UCAS Makes a Statement – Upcoming Changes
- ivyoptionswebsite
- Feb 8, 2023
- 4 min read
Newsflash! On January 12th, newspapers across the UK reported that the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, better known as UCAS, was ‘scrapping’ the UCAS personal statement. However, this change is not the only news in UK admissions. Read on to learn what to expect.
UCAS has managed UK university applications since 1993, and the personal statement has been an integral part of the application. In this 4,000-character essay, applicants express their motivation for pursuing their chosen course and share the qualifications and experiences that prove their readiness to complete it successfully.
In “The Future of Undergraduate Admissions,” a publication released in January 2023, UCAS revealed its vision for the new application. For applicants planning to start their courses in 2024 or 2025 – UCAS will hopefully confirm the exact date soon – the personal statement will be replaced by a series of short questions. Ultimately, there may also be a video or other multimedia component to the application.
Why is this change taking place?
According to UCAS “Feedback shows fears that students who do not have access to high-quality advice and guidance will not be able to use the statement to shine in the same way that their more advantaged peers can.” The report also stated that while 72% of students felt positive about the statement and their ability to use it to advocate for themselves, it also causes stress. “83% reported that the process of writing a personal statement is stressful, with 79% agreeing that the statement is difficult to complete without support.”
Interestingly, UCAS has yet to announce the launch date, although courses starting in 2025 are the most likely. Thus, the changes will most likely affect current Year 11/Grade 10 students and younger. UCAS is also considering allowing responses that are tailored to each application or university and is currently seeking feedback on this idea.
What will I be asked?
The new ‘essay’ questions are still under development; however, the planned topics sound identical to those that UCAS encourages students to cover in the traditional statement. In other words, the new approach will be, in effect, a deconstructed personal statement. The assumption is that this approach will be more straightforward and less daunting for students. UCAS has listed the following key areas for the new questions:
Motivation for course (i.e., why do I want to study this subject)
Preparedness for course in terms of learning (i.e., which classroom experiences have prepared me for my studies)
Preparation through other experiences (e.g., supercurricular activities such as work experience, research, club involvement, competitions, projects, volunteer work, online courses, and reading)
Extenuating circumstances that have affected my academic performance
Preparedness for study in terms of student life
Preferred learning styles (e.g., experiential, auditory, visual, etc.)
At Ivy Options, we believe that the new writing section will look like a series of short essays, but the content covered will essentially be unchanged. Hopefully, many students will find this structured guidance helpful; however, to be successful, they will still need to prioritize strong grades, explore their interests, and build their supercurricular profiles in a compelling way, just as they have in the past.
Changes to the academic reference and access to admissions data
In terms of other changes, the academic reference section written by the applicant’s secondary school will also move to three specific questions from the current free-text response. From the 2024 entry cycle onwards, UCAS states that referees will answer the following three prompts:
Enter a general statement about your school/college
Enter any information about extenuating circumstances that may affect this applicant’s performance in examinations or other assessments (optional)
Use this section to outline any other circumstances specific to the applicant that you think universities/colleges should be aware of (optional)
To help students assess their chances and choose courses and universities wisely, UCAS plans to make admissions data available through “Entry Grade Reports,” which should be available on ucas.com later this year. These reports will show 5-year grade ranges presented by students who’ve received offers for specific courses.
Changes in admissions testing
Finally, in autumn 2022, Cambridge Admissions Testing announced the withdrawal of entry exams including the BMAT (Medicine), the ENGAA (Engineering), and the TMUA (Math and Computer Science) beginning with the 2024 admissions cycle. Thus, current Year 12/Grade 11 students are not affected, but younger students applying to Cambridge or for a BMAT medical school will be. The universities using the BMAT have yet to decide which test they will use in the 2024 application cycle. An official spokesperson expressed that the University of Cambridge is focusing on a “smooth transition to an alternative arrangement,” but the new plan has yet to be revealed. For those applying to the University of Oxford, testing practices have not changed.
Conclusions
Overall, all of these changes appear to be aimed at advancing the UK’s widening participation goals in higher education. The UCAS report states that much progress has been made in encouraging students from disadvantaged areas to apply, citing a 66% increase between 2007 and 2021. At the same time, UCAS is exploring reforms to entry for international students. It acknowledges that the UK is a popular destination for internationals and that competition for places is intense. For changes in this area, we will have to stay tuned.
Right now, the best advice for students is to prepare themselves well in order to be as competitive as possible, select a balanced list of reach, target, and safer schools, and, if appropriate, consider other university systems such as Canada, Europe, and the USA. Talk to your Ivy Options counselor about these changes if you have further questions. We would be delighted to help.
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