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Completing your UCAS application

Applications for most full-time university or college places are made through UCAS. Make sure you know the relevant deadline - for some courses and colleges, it's earlier than others.

Registering your application

Apply for 2012/13 now

You can apply online now with UCAS for courses that start from September 2012.

Applications to UCAS can only be made online. To register an application through a school, college or careers organisation you will need their 'buzzword'. If you are applying as an individual you do not need one.

After registering you will be given a username and asked to enter your own password. You can register in the summer before you plan to make your online application.

The earliest you can submit a finished application is the September before you want to start your course, unless you are applying for deferred entry (for example, applying in the 2012 cycle for 2013 entry).

If you choose to defer your place until 2013, you will still need to meet any conditions (for example, qualification grades) by the end of August 2012, unless otherwise agreed with the university or college.

Completing the UCAS application

There are seven sections on the application: personal details; additional information (for UK applicants only); choices; education; employment; personal statement and reference. In the choices section, you can list up to five courses.

The application has pop-up menus with an A to Z list of universities and higher education colleges, and also course codes, so you just have to click and select.

Art and design courses

If you’re applying for some art and design courses, the application procedure will be different.

Personal statement and employment sections

Your personal statement should cover why you are interested in the courses you’ve applied for, and what you hope to do after your studies.

In the employment section, you can list your part-time or summer jobs.

Referees

Once you've completed all sections of your application, click 'Send to referee' so the person who's acting as a referee can check your details and add their reference. If you're not at school or college and are applying independently, paste your referee's reference into the online application.

UCAS application fee and deadlines

Make sure you are aware of the application deadline

For 2012 applications, the fee is £11 for a single choice or £22 for 2 to 5 choices.

For most courses, you’ll need to get your application to UCAS by 15 January 2012 in order to be considered ‘on time’ (so about nine months prior to courses starting in September). However, you must apply by 15 October 2011 if you're studying medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or veterinary science, or if you're applying to the universities of Oxford or Cambridge.

The deadline for some art and design courses is 24 March 2012.

Whichever course you're applying for, UCAS advises students to apply well before the deadline. However, you can still apply through UCAS up to the end of June 2012. Universities and colleges may still consider your application, but the most popular courses may already be full. If you apply after the end of June, you'll automatically go into Clearing.

Personal ID and password

Once UCAS has processed your application, you get a Personal ID. You can use this, in combination with your username and password, to track the progress of your application. You also get a welcome letter in the post.

What happens next?

Once you've made your UCAS application, you can apply for financial help as soon as student finance applications open. You don't need to wait for an offer.

See ‘Student finance' for more on financial support, and the ‘Guide to higher education admissions through UCAS’ for details on what happens once you’ve sumitted your application.