Additional Explanatory Notes- Assumed Knowledge
Outline of an international British Curriculum (IGCSE, A Level)
GCSEs/IGCSEs are the General Certificate’s of Secondary Education that most children in a British
curriculum school will take when they are 16. A pupil will usually take a wide variety of GCSEs/IGCSEs
A Levels are the qualification that are most commonly used in the UK for entrance to University. They
are specialised and a pupil will usually take 3 or 4 A Level subjects.
Basic knowledge of application to UK universities
UCAS and UCAS Points- The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) is the
organisation whose main role is to service most applications to study at UK universities. They
produce a ‘tariff’ of points
Personal Statement- The personal statement is similar to an admissions essay. UCAS
requires that pupils applying for university submit a personal statement explaining why they
should be accepted to study a course at the universities to which they are applying.
Conditional Offers- Universities in the UK make conditional offers before A Level (or other
qualifications including the EPQ) results are announced. These offers are usually conditional on
a certain achievement by the student in the qualifications they are currently studying. For
example, a student hoping to study Natural Sciences at Cambridge may be given a place based
on the condition that they achieve A*A*A in their A Levels.
General awareness of academic referencing
Referencing and plagiarism
“All academic work builds on the ideas and discoveries of previous scholars. This
intellectual debt must be acknowledged in every instance with a clear and accurate
reference showing readers exactly where the quote, idea or fact can be found. It is not
enough to include the source in a bibliography at the end of an assignment.
Failure to reference your work properly, even through carelessness, is to pass the work
of others off as your own. This is PLAGIARISM.
Plagiarism is a serious offence.”
University of Bristol, 2015, A Guide to Referencing Academic Work [online] Retrieved
From: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/referencing/referencing%20skills/
page_02.htm
I have also attached a one-page guide from Anglia Ruskin University which I have found useful.
