UCAS Application Help.

 

Your First Steps UCAS Application.

UCAS stands for “The University and Colleges Admissions Service”. UCAS is a gateway and portal for your application to be sent to your chosen dental school. UCAS forms the online intermediary between yourself and your chosen university.

Your UCAS application plays a crucial role for selection.

It is critical for you to understand the entry requirements for each dental school. Learn more about the university entry requirements via ucas.

*We strongly advise all those interested in dentistry, fully research the career to ensure that this is a suitable choice for you. As part of this, we advise seeking dental work experience and insight to learn more about this career . Find out more about dentistry work experience here.

Registering your application

To start your application you will firstly need to register. You will be asked to fill out personal details, create a password and answer a few security questions. The next stage can vary depending on whether you are applying from your school, college, a private centre or independently. If you are registering through an educational institution then you will be provided with a buzzword from your teachers or the centre. This simply allows UCAS to identify you with the correct organisation. However, if you’re applying independently you will be required to answer additional questions to complete your registration. Please note that an independent applicant is not at a disadvantage compared to other candidates. 

Once registration is completed you will be provided with a log in which you should keep safe and secure. The application will then require further information regarding your background. For example, whether you have had any criminal convictions? Or if you have any disability needs that the university can help you with.

Remember, it is important to be completely honest when completing your application as it is a chance for the university to get to know you better. Also, take your time with the application and plan ahead to give you plenty of time to get it right. You can save your progress in each part of the application so there isn't any need to rush. 

The next stage is to provide details regarding ethnicity, sexual orientation, national background and any widening participation opportunities that you have had. This information is not disclosed to the University unless they offer you a place. This helps the University set up additional support programmes for students once they begin attending.   

Choosing your universities

Once all the details are filled out, then it's time to choose your courses. You get the option to select up to 5 Universities where you would possibly like to study your chosen subject. The other Universities will not be able to see where else you have applied. UCAS advises that you select 4 choices for Dentistry and have one course as a backup. This is due to the competitive nature of the course, although ultimately it is your choice.

The next stage involves sharing your previous examination results such as GCSE’s or other academic results. It is important that you get this information as accurate as possible so use your previous certificates as references if needed. 

Struggling to choose your universities, have a read of this article which gives good insight into the factors many students consider when determining their final 4 dental schools.

The dentistry personal statement

A major part of your application is the personal statement. This is the backbone,  holding everything together and it can make or break your application. There is a word limit on this of 4000 characters, which equates to around 47 lines of text. You can be under the word limit, however going over will mean that you are unable to submit the statement and it would need to be cropped.

The UCAS tool under the personal statement section allows you to check if your personal statement is over or under the limit and allows you to see how much you have gone over.Your personal statement will go to all of your chosen universities. The personal statement is all about you. There are many things you should include, such as why you have chosen to study Dentistry, what you learned from your research into the career and any work experience you have undertaken. Your personal statement should strictly be your own work as UCAS uses a plagiarism tool which will identify any similarities between previous and current statements. We recommend that you have a look at our guidance on writing a well structured and outstanding statement for Dentistry. 

References

Every application will require a referee who will need to submit their own statement about you and fill out a section so that the university can know you a little better. They will also be required to give you predicted grades on any pending qualifications. A referee can be your teachers if you are applying from a school or college. If you're an independent candidate this can be a tutor or even a previous employer if you have been out of education. Once this is complete you can then pay and send off your application. The UCAS fee is £25 if you are applying to multiple choices or if you just are choosing one choice for your application the fee is £20.

UCAS tracking number

After your application is sent off you will receive a UCAS track number. This will enable you to look into the progress of your application in regards to receiving offers. The next step would be to wait for any offers from universities.

I’ve sent my application, what now?

