Admissions statement for 2023 entrants
Current advice for UCAS applicants to University of Gloucestershire for 2023 entry
Director’s update – January 2023
Our applicants are very important to us. University of Gloucestershire has always been flexible on entry criteria and we consider it essential as we support our future students in making the transition to study with us. We continue to welcome UCAS and undergraduate applications after the initial UCAS equal consideration deadline of 25 January 2023, via UCAS main scheme and UCAS Extra.
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Competition for Places
We appreciate that applying for university is a first-time experience for most students and the challenges associated with COVID19 during 2020-22 have added uncertainty to the process. There is also an incorrect perception that fewer places overall will be available in 2023 across the UK as a result of the changes to A level, BTEC and other grades during 2020-22. This is not the case at Gloucestershire – we encourage you to keep an open mind – be positive and confident in your choice to apply to us.
We are not expecting competition for our degrees to be significantly different from previous years and want to reassure you that we welcome and consider each and every application we receive – last year we received around 9,000 UCAS applications for around 2,200 places. The vast majority of our UK applicants receive offers from us or an invitation to an informal interview, even for our highly popular courses.
Don’t forget that you can apply to up to five university/course choices via UCAS – so we all have more applications than places initially. At UoG some of our applicants apply to more than one course with us, and we are happy to receive multiple choices.
We recommend a application on or before the 25 January UCAS equal consideration deadline, but continue to accept applications after this date.
Offers and entry requirements
We’ll continue to be flexible and welcoming with all applications we receive and we have not significantly changed our entry requirements this year compared with 2020, 2021 or 2022. Some of our courses are highly popular (such as Physiotherapy, Primary Education and Paramedic Science), but in all cases our mindset is to find reasons to make you an offer or send you an interview invite, not to reject you.
The average overall UCAS tariff on entry at UoG is around 115-120 UCAS points (around CCC-BBB at A level is typical), but we accept a range of grades and make offers across the UCAS tariff.
If your predicted grades are lower than our typical offers, we normally still make you a conditional offer and/or invite you to interview, particularly if your predictions are relatively close to our entry requirements.
We’ll continue to welcome additional qualifications such as EPQ and Welsh Baccalaureate alongside A levels, BTEC, PreU and Cambridge Technical. We also accept a mix of A levels and vocational/technical qualifications and embrace the new T levels from 2022. We welcome Access to HE course applicants – popular with mature students over 21 and accept applications from students of all ages – around 20% of our students in 2022 were aged over 21 on entry.
Our students come from over 50 countries worldwide – so our admissions team are experienced in making offers to a wide range of international qualifications.
Interviews and auditions – mainly on-campus for 2023 entry
We’re planning for our interviews to be on-campus and face to face between December 2022 – April 2023. It’s fantastic that you’re able to visit us in person to see the excellent facilities and meet staff and students. We’ll also offer some applicants the opportunity for an online interview if they are unable to visit us.
We have published guidance and tips on what to expect for your interview and these will be updated regularly if needed. We will be running interviews for courses that normally include a conditional offer (i.e. you have to achieve a particular grade to be assured of a place) such as Nursing, Paramedic Science, Physiotherapy, Teaching and Social Work.
We also interview/audition for courses such as Arts, Creative Industries, Film and TV, Design and Architecture where a tailored, unconditional or conditional offer may form part of the process. Attending the interview could mean an unconditional offer from us, or other incentive to do your best.
Please inform your school or college if you’ll be taking part in interviews between December – April, as they may need to provide time out of classes for you and other students to take part. If you are having online interviews, please contact us for advice on what to expect.
There will not be a dress code for these interviews. As always, consider your audience and how you come across in a relaxed and professional way, relevant to the industry or career you would like to work in. Again, our interview guidance pages will be regularly updated if required.
There will also be campus visit opportunities during the process to allow you to get a feel for our campuses in Cheltenham and Gloucester. These will be published on our campus visit pages when available – we look forward to welcoming you.
Offer holder days normally take place during March 2023. Friends, parents and guests are welcome too, and we have a series of open days planned for summer 2023.
Conditional and Unconditional offers
The majority of the offers we make in 2023 will be conditional – i.e. with requirements to achieve particular grades in your qualifications.
