Well-known for the quality of education and breadth of opportunity they provide to graduates, UK universities constitute just under 25% of the top 100 QS world-ranked universities. As a result, applications to study at many UK universities are competitive due to the wide variety of excellent candidates who apply from the world over.

To support students applying to UK universities, we are publishing a series of articles on the preparation and work required during the application and admissions process in order to secure a university place. In this article, we discuss how students can build their experience in order to submit a sterling university application.

As mentioned in our article on the University Applications Timeline (available here), The university application cycle can be separated into three stages: Preparation, Submission and Post submission. In this article, we are focusing on the preparation stage - below is a summary timeline of the key dates, deadlines and events during the preparation stage:

• Year 9 - students choose their GCSE subjects to study in years 10 and 11.

• Year 11 - students choose their A level subjects to study in years 12 and 13.

• Year 11, May/June - GCSE examinations.

• Year 12 - during school holidays, students should pursue independent research and study for the subject that interests them most which they are considering studying at university. This could include lectures, competitions, essay prizes, further reading or work experience.

• Year 12, July/August - students should draft and redraft their personal statement, drawing on their experiences and independent subject research in Year 12.

As can be seen from the timeline above, preparation can begin up to 3 years prior to university applications being submitted. The choice of GCSE and A level subjects matters because many courses require students to have studied specific subjects at secondary school in order to study them at university. Students also need to study hard to ensure they achieve the future necessary grades for entrance into their target courses. The quality of student work throughout year 12 contributes to their predicted grades; students are given their predicted grades in the Autumn term of year 13, this determines which courses they can realistically apply for.

In this article, however, we are focusing specifically on the independent research and study conducted during year 12 as this forms the building blocks of a great application. During the preparation stage, students undertake independent research and study to bolster their future university applications by demonstrating their independent pursuit of the subject. There are 3 aspects to this preparation, outlined below:

Reflecting on your Strengths, Weaknesses and Goals

Identifying what you are good at, what you need to improve on and your overall life goals helps to focus the purpose of your applying to study at university. While you don’t need to plan it all out now, having a general sense of what you want to achieve in your academic and professional career is essential - universities would much rather admit a determined student with a clear sense of purpose and goals as they are more likely to commit and contribute to their institution.

Strengthening your Skillset

Being able to demonstrate throughout the application process, whether on paper or at interview that you have the makings of a good university student increases your chances of success. In brief summary, these are the ability to independently pursue your academic passions as well as maintain an engaging discussion on your topics of interest. More specifically, this involves preparing to critically discuss a range of subject-relevant topics at interview and offer your own considered opinion. This also includes developing your subject knowledge in order to perform well in any admissions tests required.

Developing Content

Developing content for is at the heart of preparation; you want to have a good variety of evidence to demonstrate why you are a prime candidate. The examples below are an excellent way to amass content for your personal statement, interview and CV, providing evidence of your passion for a given career or field of research.

• General achievements (can be academic, sporting, dramatic, or otherwise).

• Work experience and internships in a related field.

• Extracurricular groups and clubs related to the course you wish to study.

• Further reading of works of authors related to your course; critically engaging with their ideas whether in writing or discussion.

• Completing an independent project or essay prize - we have a list of essay prizes appropriate to year 12 and 13 UK students on our website here as well as our own annual Libra essay competition available here.

Completing independent study is particularly important; the best schools and universities take students who are dedicated to their studies - beyond just what they are taught in school. This means you should pursue your subject/field of interest beyond your school studies and be able to demonstrate this.

Once you have assembled the skills, determination and evidence required for completing a great application, you are ready to plan and draft your personal statement. Create a rough skeleton plan by listing the content and achievements you have at your disposal before planning out what you want to discuss in each paragraph. Watch out for our upcoming article on personal statement drafting for more guidance on this process.

For more advice or for a free personalised university application plan, contact our team at info@libraeducation.co.uk.

We hope that this article will provide you with greater preparation for your applications to study at university in the UK and help portray you as a prime candidate for your intended course and university. We wish you success in this next exciting stage of your academic career.