Careers advice & guidance
Applying to university
Application process
Level 3 students can apply to university from the end of their first year at college – UCAS usually opens undergraduate applications in May the year before entry (for example, students could apply to start university in September 2027 from May 2026).
They will need to do this using the UCAS Hub (sometimes referred to as the UCAS Portal). They will have until the end of November to register an account, link their account to Wiltshire College, choose up to five potential courses, arrange for a lecturer to provide a reference, write their personal statement, and provide all the other details that the UCAS Hub asks for. Of course, we recommend doing all of this as soon as possible.
Students will need to link their UCAS application to Wiltshire College using a buzzword – each campus has its own buzzword. If not linked, the Careers Team will be unable to oversee and support an application.
Staff on the Careers Team will check applications for mistakes, support students with their decision making, and provide advice and guidance for throughout the UCAS process.
As of August 2026, it will cost £34.50 to submit an application, and student’s – or their families on their behalf – will need to pay this unless they have received free school meals from their local authority within the last six years. If the latter is true, the cost will be covered. More information about this is here. Please note students will need to obtain evidence from the local authority unless they currently receive free school meals from Wiltshire College (though please bear in mind free meals provided as part of a college bursary do not count).
Key dates
- 1 October – Deadline for conservatoire music applications.
- 15 October – Deadline for applications to Oxford, Cambridge, and most course in medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine/science.
- 2 November – Internal deadline for all applications.
- 13 January – National Equal Considerations deadline.
> More key dates, including when students need to respond to their offers.
Questions
Have a read of our FAQ’s below. If you have any more questions, please get in contact with our careers lead at alexander.critchley@wiltshire.ac.uk.
FAQs
What is UCAS?
UCAS is the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. It is the online portal that all universities use to manage their applications, and so students will need to follow the ‘UCAS process’ if they want to apply to university.
How Does a Student register an account on ucas?
How does a student complete their application?
How do students choose a university course?
We recommend using the UCAS course search function first. It allows students to filter by course location, type, entry requirements, and more. Every student can choose up to five options, which may be more than some need, but others will want time to narrow down their options.
Once students have found a few options that they’re interested in using the UCAS course search function, they should check the universities’ websites for information about open days. We do encourage students to attend an open day for each of their choices if they can, as these often give a good idea of what the course and university will be like, but this isn’t always possible, so please don’t worry if this can’t be done.
If students have five choices, how do they decide where to go?
After submitting their applications, students need to wait for the universities to make their decisions. Generally speaking, universities are expected to reply by the end of March for all applications sent by the Equal Considerations deadline (currently 14th January). The types of offers that universities will make are detailed here.
Students will then need to reply to their offers, and will have to make one firm acceptance, and one insurance acceptance. We recommend having an insurance acceptance that has lower entry requirements than the firm. More details about this are here.
How do students send their applications to UCAS?
If students have linked their application to Wiltshire College, when they select ‘submit application’ on the UCAS hub, the application will first go to the Careers Team to check. The Careers Team will then contact the student for final confirmation before the application is actually sent to UCAS.
This last step allows us to check for any mistakes that might have been made. You’d be surprised how many small errors can be missed!
What if a student is unsure about going to university?
They should speak to one of our qualified careers advisors. They can do so by booking an appointment online, or by simply popping into one of our Careers hubs and speaking to a member of staff.
All appointments are confidential and non-biased. We don’t have a pro or anti university agenda, and we take pride in helping students decide the next steps that are right for them.
Does a student have to apply to university?
Not at all. People thrive in different environments, and while university suits many students, it isn’t for everyone.
What are student loans?
Students loans are the most common method used to fund university studies. They are generally broken down into a tuition fee loan (which is paid directly to the university for the course itself) and a maintenance loan (used to help students pay for things like food and rent). How much you get is based on personal circumstance, and repayment is based on how much you earn after graduating. Beyond that, we don’t generally advise on student loans, as they are not our area of expertise.
- More information about student loans can be found here.
- Information about repaying student loans is here.
- A guide to accessing student loans is here.
- Access to Student Finance accounts is here.
Applying for student loans through Student Finance is a separate process that Wiltshire College does not get involved in.
What is the buzzword needed to link an account to the college?
Buzzwords are shared with students via the Careers newsletter and Future Ready sessions. Students can also ask their careers advisor if unsure.
We don’t publish the buzzwords online.
A guide to linking an application to the college is here.
When should students start applying?
We encourage Level 3 students to register a UCAS account and begin researching course options from May of their first year. They should then use the Summer break to write their personal statement, so that they don’t need to rush it and the Careers Team have plenty of time to check it.