Notes for UCAS Applicants 2011
1. WHICH UNIVERSITIES SHOULD YOU APPLY TO?
UCAS handles applications to a potentially bewildering number of institutions. The following 41 institutions listed below are those universities which are the better established and more highly regarded and are therefore considered as potentially more suitable destinations for Hwa Chongians.
The 41 universities are:
|
|
Loughborough |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aston |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Aberystwyth |
|
|
Keele |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Strathclyde |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Heriot‑Watt |
|
|
|
2. A SPECIAL
WORD ABOUT LAW
Singaporeans who wish subsequently to practice in
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
N.B. Graduates from approved
N.B. LNAT (Law National Admissions Test). Currently
7 of the above approved Law faculties require this test. They are:
Full details about registration, timing, the test
itself (together with a sample test paper) are available online at: www.lnat.ac.uk.
N.B. Recent changes to the legal education framework as
regards to post graduate admission to
the bar are as follows:
►
Lower second
class degree holders from approved universities will now be eligible
►
The Diploma of
Singapore Law will be replaced by a shorter Bar Examination. Part A will take 3
months and Part B 5 months
3. A
NOTE ON MEDICINE
If you are applying for medicine (or veterinary
science) you can only choose four courses. The Singapore Medical Council lists
the following
|
Faculty of Medicine and Medical Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, The Queens University of
Belfast Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King's Barts and
The Royal Free and Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, The Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, |
N.B. Most
of these medical schools impose one of these two extra tests on their
applicants:
► BMAT
(BioMedical Admissions Test). Applicants to Imperial, UCL,
► UKCAT
(
4. OTHER
ENTRANCE TESTS
[i] ELAT
– for applicants to read English at
[ii] HAT – for applicants to read History at
[iii]
[iii]
All these tests, as well as BMAT, are taken at the British Council. Applicants are responsible for their own registration and payment. Full details can be found at: www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk
5. MAKING AN APPLICATION
All HCI applications will be done online via UCAS. The online application method is called APPLY in ucas.com. You can apply online using any computer with an internet connection.
6. WHAT TO DO
Go to www.ucas.com and click on APPLY. Click on Register/Log in. After registering you can log in. For this
you need the HCI buzzword which is: tigerr. Next you will be asked to select your
tutor/applicant group from a drop down menu. After doing this you will be at
your main screen. From here you can proceed to fill in the 5 sections of the
form. Help and instructions are available at every stage. Here are some extra
notes that may assist you:
Personal Details: Choose 01 for your fee code (meaning you are
depending on family finance) unless you will only be able to go to the
Choices: You can make up to 5 choices - only 4 for medicine.
Education: If you're an HCI IP student, then you need only add Hwa Chong Institution. If you attended a different secondary school then you need to add this school as well as Hwa Chong Institution. After choosing the correct link(s) to your qualification type(s) fill in the relevant details. Exam centre numbers can be found on your current entry proof and, if applicable, your O level cert. When entering your subjects choose SEAB as your awarding body and November 2010 as the date for your current H1, H2 & H3 subjects. For Project Work enter the date of your result.
Employment: If you have undertaken any relevant or meaningful employment
in school holidays, for example, then by all means enter the details in this
section but such is neither obligatory nor even expected from a student who has
been in fulltime education and is applying to go to university after A levels.
Personal Statement: Full notes to this section are available on the
site. Basically you should use this opportunity to tell your universities about
yourself. Any out‑of‑school interests or activities should feature
here as your referee is likely to comment on your CCA involvement and your
academic performance/potential. Try to say why you want to study (a) the
subject you have chosen and (b) in the
Pay/Send: You can choose to pay by credit card (preferred) or by submitting a cheque/bank draft/money order/postal order for 21pounds sterling and payable to UCAS for more than 1 choice and 11pounds sterling for a single choice to Mr Christopher Thio in the main Admin Centre. If you are paying by postal order please fill out the counterfoil and leave it with Mr Christopher Thio. If you are paying by cheque please cross it account payee only.
