OLAP

(On-Line Application Process)

For the last year two years, has been one of several schools and post 16 centres within the Cambridge Area Partnership (CAP) to trial the National on-line application process. The system has being developed and managed by UCAS and this year all CAP partners are using it.

The curriculum for pupils in Year 11 includes a one hour lesson every two weeks for Information, Advice and Guidance (IAG). During these lessons we will be discussing in detail:

 the key elements of the OLAP, and in particular the value and importance of the Personal Statement;  the importance of the GCSE Mock Exams;  the role of Predicted Grades;  Sixth form interview processes.

Pupils will be able to access their OLAP from any computer that is connected to the internet which means that they will be able to share their applications with you at home.

User ID and Passwords

Pupils will make their applications via UCAS Progress. (www.ucasprogress.com). All Year 11 pupils have been set up with a unique username and password to enable them to create their application. We ask that pupils change their password to a common format so that if they do forget their details the Form Tutor, Pastoral Leader or any member of the IAG team can easily assist them.

For data protection reasons, we are unable to give the user ID and password details to parents ourselves, but it is our expectation that pupils will want to share their applications with parents.

Populating UCAS Progress

1. The first step in the application process is to complete the Pupil Profile, which has the following sections:

Personal Details Qualifications Work History/Work Experience Personal Statement

We will be supporting pupils to complete these sections in their IAG lessons.

The qualifications section will be completed by the school examinations officer. The grades that will be entered on UCAS Progress are the predicted grades and may not be the same as those shown on the progress reports or achieved in the mock exams in November.

It is very important to note that the post 16 centres offer places to pupils based on their predicted grades. If these grades do not meet the eligibility criteria for either the centre or the courses applied for, the application will be referred back to school. It is therefore vital that all pupils thoroughly research the eligibility criteria for both colleges and courses before they apply.

Crucially, if a pupil achieves higher grades in the final GCSE exams than they have been predicted, there will be no change in the decision to offer a place.

The only exceptions to this rule are at Cambridge Regional College (CRC) and The (COWA) where it may be possible for students to take up a higher level vocational course than originally offered, subject to availability of places.

The personal statement is a very important part of the application and we will ask pupils to create it in a word document that can be edited and redrafted until it is ready to be uploaded to the UCAS Progress form.

References will be written by form tutors and attached to the application electronically by the school secretary.

2. The second step in the OLAP is to bookmark courses and post 16 centres from the Area Wide Prospectus that sits in the UCAS Progress website.

Pupils will be shown in their IAG lessons how to search through the database for specific post 16 centres and/or courses and how to ‘bookmark’ them in preparation for an application. We recommend that pupils spend as much time as possible researching the courses on offer across the CAP as the content varies from centre to centre. This will necessitate logging into UCAS Progress at home and also visiting the Careers Library to read through the hard copy prospectuses that we hold in school.

Most post 16 centres offering A level courses of study require students to study 4 subjects at AS with an expectation that 3 will be carried forward to full A2 levels. It is sometimes possible for students to study more than 4 subjects but this will need to be discussed in detail with the appropriate centre.

However, the framework for A level studies is changing and new requirements and rules will be introduced for some subjects in September 2015. It is therefore essential that these changes are discussed with post 16 centres at the interview stage, so that everybody fully understands the requirements of the revised curriculum before committing to the courses.

Students opting for a Diploma courses at Long Road are sometimes able to take A level subjecst alongside the Diploma. Again, this would need to be discussed with their Admissions or Faculty team.

3. The third step in the OLAP is making an application.

When pupils are happy with their applications and have had them checked by their tutor, they can ‘save and send’ them. The application will then be directed to the Sawston VC Adviser who will ensure that:

 pupils meet the eligibility criteria for the Colleges and Courses they have applied for;  references are attached;  qualifications have been entered;  Pupils have expressed clearly their order of preference for Colleges and Courses.

Once these checks have been finalised the applications will be forwarded to the appropriate post 16 centre.

Pupils can apply to more than one post 16 centre in the CAP concurrently. We recommend that a maximum of three applications are submitted.

Tracking Applications

Pupils will be able to track their applications online. Each application will have a status recorded alongside it, for example, draft, sent to adviser, interview etc.

Some centres may email or post correspondence to pupils instead of, or as well as, posting it online.

Interviews

Each post 16 centre will make their own decisions about which pupils they will interview. Some will make offers to pupils at interview, others as soon as they wish after the interview has taken place. It is envisaged that all SVC pupils should have received an offer by the end of the Spring term, unless they are applying for vocational courses because the interview period is much longer at CRC and COWA.

Offers

Pupils may hold more than one offer at different centres, for example, an offer for A level courses at Long Road and an offer for A level courses at Hills Road. However, they may not hold offers for two different courses at the same centre, for instance, an offer for A level courses and Diploma courses at Long Road.

Post 16 centres will provide clear advice about how and when pupils will be expected to confirm the acceptance or decline of offers made following the GCSE results in August 2015. They strongly advise that pupils should be available to collect their results in person on 20 August and to respond to offers immediately.

Important Dates

Open Evenings

4 Nov Parkside Sixth Form Centre Open Evening (6.30pm - 9pm 6 Nov Netherhall Sixth Form Centre Open Evening (6.30 pm – 9pm) 6 Nov Comberton Sixth Form Centre Open Evening (6.30 pm – 9pm) 4 Nov Ely College Sixth Form Open Evening (7 pm – 9.30pm) 7 Nov Cambridge Regional College Open Evening (4.30pm – 7.30 pm) 11 Nov Impington Sixth Form Centre Open Evening 12 & 13 Nov Hills Road Sixth Form College (5pm – 9.15pm) 19 & 20 Nov Long Road Sixth Form College (5pm – 9pm) 8 Nov College of West Anglia (Milton) (9.30am - 1pm) Information Morning 13 Nov Cottenham Sixth Form Centre 18 Nov UTC