MOST APPLICATIONS for undergraduate university or college degrees ("first degrees") should be made through UCAS - the University & Colleges Admissions Service.

Some kinds of university and college applications need to be made through a different system. These include:

The Nursing and Midwifery Admissions Service (NMAS), through which applications for diploma-level courses were previously made, ceased operations at the end of the 2006/2007 cycle in October 2007. All applications for nursing courses, whether at diploma or degree level, should now be made via UCAS for 2008 entry onwards.

Universities and colleges will not generally accept direct applications under any circumstances. Students must make a UCAS application instead - the exception being late applications when the UCAS Clearing service has closed in mid-September.

With the exceptions of courses that recruit through the GTTR or CUKAS, all undergraduate applications should be made through UCAS Apply and monitored through UCAS Track.

Full details of the application procedure and important dates can be found on the UCAS website.

Information on UK courses (including entry requirements and course codes) can be found via the UCAS course search or UCAS Big Guide.

Applicants can generally submit FIVE course choices in any one application cycle. If not offers are received UCAS Extra allows further choices to be submitted (one at a time). If an offer is still not received, applicants can enter Clearing.

All applications must now be made online as paper forms are no longer issued. If you do not have easy internet access at home, school or college UCAS have an arrangement with over 900 online centres throughout the UK.

As well as being a record of your personal and academic details - the application form is an opportunity to "sell" yourself to institutions - highlighting achievements, aptitude for study and an interest in the subjects listed. The 'personal statement' therefore is a key element of the form.

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