How to apply for an undergraduate course

• October – our Routes to the Professions (R2P) programme opens for applications.
• February – our Year 12 National Access Summer School opens for applications.
• February to June – attend UCAS fairs and higher education sessions at your school/college.
• June onwards – attend a University of Birmingham Open Day and get a flavour of life on campus.
• During the summer holidays – complete relevant work experience, and start to plan your personal statement.

Top tip: Over the summer you can do extra reading around the subject you wish to study, which will help with your personal statement – a key part of your application

September

• UCAS Apply opens and you can submit your application when it’s ready.
• If you haven’t already attended a University of Birmingham Open Day, now’s the time to book your place. 
• Applications open for our Access to Birmingham (A2B) programme.

October

• Universities begin to make decisions on some applications at this stage. You can monitor your own application in your UCAS Hub and you’ll also receive an email when the University has made a decision.
• 15 October 2025 – this is the deadline for UCAS applications for Medicine and Dentistry at Birmingham for September 2026 entry.

Top tip: If you’re applying with the support of your school/college, they’ll give you a buzzword to enter into the UCAS Hub – this will link your application to your school/college so that they can provide support, including adding your reference.

November to April

• Some courses will require an interview or an audition as part of the application process. We’ll be in touch should this apply to you and should you be invited to an interview/audition.
• The University offers a range of offer-holder visit days/events on-campus and online, to help you find out more about the course that you’ve applied to. We’ll email you with further details about the events for you.

January to April

• 14 January 2026 – this is the deadline for applications to be guaranteed for equal consideration (for September 2026 entry).
• 12 February 2026 - Access to Birmingham applications also close.
• Once you have heard back from all of the universities you applied to, you then decide on your two final choices on the UCAS Hub. The specific deadline for making this decision will depend on when you receive your offers.

February to July

• Applications for Student Finance open. You don’t need to wait until you have received university offers before you apply for student finance.
• 3 June 2026 - to accept and secure your place for 2026 entry, you must respond to your offer by this date. You enter your firm and insurance choices via UCAS.
• 30 June – this is usually the deadline to apply for first-year accommodation for UK and Ireland students, to guarantee a place in accommodation as part of our Freshers Guarantee Scheme.
• 31 July – this is usually the deadline to apply for first-year accommodation for international students, to guarantee a place in accommodation as part of our Freshers Guarantee Scheme.

July to August

• Depending on the type of qualifications you’re studying for, your results will be released either in July or August.
• On A Level Results Day (usually mid-August), Confirmation and Clearing takes place. Confirmation is where universities that you’ve applied to confirm your place; and Clearing opens for students to find a place at university if they didn’t receive any offers, didn’t meet the conditions of their offer, declined the offers they received, or are looking to move to another university that they haven't yet applied to.

September

• Following Confirmation, we’ll be in touch with lots of exciting information about how we’ll welcome you to the University, what you’ll need to bring with you – and then your university experience begins!

If you are applying independently within the UK (i.e. not through a UK school or college), the most comprehensive source of supporting information is the UCAS website.

If you are applying from overseas and your school/college is not registered with UCAS, you are responsible for your own application. Advice is available from the British Council and from the UCAS website.

Your personal statement is your chance to show us why you’d make a great student. For 2026 entry, the format has changed. Instead of one long essay, you’ll now answer three questions, each in its own section. Together, your answers can be up to 4,000 characters (including spaces), and each section must be at least 350 characters.

Question 1: Why do you want to study this course or subject? 

This is where you explain your motivation. Tell us what excites you about the subject you're applying to and why you’ve chosen it above everything else. Show your passion, enthusiasm, and intellectual curiosity. Admissions tutors want to see that your interest is genuine so it's a good idea to give them examples such as:

• Have you explored the subject beyond your school syllabus?
• What sparked your interest, and how has it grown?
• If the course links to a career, what do you understand about that profession?

Question 2: How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

In this section, this is your chance to focus on your academic preparation. You can show that you understand what the course involves and that you’re ready for it by talking about things like:

• Which subjects or topics have been most relevant?
• How have they developed your skills and knowledge?
• If you’ve done extra reading or projects, what did you learn from them?

Top tip: Talk about more than what you've studied. Use this as a chance to reflect on how your experiences have strengthened your interest and prepared you to study at university. 

Question 3: What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

This is your chance to talk about experiences beyond the classroom that support your application. These could include:

• Work experience, community involvement or volunteering opportunities you have engaged with
• Clubs, societies, or competitions you participate in
• Part-time jobs or responsibilities you hold

Explain what skills you gained and why they matter for your course or for university life. For example, teamwork, communication, or time management.

Top tips

1. Remember to make each section distinct and avoid repeating points as admissions tutors will review the document as a whole complete piece of work 
2. Try to keep the focus of your writing on the chosen subject you're applying to 
3. Use this as an opportunity to be reflective. Explain what you learnt in scenarios and why it matters
4. This is your time to show how you've made the most of opportunities available to you by showcasing your motivations, achievements and suitability for your chosen courses
5. Finally, and most importantly, check your spelling and grammar. It can be helpful to ask someone else to read it too for an alternative perspective. 

Meeting the entry requirements

The first step is to make sure you can meet the entry requirements for the course you’re interested in. University offers will be made based on predicted grades from Year 12, and some particularly competitive courses and universities will look at your GCSE results, too. At Birmingham, you can use our Offer Calculator tool to check your predicted grades and whether they meet the requirements for your chosen course. There is more flexibility for some courses than others.

Widening your subject knowledge

To support your personal statement, there are a few things that you can do to widen your knowledge of your chosen subject. But be creative and think outside the box, there are many things you can do in addition to our suggested list below:

• Reading related books and articles.
• Listening to, watching, and making notes on podcasts and YouTube videos (e.g. TED Talks, university taster lectures).
• Attending university summer schools or lectures, or find subject-specific events in your region.
• Volunteering in your local community.

Writing a great personal statement

The personal statement is an important part of the admissions process and is your opportunity to tell admissions tutors why they should offer you a place. The things that universities are looking for can vary, but all will want to be persuaded that you have a genuine academic interest in the subject and that you have the motivation and enthusiasm to succeed.

Gaining work experience

Work experience can be a useful way of demonstrating your interest, motivation and transferable skills as well as providing you with a useful insight into potential future careers. For some vocational courses, work experience might form part of the entry requirements, so check them carefully.

Extended Project Qualification

If there’s an area of study you really love – whether it’s engineering, languages, sport or art-based – an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) gives you the chance to develop your skills and knowledge and impress universities at the same time.

At the University of Birmingham, we recognise the EPQ as valuable proof of your capacity for independent learning, as well as your passion for the subject you want to study at a higher level. So when we see it on your UCAS application, it shows us that you’re serious.

Carry on having fun!

Keep up any extra-curricular activities such as music, drama, sport, volunteering, coaching and more, as all these things help you to develop relevant skills for university. Think about the relevant skills and attributes these activities have helped you to develop, and how you can apply them to life at university and in your future career.

We encourage applications from people who have been out of education for some time and whose academic qualifications might not meet the current, standard programme entry requirements.

The Admissions Tutor for the programme that interests you will be happy to advise on the suitability of your qualifications and experience. You may be invited to attend an informal interview, take a test or submit a piece of written work as part of your application. You may also be advised to undertake an access course before applying.

Some programmes have very specific entrance requirements and these are detailed both on individual course listings in course finder and in our terms and conditions.

For advice on specific courses, contact the Admissions Tutor listed against the course entry in the your course page or go to the relevant department's website.