Primrose Kitten

The UCAS process is an incredibly long one, and I'm afraid it doesn't stop after you've accepted your offers. Once you've made your decision, but before you actually know your A-Level results, you still have more decisions to make. You still have more forms to fill in, and you still have more things to do.

There are two important things that everybody needs to take into consideration. First, you need to apply for your student finance. If you want your student finance to be in place by the time you start university, this needs to be done by the end of May. Before you can apply for your student finance, you need to have made the decision and accepted a firm place. This is what you will put in on your student finance form.

Second, you need to think about your accommodation while at university. You need to think about the location of the accommodation; whether it's going to be catered or self-catered; whether you're going to have en-suites or whether you're going to have a shared bathroom; whether it's going to be a small flat with maybe only a couple of bedrooms, or whether it's going to be a big house. There were 13 people in the house that I lived in at university. You need to think about whether it's going to be for term-time only, or whether you can stay there and leave your stuff over the holidays. This way, even though you're paying for the time in the accommodation that you're not actually using, you don't have to move out and move back in again over Christmas, Easter, and potentially even reading week.

If there are any additional things that you are going to need at university, now is also the time to apply for them. Make sure that you've got everything in place. That way when you turn up for Freshers’ Week in September or October, you are ready and raring to go—and you're not held back by having to fill in loads of forms, or waiting for a support cheque to come through, or waiting for accommodation allowance to be put in place.

If you're an international student, you will also need to get on with applying for visas.

Well done on accepting your place! Good luck with your exams that are coming up soon, but I'm afraid we still have loads and loads of things to do.