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What the applicants say - how potential applicants benefit from your Entry Profiles

The SPA Programme conducted an applicant survey in June 2007 which was sent to 39,637 home and international applicants going through the UCAS system at that time, and who were planning to start their courses in September 2007. The survey was conducted using 'survey monkey' software.

Responses were received from 2,948 applicants - a response rate of 7.44%. While the response rate could have been higher, this is nevertheless regarded as a reasonable return rate for such a survey.

95% of respondents thought that Entry Profiles had been either helpful or extremely helpful. Many of them sent SPA lengthy comments that revealed how they had used them and how they felt they had benefited from their use.

Home applicants:

  • They helped me in deciding if the course and university was right for me.
  • Helped me get a real idea of the nature of the course and what it included. This helped me making my mind up on which course would suit me better.
  • Comparing predicted grade requirements - very useful
  • They allowed me to make an informed decision which I view as being very important
  • The Entry Profile covered everything that I wanted to know even things that I didn't expect to find and I personally found it very useful...
  • The Entry Profiles allowed me to judge the level of care and interest that a university had in students of a particular subject. Those universities that had taken the time to complete their Entry Profiles were more interesting to me as a result.
  • Not all the courses I looked at had Entry Profiles. It is much easier when they do as you don't have to find the prospectus or go on the university website, all the info is in one place
  • They inspired me to aim high and work hard to achieve my goals
  • If a uni did not have full EPs for the subjects I was interested in, I was very weary (sic) about applying at all. I thought if they could not find the time to give this extra information to prospective students, then this may be an indication of how they would treat me when/if I ended up at that university
  • They helped me know what the course entailed and whether or not it would suit me as a person and whether or not it would allow me to go on into a career I liked... it also helped me know which universities I had a chance of getting into and which I didn't, which made it easier to choose my options
  • As a starting point for further research on the university's own websites, helping me decide what I wanted more information on.

International applicants:

  • Easy to use and compare stuff! Excellent facility
  • EP was of great help during application because it enlightened me with the range of courses I could undertake, depending on the subjects I'm studying and am interested in. it also helped in selecting just the right university for me.
  • The EPs were a good way to primarily find out the university requirements. Some EPs were incomplete, which meant you had to research on the university site itself. It would be good if the completeness was expanded to cover all the universities better.
  • The Entry Profiles provided very good information on entry procedures etc and thus helped me very much when looking for the right course
  • The information they gave was helpful for knowing what the university looks for in students and in what exams or qualification I needed to make myself a better choice for the university to choose.

SPA Applicant Survey, June 2007

For more information about the work of SPA, please visit its website: www.spa.ac.uk.