For Dentistry, before you can receive an offer you will be required to attend an interview. You will hear from all universities regarding interviews through email and you will be able to check your offers on UCAS track. Once you’ve received a response from all of your chosen universities you can choose a firm and an insurance. Your firm choice is the university you want to be immediately accepted into if you meet the grade requirements. Your insurance choice is the university you want to keep your offer for in case you don’t meet your first choice requirements.

Conditional versus unconditional offers

If your offer is conditional this would mean that the university needs you to meet entry requirements before you are accepted. However, if your offer is unconditional this allows you to progress with no entry requirements. In the case of conditional offers you will need to wait until results day to find out whether you have been accepted or not on UCAS track. 

 

UCAS Application Assistance

Now that you know what UCAS is and what to expect, this section aims to provide you with some tips to ensure you have the best application possible.

Separate email address for UCAS

Make sure to have a separate email address to enter into UCAS. Do not use a school email address because if you leave school you may not have access to this email.

Sharing information with your college

You also have the option to not share any updates about offers or rejections with your school or college. This option is found on the UCAS Track section under preferences. Some students may not want to share this information with their school or colleges. 

Start early

You also have the opportunity to start off early, with the UCAS applications opening around September. Take your time with the application and do not leave it to the last minute. It is very useful to have someone double check your applications just to make sure that all the information and details are correct, and that you are happy with your application.  

Master your statement

The personal statement is the chance for your universities to get to know you better before they invite you over for an interview. Take this opportunity to put forward everything about yourself and remember to be clear and concise. There is further advice on writing the personal statement here.

 
 

5th choice option

The 5th choice option (or backup choice) allows those wishing to pursue Dentistry, the ability to select a non-Dentistry course programme as an alternative. This enables those who may not receive any offers for Dentistry to pursue this ‘backup’ university degree instead.When you apply to study Dentistry through UCAS, you are only allowed to use four of your five course choices for ‘Dentistry’ itself, leaving you with an unused fifth choice. This article covers the questions regarding the 5th choice option, which are commonly asked questions by applicants.

Will I be disadvantaged?

Students often worry about being put at a disadvantage for utilising the fifth choice to apply for an alternate course, and feel it suggests they lack intent to study dentistry. However, this is not the case. In fact, universities encourage applicants to use this option as it allows you to plan for all outcomes.  Remember, selecting a fifth choice is not mandatory. So we suggest to only add a fifth choice if you truly wish to go down this route.

What to consider when choosing a 5th choice option?

There are many factors that you should take into consideration when selecting your fifth choice. These include:

Choosing a degree you would still enjoy.

This is important as you will be spending at least 3 years studying your chosen course and you need to make sure it will be a subject you will enjoy, at a location that suits you. 

Future finance.

At the time of writing, most UK Students are only able to get a Tuition Loan from Student Finance for a single undergraduate course, with the exception of gaining a place onto an ‘Accelerated Graduate Entry Dentistry’. The entry requirements for Dentistry (if you re-apply). For graduates who choose to apply for ‘Accelerated Graduate Entry Dentistry’ courses vary greatly and you need to make sure that your fifth choice option is suitable, for example, they may require you to have a Biomedical Sciences Degree. 

Job prospects from your fifth-choice degree option.

Should you be unable to obtain a place onto a Dentistry course applying as a graduate, or if you decide whilst undertaking your first undergraduate degree, that Dentistry is no longer for you, you should research what job opportunities would be made available to you after completing that degree. 

Important factors if you wish to later re-apply to dentistry

It must be noted that the best way to check that your fifth choice option would allow you to apply to Dentistry, is to either check the entry requirements regarding graduate entry on the website of the Dental Schools you are interested in, or to contact the Dental Schools directly.

What about my personal statement ?

Universities are very aware that those who wish to study Dentistry are limited to only four choices, as such the fifth choice will be a non-Dentistry option. For this reasons, the personal statement which has been carefully designed specifically for entry into Dentistry will have no relevance to that (backup) degree course. Fortunately, you will not be disadvantaged as these course providers are fully cognisant that it will not be related with their course. 

Contact us for UCAS advice or help.