Вступ до університету у UK

We have found this wonderful manual in one of the groups on facebook, and unfortunately have lost the original link. If you are the author, please get in touch and we’ll update this with your credits (or remove the text if you are unhappy for us to publish it, but hopefully not). Thank you very much, this is going to be hugely helpful to many students fleeing Ukraine.

Introduction

In this document I will try to outline in simple words the main steps and tasks for every person who wants to apply to study in UK universities as a Ukrainian refugee. This document will assume that a person applies to the university while they are securing a sponsorship via “Homes for Ukrainians” or other similar programmes and do not require a Tier-4 (General Student) visa sponsorship. 

At the moment of the application it is probably best to have your refugee documents or the letters from the UK Home Office ready. However, it might be possible to start an application without them and provide them later. Make sure to message directly the Admissions office of your chosen university / department if this is the case. As a refugee, you will be assigned the “Home” fees status in most universities and also gain access and priority on many scholarships and support schemes. You will be able to take student loan money to pay for your university.

Q - What are my options if I do not have a sponsor / what to apply for a Tier 4 visa?

If a person requires a Tier-4 visa, they usually have to provide evidence they can pay for themselves, which includes full cost of international tuition (around £20.000 a year) and £12.000 GBP for the living costs support. In my personal experience, the UK is very expensive for international students, especially in London. 

There are international scholarships that provide full maintenance and tuition waiver (meaning that you do not pay any tuition fees), but they often require really high academic or personal achievement. They usually are available on postgraduate (Masters) or PhD level. So, unless you are confident you can get them, or you/your parents have money for tuition and living cost, you should research study options in European countries with lower tuition fees, such as Germany or Czech Republic.

Applying to the UK university is a difficult process and with some unexpected costs such as translating documents or paying application admin fees. However using this guide you will be able to avoid some mistakes and speed up the process.

Where should I apply?

Use this flown chart to determine where you can apply

Q - What if I do not have any proof of English / I do not have a lot of academic history / have bad grades in my Attestat or State Exam / Do not have any university experience and just left Ukrainian school?

The UK school system has 2 extra years in comparison with Ukrainian schools. It is one of the reasons you cannot apply directly to a UK university after leaving Ukrainian school. If you want to enter the UK university system later, you can either enroll in 6th Form School (It is like College in Ukraine) for 2 years to improve your English and get A-level (UK state exam) grades, or enroll in the Foundation degree. It only takes a year and is usually organized by the same universities that offer undergraduate degrees. If you do a foundation degree, it is usually super easy to apply for the related Undergraduate degree in the same university after. 

The disadvantage is that these degrees are mostly targeted at the international students and can be quite expensive. However, many of them have scholarships.. Foundation degree can be a great way to get new friends and get used to the academic life in the UK since it is usually much easier than university. It also requires much lower English skills. Usually you will have an IELTS exam as a part of this degree that will be very helpful with university application.

You should consult the volunteers with UK school knowledge if you want to go through 6th Form 2-year degree. I think at the moment it is fully free for Ukrainian refugees.I can only describe the application process of Foundation degree because that is what I went through.

Basic necessities

Before applying for any university, please have the following information ready:

All of your “achievement” documents translated into English (you can do it yourself, ask for volunteer help/ proofreading or go to the translation services). By these I mean:

  1. Your highschool Attestat and United Exam grades (super important for undergraduates) - please see the self-translation guide below

  2. Proof of English language skills: regardless of your refugee status, you will be asked to prove that you can study in English. Most common accepted proof of English is IELTS (6.0 minimum in each section), but universities might also accept TOEFL, Cambridge International certificates and so on. Make sure to check it for each uni you are applying to by googling “Proof of English” + university name.

  3. If you have complete/incomplete university or college degrees, all the latest marks related to your degree. To apply to the Undergraduate (Bachelors) degree, you should generally have studied for 1 year in Ukrainian university. UKRAINIAN SCHOOL LEAVERS ARE NOT USUALLY ELIGIBLE TO APPLY FOR THE UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE IN THE UK. 

  4. Make sure to have evidence of your academic achievements including winning academic competitions in school / publishing in scientific journals. If you apply for an art-related degree, having a portfolio of your recent work would be very necessary

  5. If you can, please get an academic reference letter from one of your university/college professors (in English or translated). It should describe your good performance in university courses and societies in a few sentences and have the Professor’s e-mail and job title / course title at your old university/college. It is very important for Postgraduate applicants. If you are applying for a very prestigious undergraduate degree (like Oxford) having this letter will also be quite important. See the sample academic reference below.

