Applying to British Universities

By: Kiley X. Berriman

The complete process from decision to study at university, selecting Britain as the place of study and applying to universities is a major undertaking. By breaking down the process into smaller increments, the whole process can be made manageable.

At the initial stage, the pupil has to decide if they want to go on to study at university after they finish school. This is a difficult decision because most pupils simply don?t know. School counsellors, parents (sometimes), an older and more experienced person and books are some possible sources of information. The Internet is also a great place to start investigating.

Provided that the pupil has settled on continuing with his or her education, he or she will now need to determine what course to pursue. A helpful way of focussing is to think about the answers to a set of basic questions:

* What do I want to study?

* Am I capable of doing well in that subject?

* What is the value to me (to society, to the world) of studying that subject?

In line with more financial independence and responsibility required by the government, most universities have started charging students fees. Not surprisingly, a very pertinent fourth question is:

* Have I (or my parents) the funds to cover my education?

Large parts of the world speak English and a great deal of research at the university level is done in English. Universities in Britain enjoy respect for their research facilities. These are two powerful arguments in favour of taking the first steps towards applying to British universities.

Preparatory resources are available and it would be advisable to find and make use of them. For example, there are particular aspects of the application process which are distinctive of universities in Britain.

Although I personally think other factors are far more important, you may want to consider a factor like university (or university league tables). You may want to think about whether you want to study at Oxford or Cambridge (or Oxbridge, as they are jointly called).

Preparatory resources also include information about the LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law), the UKCAT (UK Clinical Aptitude ) or BMAT (BioMedical Admissions Test). These tests are required of applicants planning to do law or medicine in Britain.

Applicants whose mother language is not English will usually be required by universities to sit and pass the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) tests. The British Council is a member of the IELTS and conducts these tests overseas.

All undergraduate university applications are dealt with by UCAS (Universities and Colleges Service), which is a centralised online management system. For the prospective student considering applying to British universities, there is no better place to start than UCAS.