Registration & Start Dates :)

Beste

Hi!

With the start of 2014/15 academic session we have a great number of newcomers, continuing students and final year prospect graduates are who are eager to register! Registration stands as one of the main queries at this time of the year. What happens in registration and when and where does registration take place are the main questions of students.

All students receive an email towards the end of August with the link for Part 1 Registration and are invited to register.  Part 1 registration is completed online through the student portal. The process has a number of steps where the student is required to declare and confirm their personal details such as name, date of birth, address and the qualifications correctly logged on the system. Students are able to view and confirm that the programme of study and point of entry etc. are correctly detailed in existing records. Online registration is completed with the settling of how tuition fees will be paid.

After having completed Part 1 Registration, students are expected to come into one of the drop in sessions at the relevant campus Student Centre and present their qualifications. Here they will be issued with their temporary student card and registration is complete.

Usually Mid-September there is an induction week and a fresher’s fair! This year Fresher’s week is on Monday 15^th and lectures begin the following week Monday 22^nd. These dates may be vary between programmes and Faculties. 

Alternative routes, not alternative futures...

Jamal

This post is an attempt to feed you broccoli (although not so literally), It’s something you might not like, but it may be good for you!

Many of the people applying through Clearing won’t have enough qualifications to get onto a degree programme, or maybe not degree programmes remotely related to your chosen field of study.

So many of us will be in that dreaded situation where you have one or more verbal/email offers for an “Extended degree” or a “Foundation degree” or a “HND/HNC” at a “partner college”, and a lot of us don’t consider it because it’s not a degree, or its not at the main campus.

What we forget is that all of these mean you will end up with a degree, perhaps in the same 3 years that all your friends will, and perhaps in the same subject you initially applied for! And even if it’s a different degree, it might lead to the same career, or a similar field.

This is something a lot of us just dismiss because it’s not what we first wanted, it might be because of a narrow-minded focus rather than a career focus. There is genuinely no difference between a degree that was done in a standard 3 years from one that was topped up from a 2 year foundation or HND, or one that had a year zero, from an employer’s perspective they are the same.

These alternative courses are usually more vocational, so if you are more in line with this kind of study it might even be a better option.

So in the case that you are given an alternative offer, do give it serious thought, you are welcome to contact us and ask us about the process and we would all be happy to help.

If you are in this situation, I hope you make the right decision.

Thanks for reading J

Undertaking Registration

Nell

We have now approached the Online Registration stage… this would be registration Part 1 for new students and registration for continuing students.

It’s not open quite yet but it’s going to start from the 27^th onwards for certain courses. To register you must be UFAA (unconditional, firm, accept). You need to log onto the wonderful portal with your username and password, and access the registration tab.

For new students you will need a PHOTO. A lovely front facing one. If you haven’t got one, not to fear, when you come in to do your 2^nd part registration a lovely continuing student will take your photo for you. (Please remember this as I came to mine soaking wet from the rain and for 3 years I’ve had to cope with an appalling photo on my ID card.)

TECHNICAL ERRORS - We all love ‘em don’t we? When the portal starts flashing error messages at you, the submit button doesn’t work…etc. etc, we do have a dedicated IT team endeavouring to help you. They can be contacted three ways:

• You can call 0208 331 8272 and go through the options until you get to ‘Portal Help’
• If it is a portal problem you can click ‘Need Help?’ on the portal page which will take you to a form you fill out and IT team will be alerted 
• AND finally if you’re having issues on the Online Registration page you can click ‘Query tracker’ on that particular application page and an IT person will see what the problem is on that page.

Clearing 2014 – The Digital Age

Sophi

The Clearing process itself has been around for a long time, our supervisors here at the Enquiry unit will tell us stories of when the Clearing phone lines used to be open 24/7 over results day and the whole process was done on paper with filling cabinets. 

Now Clearing is online, with social media helping students every day to find out a little bit more information about universities. You can use social media to find out what activities are happening at your prospective university or to see pictures of the campus.

Throughout Clearing many people accept places from universities that they have never visited. Social media can help to bridge the gap of information before you get a chance to go to an Open Day or even start in September.

Here I will explain what goes on at a few of our social media sites.

Twitter – @UniofGreenwich

https://twitter.com/UniofGreenwich

-          General Updates

-          Answering questions

-          Activities going on at the university or campuses

Facebook – University of Greenwich Enquiries

www.facebook.com/uniofgreenwich

-          General Updates

-          Photos

-          Answering questions

-          Activities going on at the university or campuses

-          Live Chat

-          Clearing updates

Pinterest – University of Greenwich Enquiry Unit

http://uk.pinterest.com/uniofgreenwich/

-          Student life/blogs

-          Accommodation

-          Sports/Societies

-          Student Recipes

-          Clearing updates

Instagram – uniofgreenwich

http://instagram.com/uniofgreenwich

-          Student life

-          Clearing

-          Graduation

-          Sports/Societies

Also check out these pages :

Vine :  UniofGreenwich  - https://vine.co/u/1108756689055862784

Fresher’s Fair information - http://www.suug.co.uk/freshers2014/

Google+: University of Greenwich Enquiry Unit - https://plus.google.com/b/118014831962412294976/118014831962412294976/posts

Foursquare: University of Greenwich - https://foursquare.com/uniofgreenwich

Fresher's on the way!