  6. If you have any success in sports, arts or other areas (for example, if you have awards for sports competitions or have a degree from music school), please also translate and scan these. UK universities think these activities are very important. It can help you to look better than the other applicants with similar academic skills. It is also very important in getting a good scholarship, because the university sees that you can help the clubs and societies.

  7. If you have participated in any volunteer or non-commercial activities (such as Ecological groups cleaning up trash in the parks, outreach programs for the homeless people, feminist art organization etc), please prepare a few paragraphs in English describing your role and main tasks. Charity plays a very very big role in British culture. Universities in the UK LOVE people who do this kind of work. It will also be very important when applying for scholarships.

  8. If you have any history of paid employment (like working as a barista or a waiter, or office employment), please prepare: (A) for casual work such as waitress/barista/shopkeeper - a few sentences about your roles and the skills you practiced in them (Customer Service, Communication, Time Management). (B) if you had a history of serious professional experience directly relevant to your degree (if you are applying for Masters in Computer Science after working in Software development, for example) - you will most likely have to create a proper English CV and upload it with your application. It is especially important for Postgraduate and PhD candidates. Please see this guide from LSE on how to make an impactful CV.

Make sure you use all of the ‘protected’ characteristics that you have. It is not a secret that a lot of universities in the UK are quite progressive. They will consider, if you wish to disclose these, your race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and so on as factors in your admission, especially if as a refugee you come from vulnerable social groups.  (These can only be legally considered if the university can’t make any other reasonable distinctions between the applicants. Please note that your academic achievements will be considered first. Some universities also claim to not use or have access to this information and only use it for collecting statistics on their applicants. Either way, it doesn’t hurt to include those if prompted to by the form).

I do not have a good understanding of these factors myself, but it might help to get some of your medical records translated - if you have a disability, or diagnosed mental condition such as depression, anxiety etc. People who have dyslexia (A condition when it is hard to read) also can access special support such as additional time during the exams. Special scholarships from NGOs can be available to the ethnic minorities (e.g. Crimean Tatars) and members of the LGBT community. 

In general, do not be afraid to talk about something like that in your application.

Translating Ukrainian qualifications to the UK qualifications

When you translate your Attestat qualifications, usually using Google translate is good enough. Please after self-translation check with a UK-based volunteer to avoid mistakes.

Translating grades:

Usually your chosen university would have a page with Ukraine grades conversion. You will just have to google <your university> + “Ukraine entry requirements”.

Approximate conversion table:

Application Process

There are several steps in choosing the university courses and applying for them. 

Please note that in the UK it is common to apply to up to 5 courses, and some of them that have a lot of applicants, charge application fees. This especially applies if you’re applying through the centralised system called UCAS, as you have to pay for any additional choices. You can always address Homes for Ukrainians volunteers to help you to pay these application fees, if you are unable to cover them.

  1. Choose the university that is close to your host family locations, has at least a few scholarship programs. If you have high grades, you should aim for a university from the top-24 English university league known as “Russell Group”.  You can search for the universities on Google maps. Keep in mind that in cities like London some universities can have multiple locations at the opposite parts of the city. It is smart to choose 1-2 “Good” universities and 1-2 slightly less prestigious ones as a plan B.

  2. English universities have departments that provide undergraduate and postgraduate courses. On the university website, it is usually easy to find a department of the area that you want to study. Read through the descriptions of the courses offered and choose 1-2 options from there. 

    Note: if applying to Oxford, Cambridge and Durham, you should also choose a college to which you want to belong. In these traditional universities, colleges are a little bit like houses in Harry Potter: you want to research them a little bit before you join. In general, the process of applying to Oxford and Cambridge (known in the UK as Oxbridge) is different and you might need some additional advice if you decide to apply there. The UK volunteers can help you to connect with Oxbridge graduates to discuss your further steps. Please note: you can either apply to Oxford OR Cambridge, not both.

  3. After you decide on the course, you can apply directly for Foundation degree, PhD or Postgraduate. For Undergraduate, please use the step below:

  4. You have to register on a portal called UCAS and follow the application process in it. Using UCAS, you can apply to up to 5 undergraduate degrees. You can easily search them by universities and see their entry requirements, etc. See this link.  

  5. Creating a personal statement for your application. You will be asked to provide a personal statement letter on all degree levels except Foundation.

    What is a personal statement?

    It is like an application letter / essay where you argue why you would be a good candidate to apply to a certain degree. It is important for undergraduate applications, and EXTREMELY important for Masters or PhD applications. You can find a guide on how to make a great personal statement here for undergraduate students and for postgraduate students.

