Aberystwyth University is the first in Wales to join UKPASS, the online application service for prospective postgraduate students.
UKPASS was established in 2007 and is run by UCAS, the undergraduate applications service. It enables prospective postgraduate students anywhere in the world to search online for courses and to apply to study at British universities.
Dr Hywel Davies, Director of Recruitment and Admissions at Aberystwyth University has welcomed the development; “As well as facilitating the system for finding suitable courses and applying for them, the service is free and very flexible.”
“It is a rolling service, which allows for several start dates throughout the year, and is done wholly online, which reduces paper costs and avoids delay in submitting applications. Further more, applications can be submitted in English or Welsh – the only provider to offer this essential feature,” he added.
As the applicant’s core information is kept in an individual ‘account’, they do not need to complete countless forms for each application – up to ten courses can be applied for with institutions represented on UKPASS.
In addition, up to 5Mb of attachments can be sent with the application, and there is a facility that allows the applicant to update the information online at any time.
Once the application has been submitted, the applicant can track its progress online at any time during the process. This means that the prospective student receives information much sooner and also reduces the number of enquiries that staff have to deal with. When each step of the process is completed, the applicant is automatically informed by email.
Although the system is student focused, it can be tailored to meet the specific needs of an institution and features the university’s own branding.
UKPASS is run alongside current application routes, with all applications downloaded to the Aberystwyth University AStRA database. Further information is available online at http://www.ukpass.ac.uk/.
