Glossary of Terms

When you start using ucas.com or the university website you will be confronted with numerous terms with which you are probably unfamiliar. Here are the essentials:

UCAS – the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. This organisation processes your application and sends it on to the universities of your choice.

Predicted grades – If you’re still at school your teachers have to try to predict what your final grades will be. This is to give the universities an indication of whether you are a suitable candidate or not.

Personal statement – this is a compulsory part of the application form. It is a statement about yourself where you explain your enthusiasm and suitability for your chosen course.

Reference – this is a recommendation written by one of your teachers. They comment on your academic abilities but also on you as a person.

Course – this usually refers to the whole of your university education (din utbildning). You choose a degree course and you stick with it for 3-4 years.

Module – this is roughly equivalent to the Swedish word kurs. Your degree course will be made up of different modules, some of which will be compulsory and some which you will be able to choose.

Degree – while you are studying you are doing your degree and when you pass your final exams and graduate you get your degree. So it describes both the course itself and the qualification you receive.

BA – Bachelor of Arts. This is the title you receive when you when your degree is humanities based eg. French, history, international relations. You also use it when talking about your course: ‘I’m doing a BA in history’.

BSc – Bachelor of Science. This is the title you receive when your degree is science based eg biology, environmental science, maths.

NB! Some subjects can be studied as a BA or BSc depending on whether the emphasis is on humanities or science. Economics is an example of such a subject.

MA – Master of Arts. When you have completed your first degree you might want to go on to do a Masters, which usually takes a year. However in Scotland, where most undergraduate degrees take 4 years, an MA is the name given to a degree in humanities. The 4 year science degrees are still called BSc. It is important you know this as it can be very confusing.

Fresher – this is the term used for you during your first weeks at uni when you know absolutely nothing about anything!

Ranking list – a list which ranks universities in order of merit.The two main ones are by The Times and The Guardian (newspapers).

Ranking list – a list which ranks universities in order of merit.The two main ones are by The Times and The Guardian (newspapers).