Russell Group University Applications

 

These notes are designed, as guidance, for students who are preparing to submit a UCAS application to a Russell Group University.

There are twenty-four Russell Group universities in the United Kingdom, which are regarded as among the finest due to their teaching excellence and world leading research. Their academic reputation means that they attract some of the most able students, both domestically and internationally. As a result, competition for places is fierce and they are frequently oversubscribed. It means that students need to ensure that their applications meet, or exceed, entry requirements; that personal statements contain relevant information and that academic references appropriately support a student's application.

Russell Group universities are spoilt for choice when it comes to admitting students. If there are a hundred places available and two hundred able applicants apply, universities will, potentially, be looking for any reason (I refer to these as 'determining factors') to reject a candidate. It can be a merciless process. The guidance which follows is designed to give students the best possible chance of having their application accepted.

There are always exceptions to every rule. We all know someone whose child has secured a place at a Russell Group university, with lower grades than the "typical" or "standard" offer. They will be quick to point out that their success demonstrates there are anomalies. However, the fact remains that if you want to reduce the risk of rejection, you should familiarise yourself with the university's entry requirements and then comply with them. It may sound obvious but, each year, there are a large number of students who don't.

GUIDANCE

• START EARLY: as A Levels progress, start to focus on the subject which you might like to study at university. Do your research and identify the five (you don't have to select this number, but there is rarely virtue in limiting yourself) universities to which you would like to apply and then visit them. You need to be happy in the place in which, you will be spending the next three or more years. A university which might suit on paper, may not suit in reality.

• YOUR SUBJECT: decide on your degree path, which may be single or joint honours. While it is of course possible (and there will be students who have success), it is not always advisable to apply for two entirely different subjects (as opposed to a joint honours, where subjects frequently complement one another) in the same application. Not only does it say to a university that if you aren't accepted to read one subject then you will 'settle' for another, but it is also extremely difficult - again, not impossible - to tailor a personal statement which does justice to both subjects. It can result in a diluted and insipid statement. Be mindful that, if you apply for two similar courses at the same university, the application is likely to be considered by the same people. So, if you are rejected for one degree path then you are likely to be rejected for the other. Of course, the converse is also true and that being accepted for one degree path, is likely to mean that you are accepted for the other.

• PRELIMINARY WORK: once you have chosen your universities, look carefully at the course specifications and decide on the topic areas which interest you the most. Establish which tutors deliver these units, as this may assist in identifying any potential reading. Make an effort to read some of the books, articles or research papers.  You might also like to write to the department - in advance of submitting your application - and ask them for any recommended reading. It is important to incorporate academic reading into your personal statement - this is both welcomed and valued by universities. Some universities also hold subject masterclass days and these are worth attending.

• A LEVEL GRADES: as a general rule, your predicted A Level grades need to match, or exceed, the course requirements.  Students can and do apply with lower grades - either because of contextual considerations, or because they have something else of  significant merit to offer - but, again, it is a risk.  If you do apply with predicted grades which are below the entry requirements, do not be surprised if you still receive offers which reflect the "typical" or "standard" grades. Also be mindful that, for competitive courses, universities can make you a higher offer than those stated on their website. If you are tempted to apply with predicted grades which are lower, but feel that you won't achieve the higher grade offer on the day, consider if it might be a wasted choice applying to that university.

• GCSE RESULTS: You also need to identify whether the universities you are applying to have other exam requirements. For example, a specified number of GCSEs and/or certain grades. A number of Russell Group universities do take GCSEs into account, with as much as 20% weighting being placed on them. A student applying for a place with predicted A grades at A Level and ten GCSEs at grades 8 and 9 will clearly have the advantage over a student with the same predicted grades, but with five GCSEs at grade 6. For a number of universities, the GCSE profile of a student is important. You also need to remember to list all the exams you have taken and this includes exams which you may have taken twice in order to improve a grade. You cannot just state the higher grade.

• OTHER REQUIREMENTS: be aware that some universities will have additional entry requirements. This can range from a general minimum GCSE  requirement and/or, more specifically, a minimum GCSE grade in English language and/or maths. It may also be that the university has its own entrance exam and/or interview process. Remain mindful that some degree courses might require one A Level to be in an essay based subject. It is perhaps an obvious requirement for humanities and social science degrees, but could also include economics (even where it is taught as a more mathematical degree) and geography degrees.

