Admissions procedures

Criteria for assessing applicants

Assessment processes and offers – key points

Your exam grades are very important to us. We use exam grades in prioritising applicants, but other things count as well.
We look at a range of other factors and aim to give everyone an equal opportunity to show their achievements.
We treat everyone on an individual basis.
We receive more applications than we have places. This means that even if you have the right grades for a course, you might not be offered a place.
Admissions staff for a course may make one standard offer to all applicants or they may vary the offer. This means that some applicants may be made a higher offer and some may be made a lower offer for the same course, depending on their other achievements.

What do we look for on the UCAS form?
Admissions staff at the University of Nottingham look for the following information on the UCAS form:

academic ability and potential as shown by your GCSE and AS level results (where available) and predicted A level grades or equivalent qualifications
the context of your achievement
strong reasons for choosing the course, and motivation to study a particular discipline
extra-curricular activities, achievements and responsibilities
other factors as appropriate to the discipline, such as employment or volunteer work in relevant fields showing commitment to a chosen career or area of work, and sustained critical engagement with relevant issues.

When we look at your exam grades, we consider them in the light of your educational and personal circumstances. If you have been affected by difficult circumstances, then you may be eligible to be considered under our widening participation admissions policy. If you wish to mention these circumstances in your personal statement, then you should ask the teacher or tutor writing your reference to confirm what you have written. We may ask for further evidence.

We look at a range of circumstances, which may include, for example:

being of the first generation in your family to go to university¹
being eligible to receive the Education Maintenance Award (EMA) or equivalent, or (if over 18) being in receipt of a means-tested benefit
being in local authority care (‘looked after’), or having been in care, for at least three months
being responsible for the long-term care of a sick or disabled family member
having childcare responsibilities
being from a travelling background or having had a disrupted education
having refugee status.

However, if you have been affected by illness, disability or bereavement, then we will assume that you have already received special consideration from the examination board(s) awarding grades, unless your referee tells us otherwise.

When we look at extra-curricular activities, achievements and responsibilities, we are aware that applicants have different opportunities available to them. We are looking for applicants who have made the most of the opportunities available to them and are able to reflect intelligently on their experiences. These could include, for example, responsibilities at home, at school or in the community; sporting or musical achievements; or participation in schemes such as Duke of Edinburgh. You may wish to describe how you have faced difficult circumstances positively in terms of an achievement.

Additional requirements
Admissions staff at the University of Nottingham assess many applications using only the information available on the UCAS form. Some courses use additional methods of assessment for all or some applicants. This may be for a range of reasons, including:

to assess your suitability for the profession linked to the course (for example, nursing or veterinary medicine)
to clarify the material covered by your qualifications, or as part of APEL
to assess your achievements, motivation and potential
to distinguish between otherwise similar applicants.

Additional assessment may include interviews or tests; some courses may ask for examples of written work. Where courses use additional assessment, admissions staff send information to applicants, explaining the nature of the assessment, what admissions staff will be looking for and how applicants can prepare.

For more information
The University of Nottingham’s admissions procedures are described in full in the University’s Quality Manual.