7. POINTS TO NOTE
You do not need to complete your application at one go so always save your work in progress. And if get locked out of your account you will be allowed back in after 24 hours. But should you need any urgent assistance please email Mr. Burge at chris@hc.edu.sg
When you have completed everything your CT will add a reference, check what you’ve done and send your application off
If you’re IP and have taken no O levels then you choose SIP Cambridge GCE Advanced Level and SIP English Language Qualification. But if you’re IP and have taken an O level then you choose both of these above and GCE Ordinary Level. And if you’re an IP student you will also have separately to email your Sec 4 results to UCAS (details later in this presentation). This is because you have no O levels. If you’re not IP then you choose GCE Ordinary Level and Singapore Cambridge Advanced Level (NEW – first award 2006)
When filling in your academic subjects:
► Don't forget Project Work H1
► Don’t forget GP H1
► Don’t forget Mother Tongue H1
► Don’t forget your H3
► The dates to choose are:
► November 2010 for all current exams
► November 2009 for Project Work, Mother Tongue H1 (if you’re not continuing this year) and any O levels taken last year
► November 2008 for most O levels taken at Secondary School
► November 2007 for any O level taken at the end of Sec 3
► The awarding body is SEAB
8. TIMING
No application can be sent to
UCAS before September 1st. Any application can be sent after this date but if
you are applying to
HCI’s 2010 Timeline for Application to Oxbridge
and
|
4 August |
Cambridge Forms made available to students from today at the ECG Centre: students to bring in copy of registration form. |
|
6 August |
STUDENTS’ DEADLINE: HCI Registration portal for Oxbridge/ Medicine closes. Students should have informed tutors of intention to apply by today. |
|
16 August |
Assigned college list published. Students to check with teacher counsellors at the ECG room. |
|
20 August |
STUDENTS’ DEADLINE: Students to complete applications forms (with personal statements) & submit to teacher-referees. |
|
20 August |
STUDENTS’ DEADLINE: Submission of proof of
online payment for Deadline for paying $3 to teacher-counsellor for postal charges. |
|
6 August – 3 Sept |
Civics Tutors complete student references in this time |
|
3
Sept |
Teachers’ 1st deadline: ALL |
|
6 – 13 Sept |
Processing of students’ forms by Overseas Universities Apps Committee for mailing; verification of documents, etc. HCI mails out all Oxbridge application forms. |
|
By 20 Sept |
EXTERNAL DEADLINE: Arrival of paper forms in Submission of UCAS online
form (for |
|
By 15 Oct |
Submission of UCAS online
form (for |
|
15 Jan 2011 |
Possible
deadline (for all other applicants): Major UCAS
deadline for ALL UCAS applications. |
|
Feb-Mar11 |
Students’
deadline for replies to Oxbridge. |
|
March 2011 |
Students from
your graduated CT class may apply through UCAS following the release of the A
level results. Pls check your UCAS account after the A level release date. Possible
FINAL deadline: 30 June 2011. UCAS is
technically open till June 2011 for them though places at the competitive
colleges fill up quickly; so students may still apply. |
9. AFTER THE APPLICATION
If you are an IP student you should forward your Record of Achievement (i.e. your Sec 4 academic results as issued by your respective secondary institution) to: singaporeroa@ucas.ac.uk. This is in lieu of the O levels you don’t have! The subject header for this email should contain your full name followed by your UCAS identification number. The suggested template is:
Please find attached my RoA for the Singapore Integrated Programme.
My name is ___________
UCAS Identification Number/Application Number ________________
I agree to the information contained in this RoA attachment being shared with the institutions detailed in my 2010 UCAS application.
(Student type out full name and date)
Upon receipt the RoA is sent to the nominated institution’s international admissions representative as listed on web-link (unless otherwise specified) for consideration at all of the institutions a student applies for. The Pre Send-off team at UCAS is responsible for forwarding the RoAs to institutions and any processing issues. Any further problems or queries should be directed to UCAS.
10.
PAST STUDENTS:
It
is your responsibility to liaise with your old CT. You should ask him/her to
send a reference for you tp Mr
Christopher Burge at chris@hc.edu.sg
and he will upload it, check your application and send it off. If he/she finds
anything wrong with your application it will be returned to you for editing
11. HELP OR FEEDBACK
If you are an IP student and you encounter any
problems with your qualifications being accepted by a university then you
should:
►
Email Mrs Soo-Koh Bee Lian Patsy (patsysoo@hc.edu.sg) with
full details of your case. She will determine whether you need to call the MOE
helpline (Languages & Literature Branch)
►
In short, no IP
student should take TOEFL/IELTS without first consulting Mrs
Patsy Soo.