University of Gloucestershire has always been flexible on entry criteria and we consider it essential as we support our future students in making the transition to study with us.
For courses which require an interview or audition, such as arts, design and creative industries, the outcome of the interview/audition will form part of the selection process and may include a tailored conditional or unconditional offer. The interview is nothing to worry about and is a designed to be a positive experience.
Students who already have their grades (eg if they have taken a gap year or deferred entry, or took their qualifications a few years ago) may receive an unconditional offer in the normal way, including those who require an interview first.
You should not feel pressured into making an early decision by your other choices and can wait to hear from all your chosen universities before deciding which courses to accept as your firm and insurance choice. You will receive a date by which to reply to all your offers from UCAS (this is 8 June 2023 for most UK applicants). Our first year accommodation application deadline is in July, so you have plenty of time to make your decision to study with us.
We have lots of university-managed accommodation in Cheltenham and Gloucester, on or close to campus, with a first-year guarantee scheme in place. Unlike some other UK Universities and cities, we are able to offer all those first year students a place in University managed accommodation in Cheltenham or Gloucester if they need it (as always, terms, conditions and deadlines apply).
If you are ready to accept an offer and secure your place in our accommodation, there’s no need to wait – applications open for accommodation in January 2023.
Practical assessments and experience
If you’re studying an A level in a science, we will not normally require a pass in the separate Science Practical Endorsement for 2023. We appreciate the challenges some schools/colleges have faced during 2020-22 with practical assessments. We also appreciate that some BTEC and other vocational courses may have had practical sessions and assessments delayed or cancelled during 2020-22. We will take this into account when making offers and confirming places. At UoG we will continue to teach our students practical and/or lab skills for those relevant courses so are confident you will be able to succeed.
Possible disruption for schools, colleges and examinations
Most students applying for 2023 entry will have experienced disruption to their education through the move to online learning and closure of some schools/colleges during 2020-2021 across the UK and beyond. As in any year, we will also be mindful of these challenges when assessing final results when they are released in August 2023. We are continually monitoring the situation in other countries for our international applicants too and will provide support and resources to help you prepare and settle in, including via our MyGlos app.
We appreciate you may also experience specific circumstances (related or unrelated to COVID 19) which may affect your ability to perform academically. We have a policy on mitigating and extenuating circumstances which is available online if you need it.
If you have results and qualifications from 2021
If you achieved your final qualifications in the last academic year and meet our typical offer for your chosen degree (after any relevant interview if this applies) then we will be able to consider and accept those results as normal. If your grades are not as you hoped, we may be able to offer you a foundation year or invite you to an informal interview to assess your motivation and competence.
Resitting qualifications from 2022
We welcome applications if you are resitting some or all of your qualifications from 2022. We will accept the results of any resit exams taken this year, as long as you receive the results by the end of the 2023 cycle, which is normally August 2023.
UCAS Personal statements and references, including work experience
Due to COVID-19 and other issues, we appreciate that some applicants will have struggled to find work experience during 2020-22 to support their application.
Universities, including Gloucestershire, will think flexibly about work experience and not penalise you for limitations to this. However, we would encourage you to think about what you can do, rather than what you have missed. Have you read up on your course or vocation so you can demonstrate that on your application? Have you accessed any virtual opportunities such as webinars and experiences that provide an insight?
If you have been volunteering or working, talk about your transferable skills. You may want to reflect on how you have adapted to the situation in your personal statement and any interviews you go along to.
It will be particularly important in your Personal Statement to talk about the relevance of relatable skills. What do you know, why do you want to do the course and what difference do you want to make? If there are particular skills you know will be needed for your course, such as group work, develop any skills you might need to strengthen such as confidence communicating to others. It’s also worth remembering that everyone is in the same situation as you.
Don’t forget that in general we are finding reasons to make you an offer or invite you to an interview, not finding reasons to reject you.
We also encourage your teachers/advisers to briefly add or link to any context on the UCAS reference, eg how your school/college has adapted to the challenges and what the typical arrangements are for learning.
And finally – stay positive
As always, please keep in touch with us with any queries, questions and we look forward to your application. At Gloucestershire we are committed to supporting our students to be the best they can be, before, during and after their time with us.
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