• PERSONAL STATEMENT: this needs to be focused and should contain three clear elements: i) why you are interested in the subject? ii) what knowledge you have about your subject? and iii) what you can bring to the course and the university. Extraneous and irrelevant information should be omitted. 

Degrees which have a more practical element - medicine, dentistry and veterinary science for example - will undoubtedly benefit from the inclusion of experience in the field. However, such experience still needs to directly relate to your interest in the subject and what knowledge it has given you. For example: for veterinary medicine, if you are going to discuss a placement experience where you worked with lions you should relate this to some theoretical knowledge - "it was enlightening to learn that some lions have purple spotted spleens, as was recorded by Dr Tennyson Tiger in his seminal work Spleens of Lions. The current practice of injecting dye into the spleen has been shown to have a positive outcome for lions with this condition and I would be keen to do further research in this area", It is all about context and avoiding abstract facts which don't link. Everything you write must be relevant to the course. Anyone can work with lions, but what did you learn? Making the best use of your 4,000 characters means choosing your words wisely.

Russell Groups universities want to maintain their reputations for academic excellence, innovation and creativity. They need to know that the students they admit onto their courses are passionate about their subjects; that they have academic acumen; that they will be able to cope with the rigours of academic life; that they will contribute to discussions and that they will leave after three or more years as an asset to the university. You need to demonstrate to the university that it is worth their time investing in you.

 

Nota bene: The UCAS application is being modified - for introduction in 2025 - and instead of a personal statement, students will be required to answer structured questions. It does not change the current process that much and the questions will still require a narrative response. Essentially, it is a deconstructing of the personal statement to make what is required of students clearer. The questions merely act as prompts.

                 

• ACADEMIC REFERENCE: these need to be written by tutors or teachers who know how to write them. This may seem obvious, but not all tutors and teachers understand what universities are looking for and some may not be experienced, or skilled, in writing academic references. The reference needs to: 
  i) provide a brief overview of your academic achievements, focusing on perhaps one or two success and why these were important;
  ii) explain clearly what motivates you, why you want to study your chosen subject and, most importantly, what you will bring to the course;
  iii) clearly demonstrate, with examples, your commitment and enthusiasm for the subject. Skills and aptitude should be discussed as well as indicating why you will thrive in a university environment and on the chosen programme of study;
  iv) focus on you. It is not about the tutor;
  v) include information about your good time management and organisational skills, as well as your self motivation. For SHAPE subjects, evidence that you can participate in discussions and that you are able to present well-reasoned arguments, and
  vi) pick up on points raised by you in your personal statement and provide evidence to support what you say. 

• Nota bene: Similar to the personal statement, the academic reference will be changing slightly in 2025, to a more streamlined approach. Referees will be asked to respond to three prompts instead but much of the same information that was required before, will still be incorporated.

        

PITFALLS

• COURSE REQUIREMENTS: know the requirements of the degree course which you are hoping to study. If a university states that it requires a "strong set of GCSE grades, including the majority at 8 or 9", there is little point in applying if you have five GCSEs at grade 6, unless you can provide an explanation for why that is the case.

• PREDICTED GRADES: there is nothing to stop you applying to a university if one of your predicted A Level grades falls short of the course requirement. However, you need to be mindful that, even if the university still likes your application, they will, in all probability,  offer you a place on the basis of the grades stated as the course requirement.  So, you could apply with A*A*B but would still receive an offer of A*A*A*. If, on results day, grades have not been as generally good as predicted you may still secure the place with an A*A*B, but it is not a guarantee. In all likelihood, for Russell Group applicants, most students who receive an offer are likely to obtain the required grades on the day.

• SPLITTING EXAMS: on the whole, splitting exams will almost certainly work against you. While it is acceptable and, more recently, common practice to take GCSEs at different sittings, the same is not necessarily true for A Levels. Universities need to know that you can manage the workload - and the pressure - of taking three exams in one sitting. This will be an indicator of how you will cope at university and where there will be high expectations and deadlines which have to be met. Students at Russell Group universities have a significant workload and the pressures are real.

