University and Oxbridge applications
What happens between choosing A levels and starting a degree, written for students and for the parents helping them: choosing a course, UCAS and its deadlines, the personal statement, interviews, offers, Clearing and money. Applying to Oxford or Cambridge starts earlier and has more steps, so it has its own guides below.
Applying to university
Year 12, from spring
How to choose a university and a course
How to choose a degree course and where to study it: what the course covers, entry requirements, how it is taught, where you would live and open days.
Year 11, from January
Choosing A levels: what universities ask for
How to choose A levels with university in mind: the subjects some degrees require, keeping options open, how many to take and where the EPQ fits.
Year 12 to August after Year 13
The UCAS application, step by step
The UCAS application year from Year 12 to results day: when applications open, the October and January deadlines, offers, replies, Extra and Clearing.
Summer of Year 12 to October of Year 13
The UCAS personal statement: the three questions and how to answer them
The UCAS personal statement is now three questions with 4,000 characters between them. What each question asks, what to put in it and the rules on AI.
Year 12, summer to autumn
Predicted grades: how they are set and what they are for
Who sets predicted grades for a UCAS application, what they are based on, how universities use them and what to do if a prediction looks too low.
Year 12, summer and early autumn
University open days: what to ask
When university open days are, what to ask the people who teach the course and the students on it, online open days, and what parents might ask too.
Year 13, spring
Replying to university offers: firm and insurance
Conditional and unconditional offers, choosing a firm and an insurance, UCAS reply dates, what happens if you do not reply, and when Extra applies.
Autumn and winter of Year 13
University interviews: what to expect
Which university courses interview, how panel interviews and multiple mini interviews work, online or in person, and how to prepare without a script.
July to October
Clearing: how it works
How UCAS Clearing works: who can use it, when it opens, the steps on results day, what to do if you did better than expected, and what to have ready.
From the autumn of Year 13
Student finance explained for parents
How student finance in England works: tuition and maintenance loans, how household income counts, how repayment works, and the new route for 2027 courses.
All year
Degree apprenticeships or university
What a degree apprenticeship is, how it differs from a degree at university, how to apply to employers rather than through UCAS, and how to choose.
Year 12 to autumn of Year 13
The EPQ: is it worth doing?
What the Extended Project Qualification involves, how it is graded, how many UCAS points it is worth, and how to decide whether it is worth the time.
Summer of Year 12 to spring of Year 13
Applying for medicine
How applying for medicine in the UK works: the UCAT in the summer, the October deadline, four medical choices, work experience, and interviews.
Summer of Year 12 to January of Year 13
Applying to study law
How applying for law at UK universities works: which universities use the LNAT, what it tests, its deadlines, the personal statement and interviews.
Oxford and Cambridge
Year 12, before the summer
Oxford or Cambridge: the differences
You can usually apply to only one of Oxford and Cambridge in a year. How their courses, teaching, tests, interviews and colleges differ, to help you pick.
May to January
Applying to Oxford or Cambridge: the year, month by month
Applying to Oxford or Cambridge for 2027 entry, month by month: admissions tests, the 15 October deadline, written work, interviews and decisions.
November and December
Oxford and Cambridge interviews: what happens and how to prepare
What happens in an Oxford or Cambridge interview, whether it is online, what the interviewers are looking for, and how to prepare without a script.
Year 12 summer to October
Choosing an Oxford or Cambridge college
What Oxford and Cambridge colleges are, how much the choice matters, open applications, and how Cambridge’s winter pool passes applicants between colleges.
Book by late September, sit in October
Oxford and Cambridge admissions tests, course by course
Which admissions test each Oxford and Cambridge course asks for in 2027 entry: TMUA, ESAT, TARA, LNAT, UCAT and STEP, and what replaced the MAT and PAT.
Year 12, and the summer after
Super-curricular activities for Oxford and Cambridge
What super-curricular activities are, why they matter for Oxford and Cambridge, how to choose them without a checklist, and how to write about them.
Free tools and papers
UCAS points calculator
Add up the tariff points for A levels, AS levels and the EPQ.
Personal statement counter
Check each of the three answers against the character limit as you write.
Admissions test past papers
The TMUA, ESAT and LNAT papers the test makers publish, and the old MAT and PAT papers.
Practising with a tutor
Interviews and admissions tests are the parts of an application that are hardest to practise alone. Cookie Tutoring, which we also run, looks for tutors from Oxford, Cambridge and other leading universities, and every tutor offers a free intro lesson before anything is paid for.
Looking for GCSE and A level guides instead? They are with the rest on the guides page.