Applications to almost all full-time undergraduate courses in the UK go through UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. Application to UCAS is made on-line at  www.ucas.com.

You can apply to up to five courses through UCAS (or up to four if you are applying to courses in medicine, dentistry or veterinary science).

WHEN TO APPLY FOR 2008 ENTRY (EU STUDENTS)

• Between 1 September 2007 and 15 January 2008
• For Art & Design Route B courses between 1 January 2008 and 24 March 2008
• For Oxford or Cambridge by 15 October 2007
• For medicine, dentistry and veterinary science by 15 October 2007

For Oxford or Cambridge you must apply through UCAS, as well as make a direct application to the university by the same date.

WHAT HAPPENS I MISS THE DEADLINE?

Between 16 January and 30 June 2008 you can still apply, but it is up to the university or college whether they consider your application.

WHAT IF I DON'T GET ANY OFFERS?

From 31 March to the end of June 2008 if you haven't received an offer from or university or have not committed to an offer you will be allowed to make an additional choice through UCAS Extra. If you are eligible you will automatically be sent an 'Extra Passport'. You can then contact universities directly and ask to be considered.

If you apply after 30 June 2008, or if you applied before but haven't got a confirmed offer you will automatically be put into UCAS Clearing scheme. Applications for Art & Design courses received after 12 June are also entered in Clearing. Clearing tries to match suitable candidates to remaining university places.

Where do I start?

Start your application - http://www.ucas.com/apply08/

Begin by reading through the various guidance notes and the “Getting Started” PDF guide found on the ucasapply information pages. This information details such things as the registration process, the login process, how to complete the various sections of the form, how to pay and the minimum technical requirements for your PC. Once you’re familiar with this information, we strongly recommend that you also read through the additional information we’ve provided on "Entering your Swedish Grades" in the section below.

Entering your Swedish Grades

When applying through ucasapply, you will need to enter details of the three most recent schools, colleges (gymnasium) and universities you have attended (or are attending). You will need to enter all of the qualification results that you already know, as well as any courses you are currently taking. When entering your qualification results, you will need to translate the names of the subjects you have studied (or are studying) into English. You can find most of the translations you will need on the Skolverket website. However, your actual result must be entered as it stands (e.g. MVG, VG, G or IG).

Begin by entering the names of schools, colleges or universities you have most recently attended (maximum of three, minimum of one). Begin be selecting the “Education” option in the navigation bar and then “add a school”. You will need to do the following for each institution:

• Enter the name of the school, college or university
• Leave the Centre Number field blank (this is for UK applicants only) and ignore the warning message
• Enter the date you started there, and the date you finished (or will finish)
• Enter the type of attendance, full time or part time (ignore the sandwich option)
• Select “yes” if you have another school, college or university to add

When you have finished adding the education institution details, the next step is to add in the details of your qualifications. If you have the qualifications from gymnasium, begin by entering your “Fullständigt Slutbetyg från Gymnasieskolan”.

• Click on “add a qualification”, followed by “International (EU)”, and then select “Sweden” from the country list.
• Enter the date you finished (or will finish)
• Leave the “Grade” box blank if you have not yet finished your studies at Gymnasium; if you have finished your studies, enter the total number of points you have accumulated (the normal minimum for applying to a UK university is 2500 points).
• In the “Centre” box, make sure you select your gymnasium from the drop-down list.
• Leave the “Other” box blank.

You can now start entering your individual subjects and grades (where known). Click on the “add a module/unit” option. For each module, do the following:

• Enter the name of the subject in English – see www.skolverket.se for details of translations
• Enter the date the subject was (or will be completed)
• Enter the “Grade” (e.g. MVG, VG, G or IG) – leave this field blank if you do not yet know your result.
• If you have further subjects to enter, select “add a module/unit”

Repeat this process until you have entered all of your qualifications from gymnasium.

You then need to enter any other details of qualifications you may have (e.g. Komvux, Grundskola, University). To enter qualifications for any of these kinds of institutions, go to the main education page (click on “employment” in the top navigation and then “education” again) and follow the instructions below:

• Select “add a qualification”
• Select “International (EU)”
• Select “Other (International)” – OBS! You will notice that if you have entered your gymnasium betyg, that Sweden is no longer listed with the other countries.

Then, for each subject, do the following:

• Enter the name of the subject (e.g. Maths) in the “Subject/Type” box – see www.skolverket.se for details of translations
• Enter the dates you finished (or will finish) the subject.
• Enter a “-“ (dash) in the Exam box (this is not relevant in Sweden but you will get a warning message if nothing is entered).
• Enter the grade (e.g. MVG, VG, G or IG, 5 to 1, etc).
• Select the correct education institution from the drop-down list under “Centre”
• Select “add a subject” to enter in more subjects/grades.

Once you finished entering all of your qualifications, mark the section as complete by clicking “Finish” and confirming.

The other sections of ucasapply (i.e. courses, employment, about you, statement and reference) all have adequate help and guidance notes available online.