    You don't have to make a completely new statement for every university you apply to. Just use the same template and just change a few phrases to tailor your statement for a particular course. If you’re applying through UCAS, you’ll only need to submit one personal statement, so don’t put any University names in your letter.

  6. For some postgraduate or foundation courses, you can be scheduled for an extra entrance test that you can do online. You will be contacted by email with all instructions

  7. Submitting the grades - Unless you apply for Foundation, where they expect you to have all of your previous grades already, it is common in the UK to apply for universities without knowing your final grades for the previous education. For example, people apply for Undergraduate degrees before they pass their A-levels (State Exam). If you are, for example, doing the first year of Ukrainian Bakalavra degree, you would not need to have your first year grades ready to apply for university in the UK. IF a university wants to accept you regardless of your future grade, they issue an Unconditional Acceptance letter (very cool, very rare). If they want to decide if they want to admit you or not after they see your grades, they issue a Conditional Acceptance letter, and after you receive your grades you would need to upload them to UCAS or send them to the admissions office for them to review. It is about school or university grades, and not about the proof of English. You have to have a proof of English ready before you start the application,

Foundation degree

How to find. The best way to search for a foundation degree is to search for the university where you want to continue your education and find a foundation degree there, almost all universities have them. 

Deadlines. Applications for the most foundation degrees close mid-April, so you have to be quick to make the cut. Do not hesitate to apply after the closing date because many foundations have free unfilled spots even after the closing date. You will have to provide the legal documents confirming your status in the UK (you can ask to submit them later if you are still processing them), your high school grades and any English exam results. However, try to apply before the end of June. Most scholarships set application deadlines also by the end of June.

Finance. Foundation degrees are usually over £20.000, however a lot of the refugee scholarships cover the costs completely.

Sample scholarships: 

Undergraduate degree

How to find. Undergraduate degree information can be found on UCAS after you complete your profile. Make sure you create a full profile and add all the necessary documents to the application, especially the ones about your legal status. Use the chance to upload all the supporting documents and make a strong personal statement. 

Deadlines. For Oxford and Cambridge the deadline to apply for September start of a course is in October of the previous year (For 2023 entry the deadline is 6pm 15th of October, with test registration deadline on 30th of September).

For top-20 universities, it is best to apply as early as possible, in March - May period.

For many other unis, you will be able to apply all the way until September.

Please note that if you plan to secure a scholarship, the application deadline for it might be before the deadline for university. You will be automatically considered for many scholarships through UCAS.

Finance. You will be able to finance your study through scholarships (as mentioned above) or through Student Loan programme or as usually happens, a combination of both. You will have to eventually pay this loan back from your salary even if you leave UK - but usually you only start paying it back if you earn above £27,295 a year.

You will have to apply for it after you get accepted to study in a university program, most likely when you are already in the UK and you received your NI (National Insurance) number - your tax ID in the UK. You can apply with a conditional offer, while you wait for your results. Please note: NOT all courses are eligible for student finance (for example some Masters and most PHDs are not). Make sure to check on the website if you’re eligible and how much you’ll be eligible for.

There are multiple scholarships available for refugees here.

Bursaries are extra financial aid provided by the University to students with low household income. If you come to the UK with a parent who proceeds to claim universal credit, you might be eligible for a bursaries. These are a grant and don’t have to be paid back. These are university dependant, so look up “name of University” + bursaries.

Other degrees

For postgraduate degrees and PhDs the deadlines and finance conditions are broadly similar to the ones for undergraduate degrees. 

PhD candidates and researchers can access the map and see the opportunities published directly by the UK universities and labs.

Sample academic reference

A separate PDF of DOC document written by your academic supervisor / teacher / etc that has the following points:

  1. Addressed to the admissions office in the university/department where you are applying. If using the same reference for multiple applications, address “To whom it may concern”. Make sure your full name is mentioned in the title of the reference. It can be something like “Academic Reference Letter for Ms Anna ABCD”.

  2. What time ago and for how long you were their student (for example “I have taught Mathematics in Anna’s class for 2 years and always known her as a very bright and hard working student. She graduated from my class a year ago.”

  3. Provide 2-3 good points about the referee student, relevant to the degree they are getting. For example: “I think Anna will be very successful in studying Computer Science at Some University because she demonstrated exceptional problem-solving skills during Mathematics lessons. She was also able to help other students to understand the solution, which shows her good communication skills”

  4. Do not forget about the following qualities:

    • Team-work and group organization skills

    • Punctuality and responsibility

    • Ability to take constructive criticism and improve based on it

  5. Make sure your academic reference source lists their job title and means to contact them (work email for teachers/employers or university email for university professors)

  6. Make sure to include your reference source’s full name and your own full name.

Good luck!