Parents & carersHow to apply

At Strathclyde, we understand that parents and carers need to know as much about the application process as possible in order to ensure your child makes the most informed choice.

Take a look below at the key stages involved in the application process, as well as some key dates for your diary.

There are many universities and courses available, so it's vital your child researches their options before making decisions.

Course pages on university websites and prospectuses are where you'll find out useful information about options. The UCAS course search facility will also help your child find out which universities offer particular courses. You can also compare entry requirements.

If there's a Higher Education convention in your area your child can attend this to speak to representatives from each of the universities of interest.

Once your child has an idea of which courses they would like to apply to they should attend university open days if possible to receive further information.

Applications to undergraduate courses are made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). Applications should be made online on the UCAS website.

Students can apply for up to five courses - the majority of our courses will make offers based entirely on the UCAS application. However some courses may invite candidates for interview or ask for a portfolio of work. If an interview/portfolio is a requirement then this will be stated in the entry requirements for the course in the prospectus.

Once our academic selector has assessed your child’s application, and undertaken an interview/viewed a portfolio if relevant, they will make an offer.

There are three types of offer:

  • Unconditional - the applicant has met all of the academic requirements and we are happy to accept them
  • Conditional - we will offer the applicant a place if they meet certain conditions, which are usually based on their exams
  • Unsuccessful - we have decided not to offer the applicant a place

Once your child has received offers from all of their course choices they must decide on which offers they would like to accept.

At this point, most universities will invite them to visit again. These post- application visits usually provide more in depth information about the course(s) than general open days. Therefore, it is a good idea for your child to attend so they can make a more informed decision.

Once your child has decided which courses they would like to accept they must inform UCAS.

They will choose one course as their first choice. If they meet the conditions of this offer, or if they have an unconditional offer, then this is the course they will study.

They'll also choose an insurance choice. This should have lower conditions than their first choice course, so if they don't meet the conditions of their first choice they'll have the insurance choice as back-up.

The University receives a copy of Higher/Advanced Higher/A Level results directly from the awarding body. If your child’s offer is conditional on exam results and they meet this condition, we'll send confirmation to UCAS that we'll offer them a place. UCAS will then inform the student.

If your child does not meet meet their condition and we cannot offer them a place, we'll let UCAS know of this decision and their insurance university can then consider their exam results.

We'll send new students details of how to register in mid-late August.