Do you want to start your studies at university (Bachelor’s) level? The UK offers a wealth of undergraduate courses at a wide range of institutions, each with its own unique character and cultural life. Studying in the UK will give you an excellent opportunity to gain an internationally recognised qualification which carries prestige throughout the world and will provide you with excellent prospects for your future career.
Undergraduate degrees are also called Bachelor Degrees or First Degrees. This is the first stage of your studies at a university or college of higher education in the UK. Both universities and colleges of higher education offer undergraduate courses in the UK. There are over 100 universities and 60 colleges in the UK – the possibilities of where and how you study are endless!
The difference between universities and colleges is not clear-cut. The degrees of both universities and colleges are of the same standard, as they are externally validated. Universities can award degrees and tend to be larger. Colleges of higher education tend to be smaller, often specialise in one subject area and their degrees are approved by a university.
In England and Wales undergraduate degrees normally take three or four years of full-time study. In Scotland undergraduate degrees take four years of full-time study. Degrees in Medicine, Dentistry and Architecture are exceptions and may take up to seven years to complete.
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UK institutions award several kinds of undergraduate degrees. Degrees can be in a single subject, studied in depth (single honours), or in two subjects, studied in less depth (joint honours).
Ordinary (or General)/Pass degrees contain several subjects, studied at less advanced level and take three years of study. These Ordinary Degrees normally don’t grant access to postgraduate studies (masters, MBAs, postgraduate studies).
When you finish your undergraduate studies you will be given a title. These are the most common degree titles:
- BA - Bachelor of Arts
- BSc - Bachelor of Science
- Bed - Bachelor of Education
- BEng - Bachelor of Engineering
- LLB - Bachelor of Law
- MB - Bachelor of Medicine
Please note that institutions may have different titles for the same subject: an economics degree can be a BA or a BSc, depending on the university or college.
Historically, at Scottish universities, a first degree in Arts is known as Master of Arts (MA) – however, these degrees are equivalent to Bachelor degrees at other UK institutions.
There are also a number of other undergraduate Masters awards: the MEng (Master of Engineering) involves four years of study, the final two following a different syllabus from that of the three year BEng. The same goes for physics and science with the MPhys and MSci. Find out more about equivalences.
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There are so many degrees and so many universities and colleges that it is difficult to choose a course and an institution. Courses vary considerably according to the university or college in which you study. Traditional red-brick universities have links to traditional careers, whereas the more modern universities offer courses tailored towards careers in newer industries such as marketing and new media.
You also need to consider the kind of environment that suits you. Some institutions are based in the heart of the UK's most dynamic cities; others have the more peaceful surroundings of a campus or a small town.
You can search for courses, colleges and universities on our EducationUK website. If you don’t know exactly what you would like to study yet, you can take the Stamford Test. This is a quick, on-line test available from the UCAS website www.ucas.com that can help to find the right subject for you. Before you take your final decision, download or order prospectuses from the universities or colleges to make sure you choose the right course for you – you will be spending the next few years studying!
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Of course you want to be sure that your education and qualifications will be worth having. UK universities take the quality of their courses and of their overall institutions very seriously. Because the funding they receive is closely linked to quality, they are constantly striving to improve.
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA – www.qaa.ac.uk ) is the independent body responsible for the quality of education provision in UK institutions. The QAA carries out regular inspections of institutions to see if they are reaching the targets and publishes reports on this matter. You can look at the quality of the teaching of each subject, the students' learning experience, and the support/guidance available to them in different UK universities and colleges. More information about Teaching Quality (including the possibility to compare different universities in a certain subject field) can be found on the Teaching Quality Information website: www.tqi.ac.uk
There is no official UK government or British Council list that ranks UK institutions. Universities in the UK are extremely diverse. They operate with vastly different teaching and learning styles, so to produce a list of the top 10 would be impossible. However, there are several unofficial rankings available, such as The Times Good University Guide (www.timesonline.co.uk) and The Guardian newspaper University Guide (www.education.guardian.co.uk). The Push Guide offers information about British institutions for students by students (www.push.co.uk) on education, but also on facilities, accommodation and nightlife.
But even these should never be read simply as an exercise to find the top 10 - the best university will differ according to the needs of individual student. You need to consider what it is you want to achieve by studying in the UK, including the wider issues of community life, social life, safety etc. Academically, you should not only think of the subject you are interested in, but the teaching and learning styles you would work best with (formal lectures and seminars, or more flexible group work, self-directed study, work experience or part of the course in another country etc.). Then you need to look at where your needs can best be met.
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Qualifications
See our page on comparing Belgian qualifications to UK qualifications.
Language requirements
You should be able to speak and write English well. You may be asked to provide formal proof of your standard. It is worth checking this early to make sure you have enough time to take an English language test (especially in the summer test sessions can fill up quite fast).
Most universities and colleges will accept one of the following:
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS) band 6 or above
- Cambridge Proficiency of English or Cambridge Advanced English grade A or B
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score 550 or higher.
Please contact your university or college in order to find out the exact language requirements.
You can sit the IELTS and Cambridge exams in Belgium.
