A

Academic school: An academic school is a division of a faculty that focuses on a particular academic subject or subjects. For example, at Kent, the School of English is part of the Faculty of Humanities (see Faculty)

Academic Year: The University year at Kent runs from September through to June. See dates of term.

Alumni: Former students of a university.

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B

BA: Bachelor of Arts. A degree traditionally awarded for subjects based in the Arts, but can include subjects such as Social Sciences.

Bachelor's Degree: A bachelor's degree is the qualification achieved after successfully completing a three (or four) year programme of degree-level study.

BBA: Bachelor of Business Administration.

BEng: Bachelor of Engineering. A degree awarded for subjects based in the field of Engineering.

BSc: Bachelor of Science. A degree awarded for subjects based in the field of Science and Social Science.

BTEC: BTEC National Diploma qualifications are usually the equivalent of three A level courses - often based in practical fields. They are graded Distinction, Merit, and Pass.

BUCS: British Universities & Colleges Sport. The national governing body for higher education sport in the UK.

Bursary: Contributes towards student living costs. Is often means-tested and is non-repayable.

C

Clearing: The process where students who do not meet the conditions of their offers may be offered places at other universities.

Combined honours: An undergraduate degree course that involves several subject areas (usually three)

Conditional Offer: An offer which is dependent on students reaching certain targets (e.g. 3 'A' grades at A level)

Confirmation: When conditional offers that have been accepted by an applicant become unconditional or are declined. Confirmation may be dependent on an applicant’s qualification/exam results or other conditions.

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D

Deferred entry: A student can apply for a university place but request that they start it the following year, thus deferring entry.

Dissertation: An essay or report usually of several thousand words on a specific subject that is completed during a course of study, often in the final year.

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E

Entry profiles: Comprehensive information about individual courses and institutions, including statistics and entry requirements.

Entry requirements: The required grades or qualifications a student needs to gain entrance to university.

F

Faculty: A faculty is a collection of academic schools grouped together for teaching, research and administrative purposes. At Kent there are three faculties: the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Sciences and the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Firm offer: The offer that a student has accepted as their first choice.

First: First class honours degree - the highest grade attainable

Foundation year: If a student’s qualifications are not in the right subjects or at the right grades to meet the entry requirements for their chosen course (usually a science or engineering course), they may be able to do one year’s foundation study. If they complete this to the required standard they will be guaranteed a place on the first year of their chosen course

Freshers : First year students are often referred to as 'Freshers'.

G

Graduate: Someone who has successfully completed a degree course and been awarded their degree.

Graduation: The ceremony where a student is officially awarded their degree and collects their certificate. Sometimes referred to as ‘Congregation’.

H

Halls of Residence: Accommodation blocks which traditionally provide catered meals (but increasingly are becoming self-catered), cleaners, heat, light and electricity and a variety of amenities such as launderettes and common rooms.

HNC & HND: Higher National Certificate & Higher National Diploma. Based on vocational studies and generally aimed at preparing students for a particular career or industry. They can lead on to, or count towards, a degree course.

Honours Degree (Hons): Most degrees are honours degrees and are split into first class honours (or firsts), upper second class or 2.i (pronounced ‘two-one’), lower-second class or 2.ii (a ‘two-two’) and third class honours, or a third. If a student does badly, but not quite badly enough to fail, they might not get an honours degree, but an ordinary degree instead.

I

Institution or HEI: A university or college offering higher education courses

Insurance offer: The offer that a student has accepted as their second choice, in case they do not meet the requirements for their firm offer.

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J

Joint Honours: An honours degree where two subjects are studied in the same depth.

L

Lecture: One of the main teaching mechanisms of universities. They tend to be larger than a regular school class and less interactive.

Living cost grant: Non-repayable grant provided by the government. Assessed on household income.

Living cost loan: Provided by the government to help university students with their living costs. These loans are partially assessed on household income.

M

Mature Student: Students who are over 21 when they start their course.

Means-testing: An investigative process undertaken to assess whether or not a student is eligible to qualify for financial assistance from the UK government.

Module: A unit of study that explores a specific area within a subject.

N

National Scholarship Programme: A partnership between the government and universities to benefit students whose household incomes are £25,000 a year or less as they enter higher education

O

Open Days: Open Days are a great opportunity for students (and their parents) to look around the University and speak to staff and students.

Ordinary Degree: Another term sometimes used to describe an undergraduate degree which is not at honours level.

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P

Personal ID: A 10-digit individual number assigned to an applicant. The number is displayed in the format 123-456-7890.

Point of entry: The applicant’s year of entry to the course, for example, 2 refers to the second year of the course.

Q

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA): A government agency which is given the task to assess quality and standards of higher education provision. It assesses universities and scores them according to their findings. See also RAE.

R

Research Assessment Exercise (RAE): The Research Assessment Exercise assesses the quality of research in universities and colleges in the UK. See also QAA.

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S

Scholarship: A financial award in recognition of excellence to help support students through university. Awarded purely on merit in areas of academia, music or sport, they do not have to be repaid

Seminar (See also Tutorial): A teaching class, overseen by a lecturer. They are similar to tutorials but involve more students.

Single Honours: An honours degree course during which a student studies a single subject.

Societies: Clubs where like-minded people can share their interests, beliefs, religion or sport.  

Students' Union: A democratic body, with officers elected by students, who represent the views of the students to the University.

T

Tuition Fees: Tuition fees are set by the Government and paid to the university directly once a student has successfully applied for financial assistance via Student Finance England.

Tutor: Members of staff responsible for teaching and assisting students with learning.

Tutorial: Tutorials can be on an individual or group basis, where students discuss their work with a tutor.

U

UCAS: Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, responsible for university applications and providing general advice and guidance.

UCAS Extra: UCAS Extra is designed to provide additional choice if a student is not holding any offers through UCAS. It means that students do not have to wait until Clearing to seek a place.

Unconditional offer: Unconditional offers are often used when a student has already taken exams and achieved the required grades, as it is not dependent on reaching any specified targets.

Undergraduate: Student studying for a first degree.

Unsuccessful: The applicant has not been accepted by the university or college concerned.

W

Welcome Week: This is the first week of the first term of the first year of a student’s university career. It will include lectures, tours and social events. Welcome Week is designed to help them settle in, make friends and find their way around