Last updated 09:24, Tuesday, 30 September 2008

As the world of higher education begins for those starting university, the bid to get there begins for next year’s intake.

Ian Downes: Nelson Thomlinson School’s assistant headteacher

The window of opportunity to apply to university has opened, with the first major deadline looming in October.

Those year 13 sixth-formers seeking to secure places at Oxbridge or on courses in veterinary science, dentistry and medicine must have their UCAS applications in by October 15. Other applications must be in by January 15.

Applying to university is your bid to create what promises to be a string of lifelong and life-changing opportunities. It is one of the first yet most important applications a young person makes and will play a defining role in carving out the future. But the choice of courses and universities is endless and it can be a daunting task deciding where to go and what to do.

One Cumbrian school kicks off the search early with sixth-formers starting work on it before the summer break while they are still in year 12.

Nelson Thomlinson School in Wigton has a long tradition of teenagers moving on into higher education. It has also seen several pupils succeed in clinching places at Oxford and Cambridge. Last year, 85 out of its 100 year 13 students successfully applied to go to university.

Every year 12 student at the Wigton school is given an information pack after sitting their AS levels. The pack contains details of how to find work, how to put together a CV, information on why to choose higher education and a step-by-step guide to how to apply, financial information on living costs, bursaries and financial support, university league tables and a UCAS booklet for parents.

Head of sixth form Ian Downes, who is also assistant head, said: “As soon as they finished their AS exams in year 12 we took them off timetable to do a morning with them on higher education and employment because applying for university or for a job has many similarities. We talk them through the procedure and they are given the opportunity to research online during the holidays what courses and universities they are interested in. We also bring ex-admissions tutors in to talk about what universities are looking for from applicants.”

As a word of advice to others, Mr Downes added: “As a student, you should never panic about it. Don’t be overawed by what you are doing. You must follow what you are interested in and what you enjoy because that is what you will be successful at.”

Applying to university has become easier in recent years with the introduction of a comprehensive online service via the UCAS website – www.ucas.com.

The application procedure is now paperless but safeguards are in place to ensure errors are not made and forms are not submitted in error. “Doing it online means students can do it when they please, but they can still be monitored along the way,” said Mr Downes.

Names, addresses, qualifications and previous experience are all asked for but the one element university admissions officers focus on is the applicant’s own personal statement.

A teacher or adult who knows the applicant is also asked to submit a fair and truthful reference expressing a candidate’s strengths and weaknesses.

Mr Downes said: “Personal statements are hugely important when it comes to the application process. They are also the hardest part. It is the opportunity for students to explain why they are interested in doing a course.

“Those applying to university should ask people who know them, like tutors, to look through their statement drafts and ask for honest feedback.”

Ian Roberts, head of student recruitment at the University of Cumbria, echoed that view. “If you ask a typical person about what they are good or bad at, they get embarrassed and anxious. We’re not very good at it on the whole but it is crucial for us that students tell us why they have applied for a particular course.

“We are not looking for woolly things like ‘I like it’, we need to know the reason why you like it.

“One example is reading in an application for a midwifery course that a potential student likes babies. We are looking for more meat on the bones. We like to find out what they have gained from their current studies, what they have done in the past and what their ambitions area. We also want to know of their broader qualities, the other skills that will make them a good student, such as time management and independent learning.”

Anna Stanton, 17, wants to read Biomedical Sciences at university.

She said: “My application is very important, it is the first impression a university will get of me. It needs to be good. The personal statement is going to be a really big part of it.

“We’re given examples of personal statements. We need to write about our interests, what we’ve enjoyed in our lives so far and how that can relate to what we want to do.”

Prefect Matthew Honeyman will be submitting an application in October. He hopes to read philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford.

“Personal statements have to be 47 lines and that’s about 4,000 characters. When you are doing it in a different format you need to be aware that the formats could be different with how it will appear on your UCAS form once it is cut and pasted over.”

Personal statements must also be honest, Mr Downes stresses. They are likely to be discussed when students are invited for an interview. “Do not put something in that you have not done, or say you’ve read a particular book when you haven’t,” he said.

Unknown to Abbeytown teenager Anna Dockeray, she beat off competition from hundreds of applicants to become one of only 15 students with places on the coveted midwifery degree course which began at the University of Cumbria in Carlisle recently.

It brings her one step closer to fulfilling her dream to become a midwife.

Anna, 18, said: “Midwifery is one of the hardest branches of nursing to get into and usually they take more mature students, 21 and above. I’m only 18 so I had to show them why I was suitable and had to get that across in my personal statement.”

Anna included details of her hobbies but she also had to have an interview before being offered a place on the course. “One of the main reasons was that I explained that I continued to do my A-levels at a time when my boyfriend was paralysed in an accident and I was going over to Middlesbrough regularly to see him while studying. While I was there in Middlesbrough, watching how the nurses worked reaffirmed my interested.

“I’ve also done fundraising and I put down that I’d also been a prefect.”

Anna had also shown an interest in the field by acting as a peer mentor in school helping year nines during a sex education programme.

Andrew Norman, 18, of Abbeytown, has gone to Selwyn College, Cambridge, to read history – a course which attracted applications from 33 students. Only eight went on to receive offers.

He said: “For a high class university I had to show I could read around my subject, I had to show a real thirst for it. I had to do an additional entry statement for Cambridge, they wanted to know more details about my GCSEs and the marks I got in my modules, not just my exam grades.

"It all happened so quickly, a couple of weeks after my application had gone in I was invited down for interview. My sixth-form tutors at school helped me by staging a mock interview.

“Mine did appear to be a bit of a rush, but I’d said you have to be organised when you are looking to apply. Don’t leave it all to the last minute. Take your time, at a steady pace. It will be more beneficial to you.”