11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi,
Many of our DC are at this stage or soon to be there, so I thought the 'what I've learned from...' hurdle would be good to share.
Please add anything of interest to any forum members DC. I've listed what has come to mind.

Music exams/instruments
commitment, tenacity

School orchestra
member - playing within a large group, commitment, cooperation, teamwork
section lead - responsibility, leadership, communication

World challenge/DofE/NCS - leadership, endurance, tollerance, cooperation, organisation of money, planning, teamwork

Sport's team
Member - teamwork, cooperation
Captain - responsibility, leadership, communication

Peer mentoring
Leadership, love of subject, commitment, communication

Voluntary work / employment
Commitment, responsibility, handling of money

Work experience
Responsibility, insight into relevant field, teamwork, tenacity, endurance(!)

Great idea for a thread ...

https://www.studential.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This can be a useful starting point. However don't quote phrases from anyone else's PS as UCAS use software to check.

http://www.ucas.com/sites/default/files ... uide_0.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don't ever load your PS online.

It's important to work out the skills developed so using a word like 'teamwork' is not as good as giving a specific example of what the impact was.

Don't forget time keeping (which applies to all the above topics). A very important skill to have!

Depending on the voluntary work: empathy

Main point is to try to tie everything in with the subject applied for - even if at all possible the extra curricular. Eg. Being self-motivated for arts degree, problem solving skills for science...
At the very least being able to demonstrate ability to cope with studying and doing other things.

For some ( teaching, medical etc) there is a need for people skills but apart from these do remember that a UCAS PS is very different from a job application. Evidence of a passion for the subject and an ability in it are what they are really after - most couldn't care less what sort of person you are or what you might contribute to the institution outside the academic.

Dd1 is just going through this now. She applied to Oxford, so took the Oxbridge advice of making pretty much the entire PS about her subject - things she'd read, relevant stuff she'd been involved with, etc. One small paragraph about everything else. Her main extracurricular activity got one sentence.

Not just Oxbridge advice..

Maybe not, but that's what she'd been researching, rather than what other universities might want

That is not the balance other universities want so do ask advice at school as they will know.

I had heard that many universities were interested in a broad PS covering extracurricular interests.

Is this not true? KB implies that purely an interest in the subject is necessary, so much easier if it is.