Application process
If you would like to apply to an undergraduate course in the UK, you are obliged to apply through UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. You can do so on-line (www.ucas.com). UCAS forwards your application to the universities and colleges you want to apply to. Please note that UCAS does not decide on your application, but the universities and colleges do.
Besides your personal details, the courses you have chosen and your qualifications (completed and not yet completed), your application consists of a personal statement and a reference letter. In this personal statement, you have to set out your motivation. This is your chance to tell the universities or colleges why you are an excellent candidate for their courses and why they should want you as a student! A reference letter is in most cases written by one of your teachers. The reference is intended to help universities and colleges to assess your suitability for the courses for which you have applied.
When to apply?
For 2007 entry: between 1 September and 15 January 2008, except in the following circumstances:
- For Route B courses between 1 January 2007 and 24 March 2008
These are Art and Design degree programmes and have an extended deadline to allow you to prepare a portfolio. Art and Design students can apply through the main UCAS scheme (deadline 15 January), Route B, or both.
- For Oxford University or Cambridge University: by 15 October 2007
- For medicine, dentistry and veterinary science by 15 October 2007
For all courses we advise you to apply as early as possible.
What happens if you miss the deadline?
It is possible to apply between 16 January and 30 June 2008, but please be careful which courses you choose. Universities and colleges may consider your application, but they don’t have to. The most popular courses may already be full.
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Your application has to be sent to UCAS. You can only apply online through UCAS Apply: www.ucas.com. You can send only one UCAS application in each year’s application cycle!
On the application, you can list up to 6 universities and/or colleges (but 4 in the field of medicine, dentistry and veterinary science). UCAS will then send your application to the institutions concerned. They will make a decision on your application and notify UCAS of their decision, where after UCAS forwards the decisions to you.
The application fee is £15 to if you have entered more than one choice in the courses section. If you have only chosen one course, the fee is £5. You can pay the fee to UCAS by credit card only.
Are you applying to Oxford or Cambridge?
If you apply to Oxford University or the University of Cambridge, you cannot apply to both universities unless you already have a university degree - so you will have to choose one of them. If you apply to one of these universities, you must apply through UCAS, but you also need to fill in the university’s own application form, which you can get direct from the university. You should complete your application by 15 October 2006.
How to fill in your UCAS form online
Download our information sheet which explains How to fill in your UCAS form online (MS Word 50KB)
Offers
After you have submitted your application, you will get the decisions from the universities or colleges you have applied to – an offer or a rejection. If you receive an offer, it can either be unconditional or conditional. Unconditional means that you definitively have a place, no further requirements to be fulfilled. Conditional means that you still have to obtain certain grades in secondary school, you need to obtain a certain result in your English test or you might have to take English courses.
After you get your offers, you will have to make a choice. You may accept no more than two offers: one ‘firm acceptance’ and one ‘insurance acceptance’. When you get your examination results, the institutions will have to be notified and on this basis, the university or college will confirm or withdraw the offer.
If you have applied to six universities or colleges and you don’t receive any offers or you decide not to take up your offers, you can enter UCAS ‘Extra’ from mid-March to mid-June. This means you have the opportunity to choose one more university or college without having to wait until August.
If you apply between 1 July and 20 September 2007 or you received a conditional offer and don’t meet the requirements, you can enter through ‘Clearing’. The Clearing process means that universities advertise the studies for which places are still available on the UCAS site www.ucas.com. If you are eligible for clearing, you will automatically be notified by UCAS.
From September 2006, universities and colleges will charge so-called ‘top-up fees’ of between zero and £3000 a year for their courses. Amounts charged will vary between courses, as well as between different institutions. If you are a European Union (EU) student, you pay the same fee as British students, known as ‘home fees’. Non-EU students have to pay the full international rate charged by the institution. Non-EU students, who are not settled in the UK, generally receive no help unless they have a bursary or scholarship.
Don’t worry though – this money does not have to be paid before you start or whilst you are studying. You will be able to take out a student loan to cover the tuition fees charged by your university or college. You only start repaying this loan once you have finished studying and are earning more than £15,000 a year.
Don’t forget to take into account your living expenses: accommodation, food, clothing... They may change considerably depending on the area you choose. Living in London or the South-East will cost more than in other areas of the UK. Living in the middle of the city will also cost more than living in the suburbs.
Funding is very rare for undergraduate studies, although not impossible. In order to find funding, you have to look around and search hard. You can start by asking your chosen institution if they have funding schemes. British Council Brussels does not award any scholarships for undergraduate studies. Find out more about scholarships on the following websites:
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Download the free guide ‘studying and living in the UK’ from www.educationuk.org. You can also check advice for international students going to the UK on www.ukcosa.org.uk.
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Pour des informations en français: http://www.britishcouncil.org/fr/france-education-etudier-au-royaume-uni.htm ou www.studyrama.be
Voor informatie in het Nederlands: het spijt ons dat de inlichtingen niet beschikbaar zijn.
Für Informationen auf Deutsch: http://www.britishcouncil.de/d/education/study.htm
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