• FOUR A LEVELS: There is no advantage to taking four when the course clearly stipulates three. Universities will look to see that candidates have met the standard entry requirements and also take into account GCSE results, personal statements and academic references. During this process, there will usually be a 'determining factor' which means that one student will secure the place over another. 

• PERSONAL STATEMENTS: universities are not interested to know that you have a black belt in karate; that you can jump a tall building in a single bound or that you have trekked across the Serengeti as a wildlife ranger. The personal statement needs to stay focused on why you want to study your subject; what you know about your subject and what you can bring to the course. Any inclusion of extra curricular activities or interests needs to relate to the course. If it doesn't, don't include it. Please don't give too much credence to  exaggerated newspaper headlines declaring that university staff only read personal statements for "two minutes". While having not examined the quality of the Hepi research, a competent reader is, nevertheless, perfectly able to glean all the information they require within "two minutes" and personal statements are not that long.  However, it is another good reason for making succinct personal statements.

• ACADEMIC REFERENCES: referees need to ensure that they understand what universities are looking for in students and that they provide evidence their candidate can deliver this. Unless otherwise stated, universities only want one reference. Sending unsolicited, additional references will only seek to annoy.

OTHER KEY POINTS

• Submitting your application early will not mean that it is automatically considered first. There is a UCAS deadline for a reason, and as long as the application is submitted before midnight on the 29th January 2025 (except for universities with an October deadline) universities are required to abide by the "equal consideration policy". It does sometimes happen that a few students receive offers earlier than the closing date (for example, they may have applied with A Level results already 'in hand' or it might be an exceptionally impressive application for specific reasons), but it has no bearing on overall applications. It's not a question of 'first come first served' and places won't run out.

• Some universities will 'take it to the wire' (14th May 2025) to make offers. As stressful as this is for students, do not feel tempted to badger universities for a response. They have your application; it is being considered and they will respond. There are a few universities who  have a tendency to put students' applications "on hold". For some, this is standard procedure. It means that the student has met their criteria, but that they are waiting until after the equal consideration deadline, to consider all the applications against one another.

• Once all the universities have replied, you need to accept a firm and an insurance offer. It should be remembered that, if the necessary grades are obtained on results day, you will need to accept your firm offer and the university is duty bound to accept you. You cannot swap your firm and insurance choices. If you want to go for your insurance choice, you will need to go through clearing.

The Socratic Method

  

Socrates

c.469-399 BC. Athenian philosopher, immortalized in the dialogues of Plato, his pupil. True knowledge is gained through dialogue and systematic questioning.

I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only teach them to think.

Socrates

 

Teaching can be delivered in a variety of styles, with educators often having a preferred form – guided, in all likelihood, by how they learnt best - and which may be reinforced by a declaration that theirs is the most effective. Similarly, students will usually have their favoured method of learning, so that, for example, what might suit a visual learner might not necessarily suit an auditory one. However, it is impractical for a teacher – either working in a group setting and with a range of  different learners - to deliver tailored made education, which precisely accords with the learning styles of each individual student. Instead, they have to determine what might work for the majority and, perhaps more importantly, employ the pedagogy which they feel most competent to deliver. 

No one can be all things to all people and a teacher trying to deliver information in a style to which they are not suited is a painful experience for all concerned! We all have to work with our strengths. This, despite the fact that, increasingly, teachers are being encouraged to mould their delivery in line with Estrada’s suggestion that, “If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn”. Extremely difficult, I would argue, unless you are able to group together students who learn in a particular way and match them with a teacher whose style can meet that need.

Whatever the method, pedagogy can give rise to much debate. I have been in education my entire life, either as a student or as a teacher and sometimes as both at the same time. I have born witness to many different teaching styles, some of which have been effective while others have been less so. One's own experiences are, therefore, naturally bound to influence how one teaches. Learning works best for me when I am in the presence of someone who is truly passionate about their subject - I need to feel inspired - someone who can draw me into their words, who can focus my mind and who can then, gently, encourage me to evaluate what has been communicated. Someone who will engage in non-judgmental dialogue with me; who will value my contribution – whether they think it to be right or wrong – who will stimulate discussion; who will teach me to think laterally and who will show me that I have it within myself to create coherent arguments, which I am able to support. It is a method which is both empowering and which, I feel, probes the very soul.

