“Please can you read through my personal statement, sir, and let me know what you think?” Now is a very busy term for the Malvern College University Admissions Team, as pupils are now starting to apply for university and thinking about life after school. Over 95% of pupils at Malvern apply to university: some after they have gained their A-level and IB exam results and have left the school, but most in the autumn term of their Upper Sixth year.
Pupils apply to universities in the UK and abroad. For those applying to medical or dental schools and Oxford and Cambridge universities, the application has to be sent by 15th October because these courses and universities interview all candidates. The deadline for applications to other UK universities is much later on 22nd January, however, we strongly advise pupils to submit their applications well before this date, ideally by mid-November – the more time university admissions departments have to read through applications, the better.
Applications to US universities have to be in by 31st December – unless pupils apply for an Early Decision (whereby universities decide whether to make a binding offer which applicants are legally bound to accept) in which case the deadline is 31st October. Other non-UK universities have different deadlines, between March and August.
Clearly, pupils have to be well prepared to meet these dates, and we begin informing them about the application process early on in their Lower Sixth year. In September, there is an introductory talk about careers and higher education. In the Lent term, there are seminars on a wide variety of cross-curricular topics for Oxbridge candidates and SAT preparation classes for US university applicants; and we tell pupils how to research universities and courses on Unifrog, an exciting and powerful online comparison platform. In the summer term, pupils are encouraged to go on university open days – it’s so important for them to get a feel for a place by visiting it in person – and in June we register them all on UCAS (the universities’ and colleges’ information and application website). We also host a universities fair attended by a full range of some UK universities and encourage pupils to start writing their personal statements. The Personal Statement needs to be very carefully thought through because it’s the pupils’ chance to shine and explain in detail why they will be an outstanding candidate for their chosen course. The pupils’ Sixth Form Tutors play a vital role here: they help with writing a Personal Statement and choosing courses. They also draft pupils’ references, using the information provided by all their tutees’ subject teachers; and then pass them to the appropriate housemaster or housemistress to ‘top and tail’ and finish off. In all aspects of the application process, both pupils and teachers are guided by Malvern’s experienced and knowledgeable University Admissions Team.
Last year, 95 pupils applied to UK universities via UCAS. Each of Oxbridge students achieved the grades they needed toachieved the grades they needed to read Engineering at Cambridge, and English, French and Arabic, and Law with French at Oxford. Other outstanding results included 4 places at Imperial College London to study Materials Science and Engineering, Biochemistry and Mathematics; one place at the London School of Economics for Management; and Piano and Music at the Royal Northern College of Music. 97% accepted a university offer; 83% got into their 1st choice university; 11% into their 2nd choice university; and 6% used UCAS Clearing to find vacant places on courses at other universities. Overall, 69% gained places at Russell Group (ie, the leading research) universities. Popular universities last year were: Exeter (8 places), KCL (6), Edinburgh (5), Nottingham (5), Oxford Brookes (5), Bristol (4), Durham (4), Manchester (4), Newcastle (4) and Warwick (4).
Of the 133 students in the Upper Sixth, 29 secured places at non-UK universities. There was an increase in students applying to European universities (particularly the Netherlands), especially among students from Europe; and several students are now heading off to top universities in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Among those going to the US are pupils who have gained places at Columbia, the University of Southern California and New York University.
In the last few years, it has become much more challenging for pupils applying to university. Remote learning during lockdown; intense periods of assessment in the summer term; the awarding of top-grade ubiquitously across UK schools; and the elite universities making offers to fewer and fewer independent school candidates (who were offered only 33% of the places available) – all these factors have made the application process more competitive than ever. So we are very proud of our pupils’ achievements and feel that we are offering the right advice and guidance to help them achieve their higher education goals.
Further information about the Careers and Higher Education guidance programme can be found in the flipbook here: https://online.flipbuilder.com/wera/ptkl/
By Richard Thurlow | Head of Careers and Higher Education; he is also Head of Classics.
Useful links
International Baccalaureate (IB) at Malvern College
Careers and Higher Education Information