Josh

This is my second clearing diary blog and one that I hope everyone will find useful and informative. During Clearing there is confusion, misunderstanding and mayhem. However one thing I would like to re-iterate to everyone in Clearing is to be calm and be clear in what you want to pursue. University is an emotional, physical and large financial commitment in life; therefore it is of upmost importance that the course and path you choose is right for you. 

Get information:

Make sure you have all the information about the University and course you wish to pursue. Gain as much background information as you can. If you fail to prepare then prepare to fail. You may need to look at things like finances, travel, commitments and student life.

Be clear:

Have an understanding of what you have and what you may need. Have a clear image of your route into the University and the course you wish to study. When you make an application to us make sure you’re aware of the procedure and how to approach us with regards to an application.

Lastly:

Enjoy Fresher’s Week as there will be lots going on and it’s the chance to meet new people and partake in new sports. I myself joined the football team as part of Fresher’s and I'm still there now. Take a gamble and get to know as many people as possible in the first few weeks as it will be your best chance to. Join teams and most importantly be prepared, do not second guess or chance anything. Make sure you are ready and that everything is in place “fail to prepare, and then prepare to fail”.

Still Need a Place Through Clearing?

Terry

Hello everyone, hope you’re all having a good summer!

As you are probably aware, Thursday 14^th August was the A-Level results day. University of Greenwich had a very successful results day this year, however, if you still need a place at Greenwich then we are still recruiting and taking clearing applications. I know people have mentioned how to apply through Clearing, but I’m just going to give you a quick reminder.

Step One: Phone the University of your choice to see if there are any places available in Clearing for that specific course. For University of Greenwich please call 0208 331 9000.

Step Two: If you already have a UCAS account then please skip to step three. If you don’t currently have a UCAS account then you would need to visit www.ucas.com in order to make your application. When it asks you to pick a course via UCAS, please don’t do this. Instead you need to make sure all your personal details, qualifications, personal statement and references are correct and valid. Once you submit your application it will then take 24-48 to fully process. So once you have waited between 24-48 hours, move onto step three.

Step Three: Call us on the number given above and we will check to see if you meet the entry requirements, if you do not meet the entry requirements for the course of your choice then we will try our best to find an alternative for you. For example we may suggest you apply for a Foundation Degree or a HNC/HND.

Step Four: If you get accepted onto the course, you can then go onto UCAS Track and pick us as your clearing choice. If you do not get offered a place then please don’t panic as it may be that you were not right for that course. But we still offer LOADS of other courses that may still get you to where you want to be. As well as taking clearing applications, we are also here to give advice and we would welcome any questions from you.

I hope this helps. Happy Clearing J

Call us!

Samantha

Results day was a manic experience with our team in the office dealing with telephone, chat and email enquiries from 8am til 8pm! It was well worth it and we are overwhelmed with the amount of interest we had in a range of our courses that still have vacancies available! This is my second clearing, and if last year was anything to go by, I was well aware of how fast paced and exciting results day can be! This year we managed to break last year’s record of calls, receiving over 7,000 yesterday alone! We also accepted 742 chats and answered 418 emails regarding clearing! Its positive to know people are not put off by the experience of clearing and seem to be excited at the chance to secure a place at university! Although results day may seem like it came and went so quick for you guys, as well as us in the clearing room here at the University of Greenwich, we still have many vacancies available across all faculties, including extremely popular courses such as Law, Primary Education and Pharmacy.

We will still be available from 9am til 5pm, Monday to Friday from next week, happy to answer any clearing queries you may have and to assess whether we can make an application (perhaps even an offer!) for you on the course of your choice. If you have missed out on your offers from other institutions or even here at the University of Greenwich, I stress you not to be put off at all! There are still many opportunities available to you to assist you on your pathway to higher education.

There is no query we have not experienced before and no question is a silly question so feel free to spend as much time as you feel necessary talking to us to assist you in making the right decision. Even if you may feel that your UCAS points are not sufficient for you to gain access to your choice of programme, we have many HND’s and Foundation degree options available across a range of subjects that would allow you to go on to complete an undergraduate degree in the future! My best piece of advice when it comes to clearing is remain focused on what you want to achieve in the future, try not to be led astray by just wanting a place at University and therefore applying for and accepting any place on a course you do not necessarily want to study!

REMEMBER Clearing has no official “deadline” we will only stop accepting applications when the courses become full or we are advised by the academics that the start date has far been surpassed, so you still have plenty of time to give us a call or request an online chat! Stay calm, think positive, and ask questions! Good Luck and Congratulations to you all on your offers J