I would suggest that, certainly for the arts, humanities and social sciences, the Socratic method is one that should be at the forefront of any teacher’s mind. Society, more than ever, is in need of great thinkers; of fresh ideas; of people who can effect positive change and who can promote social justice and equality. Our horizons need to be expanded and our common humanity embraced. We would all benefit from knowing ourselves better and the society in which we live. Most of us require a ‘spring board’ for our ideas; a way of ensuring that we have considered our arguments from all angles; that any ‘rough edges’ have been smoothed out and that we have remained standing, despite having been challenged. The Socratic method is able to deliver this. Of course, the process of questioning in this manner, might also mean that our original ideas have changed entirely.

This method of teaching has been around for a long time. It is a well tried and tested means of encouraging critical thinking and developing thoughtful dialogue. It originated with Socrates on “one starry night in ancient Greece” (the reference to please fans of The Big Bang Theory!). The experience is one of a shared dialogue between teacher and student, in which both take responsibility for moving the conversation forward through questioning. Probing questions are asked in an attempt to expose the values and beliefs, which frame and support the thoughts and statements of the participants. The inquiry progresses interactively and the teacher is both a participant and a guide. This has the effect of ameliorating the power imbalance which, otherwise, often occurs between teacher and student. The teacher may, after all, gain as much from the discussion as the student and there is no pre-determined argument to which the teacher attempts to lead students. This enables the learning to go in any direction and, frequently, you can end up on a completely different path to the one you started out on.

Unfortunately, some of us will be familiar with a teaching style which considers humiliation to be the best approach to aiding student learning. Many of us will have experienced that teacher who randomly picks on a student and demands that they answer a question, even when they may not have understood what is being asked or, indeed, the lesson which preceded it.  The Socratic method, while based on questioning, is most certainly not this. The aim is not to panic or intimidate students. The learning environment is a creative forum, where there are no wrong answers and where scrutiny of dialogue is done in a supportive, inquisitorial manner and not in an adversarial one.

The Socratic method involves active participation from both teacher and student and where the teacher is open to new learning themselves. It is a creative process, one which encourages the evolution of ideas, which tests the strengths and weaknesses of arguments and which can even change the original discourse. It is a method which does not seek deference to the authority of the teacher, but which empowers students to recognise that they have it within themselves to learn and solve problems.

The method is encapsulated beautifully in the speech given by John Houseman in the 1973 film The Paper Chase when he tells his students:

“We use the Socratic Method here. I call on you, ask you a question and you answer it. Why don’t I just give you a lecture? Because through my questions you learn to teach yourselves. Through this method of questioning, answering, questioning, answering, we seek to develop in you the ability to analyse that vast complex of facts that constitute the relationships of members within a given society. Questioning and answering; at times you may feel that you have found the correct answer; I assure you that this is a total delusion on your part. You will never find the correct, absolute and final answer. In my classroom there is always another question, another question to follow your answer. As you are on a treadmill; my little questions spin the tumblers of your mind. You are on an operating table and my little questions are the fingers probing your brain … You teach yourselves [the law] but I train your mind. You come in here with a skull full of mush and you leave thinking [like a lawyer].”

It is quite an abrasive description of the method (although employed to good dramatic effect) and, hopefully, there are not many educators with the foreboding reputation of Professor Charles Kingsfield! When applied well, this pedagogy cannot only aid learning but it can stimulate positive personal growth; allow for free and open speech and lead to new discoveries, either by supporting arguments and views or by opening up a whole new way of thinking about an idea. Instead of simply being  told what or how to think (a curse of the modern school system), the Socratic Method allows students to think for themselves. True knowledge is more than just the recitation of "facts alone" as Dickens's Gradgrind would have us believe. It is about obtaining a deep understanding of different views and arguments and about challenging our own thoughts as well as those of others.

The ability to think critically is a key skill and one which brings significant rewards. It is also a vital skill if we are to make conscious, well-informed choices and decisions. I would proffer that, for SHAPE subjects, there is no better pedagogy than the Socratic method to encourage and inspire others in the pursuit of wisdom.