirement.
Edinburgh Napier University
In this example, we see that the Psychology course requires a minimum of BBCC at Higher. It is also worth nothing that (unlike the example above) Edinburgh Napier has a subject requirement at Higher for English or a literary subject. Accepted literary subjects (or science subjects as another example) may vary between universities although the subjects that Edinburgh Napier will consider are listed as part of the requirements.*
*In some cases, accepted subjects or other similar information may not be immediately clear when looking at entry requirements. If you or your young person are in any doubt, we would suggest contacting individual institutions for clarification.
College entry requirements
To the left, the entry requirements for the HNC Business course at West Lothian College are shown. In this case, one Higher is required, with suggested subjects being Business Management, Admin, English or Modern Studies.
Entry requirements for HNCs vary, but are usually 1-3 Highers.
Support
We will finish with sharing some sources of support with you.
LEAPS
LEAPS are here to support you and your young person throughout this process. Remember to make use of our S5 Hub and S6 Blog and our Parents’ and Carers’ web pages and mailing list. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at any time via email or phone.
School
Your young person’s school guidance staff and in-school careers advisors who have a wealth of experience when it comes to applying to college and university.
UCAS
UCAS have an excellent course search tool. For example, you can search for all universities in Scotland offering a particular subject.
College and Universities
Look at university and college websites for more detailed information on their courses.
Colleges and universities have excellent student support, disability and accommodation services and UCAS will ask for this information so universities can contact young people to start arranging support at an early stage. Young people might also like to research what these services offer at different universities.