UCAS conventions – what am I doing!?

The annual UCAS conventions are truly underway, visiting different hot spots around the country. Many of you will visit the conventions with your classmates as a school/college outing, but if not, there’s no reason you can’t attend by yourself, with a group of friends or your parents. Everyone attending has the intention of seeking out a selection degrees which tick their boxes. View the upcoming dates and venues on the UCAS website.

So who’s there and what’s going on?

It’s basically a huge space with almost every university in the UK, their prospectuses and one or two university representatives who know their courses and uni really well. Alongside the universities there will also be local colleges, employers and gap year providers. Every exhibitor will have their own stand, and many will have loads of great freebies such as tote bags, pens, stress balls, highlighters and sweets! It feels like you’re on the UCAS course search page but doing it live and in person. Instead of searching around endlessly to find an answer, you can just ask your questions to a university and get some answers in less than a minute. Why would you not attend?

There will also be seminars that run throughout the day at most UCAS conventions. Some will give advice and guidance on applying, e.g. personal statement writing and student finance, and some will be subject specific, e.g applying to Law, Medicine, Art & Design, Teaching. To give your legs a rest, but also gain some useful information, we would recommend you attend at least one of these talks. But try to arrive at least 10 minutes before, as some talks can be really popular and you don’t want to miss out!

How to get the most out of your visit

Prepare a list of questions and pinpoint some institutions you would like to see.

Here’s a list of things to think about:

1. Applying (is it competitive? an admissions test? an interview? what are they looking for in an applicant?)
2. The degree programme (how are you taught? how are you assessed?)
3. The university (city or campus based? halls of residence costs and location?)
4. Student life (clubs/societies? easy to get a part-job? support services?)
5. Future prospects (employability? career destinations?)
6. Finances (scholarships & bursaries to be aware of?)
7. Visiting (open days? campus tours?)

If you’re completely undecided on a course, then your search and questions will be a little different and you’ll probably come home with a lot more prospectuses. Unfortunately not every university representative will be a trained career advisor, but they may be able to give you some ideas of courses that would interest you.

Any other advice?

BE BRAVE. Don’t feel you have to go to all the same stands and talks as your friends; be confident. If they’re not applying to the same course as you, attend a talk on your own and go to some different stands to your mates – just keep each other in view, or agree a time to meet at the end. (As phone signal isn’t always great in exhibition halls, and your phone can be hard to hear.)

Take a big, reliable bag. You’ll have many prospectuses to carry, so chuck them into a rucksack to save your arms!

If you don’t want to carry millions of prospectuses, then most stands will have an enquiry form to fill in and they’ll post a prospectus out to you. They’ll also keep you informed of their upcoming open days, because you won’t want to forget to book your place!

We hope you all pay a visit to our stand! #appreciatethegreatprospectusstacking