The entire procedure, from choosing to study at university, selecting Britain as the country in which to study and applying to universities in Britain, is a significant challenge for many pupils. One helpful tactic here is to take each phase as a separate activity and to carry out the necessary actions to complete that phase.

The very first decision a pupil should make is whether or not to proceed to university after finishing school. As with most decisions about the future, there is not enough past experience to support making a sensible decision. Traditional, but also useful, sources of information are parents (sometimes), school counsellors, an older, more experienced person and books. The recent popularity of the Internet has made it an additional resource.

Once the decision is made to go on to higher education, the next hurdle concerns what to specialize in. Three important questions to ask are:

* What are my interests?

* Do I have the abilities to do the course?

* What are the advantages of my study?

Because the British government has recently decided that universities should be more independent, the latter have started charging students fees to cover their costs. Thus, an important question the prospective student should pose is:

* What is my (or my parents) financial situation?

English is a global language and the lingua franca of academic research is English. British universities are respected for their research . While one can think of other reasons for applying to British universities, the above are two very good ones.

It is advisable to search for and read up on the available preparatory resources. These concern topics about the application process which are unique to UK universities.

University rankings, or university league tables, may be an important consideration for some, but I personally think one ought to consider other important factors. At some point, one may wish to consider whether one can get into Oxford or Cambridge (jointly, Oxbridge).

There are also preparatory resources about the LNAT (National Admissions Test for Law), the UKCAT (UK Clinical Aptitude Test) or BMAT (BioMedical Admissions Test), all of which are specific to universities in Britain.

Applicants whose mother language is not English will usually be required by universities to sit and pass the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) tests. The British Council is a member of the IELTS and conducts these tests overseas.

All undergraduate university applications are dealt with by UCAS (Universities and Colleges Service), which is a centralised online management system. For the prospective student considering applying to British universities, there is no better place to start than UCAS.

College and University Products on our marketplace

In addition to Preparing For IELTS, you can find other information on the subject of How to Get Into a British University from the Applying to British Universities Homepage.