August 2017

We are also delighted that we will have new members of our team joining us from August onwards both into communications and international student recruitment roles.   As part of our enhanced administration and communications team, we will shortly be welcoming a new colleague, Antonio Marcos, as our International Communications Co-ordinator to join Fay Pafford (International Student Recruitment Co-ordinator); and also two new International Recruitment Managers: Amy Stringers and Santashree Mitra.

We look forward to introducing them to you in more detail in the next agents newsletter.

Best Wishes

Andy, Fay, Virginia and Zoe

Update from UG Admissions^

Thank you for all of your applications this past year. We are very much looking forward to welcoming your students here at Bath in September. Here are some important updates as we enter the final phase of results and applications through Clearing.

Results - We have received many results during the past few weeks and wherever possible, have made decisions in order to progress the applicants. Some of our courses have limited places and therefore, in order to apply equity to those who are not yet in receipt of their results, decisions may be delayed. Thank you for your patience in this matter. If you have a student who has taken the International Baccalaureate, please check we have received the results either via UCAS or from the applicant themselves. Without this information, we are unable to progress further.

We will shortly be receiving A Level results. Please can we advise that whilst we are aware that CIE are providing results to their candidates on the 10th August, we will not receive them from UCAS until the 11th August. Due to compliance with the embargo period set by UCAS, Bath will NOT be confirming any results or places until the 17th August. We are not allowed to discuss results during this set period from the 11th August through to the 16th August inclusive, so please discourage your students from contacting us, as they will be disappointed.

Please be aware that *The Bath Application Tracker system for UG applicants and also UCAS Track will not be available during this period.*

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

Clearing vacancies – As you may be aware, we have several courses available in clearing, for the most up to date information, please view online at http://search.ucas.com/

All potential students will need to have completed their qualifications and be in receipt of their results as we can only consider ‘unconditional’ places at this time. With this in mind please also be aware that the English must meet our requirements as there will no opportunity for further tests.

Should you wish to contact us via email regarding a clearing consideration, please clearly mark your email as ‘CLEARING CONSIDERATION’ and provide uploaded documents in the first instance. As you will be aware, this is an extremely busy time of year in admissions and we will endeavour to respond to you as quickly as possible.

The opportunity to make applications via clearing on UCAS will be suspended from 2nd August through to 10am on the 8th August in order to process results and will reopen briefly, from 10am on the 8th August through to 6pm on the 10th August but will close again from the 11th through to and including 17th August at approximately 3pm for the embargo period.

English requirements - For those who have received conditional offers that include English, the 31st July deadline has now passed. It has become clear from this past year that many students have not booked to undertake English tests until very late and are now experiencing problems with availability. Please can we encourage all of your applicants to plan well in advance throughout the next UCAS cycle and are provided with reminders to book. If you are aware of any applicant who is in this situation and you have not advised us already, please contact us immediately.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do contact us. admissions@bath.ac.uk 

Pip Pisanu, UG Admissions Manager (International and Faculty Support)

PG Applications Open from 6 September for entry 2018^

PG Applications will be accepted from 6th September 2017. Applications will close on 30th June 2018.

The majority of our post-graduate programmes have an overseas application deadline of 30th June.  However, in exceptional circumstances popular programmes may close before this date so early application is strongly recommended.

Applicants requiring a Tier 4 visa must meet their offer conditions by 31 July.

Communications with the University: Important Updates^

The University has made some major changes ready for the start of the next recruitment cycle with the establishment of a new Doctoral College, a centralised post-graduate admissions team for the Faculties of Engineering and Design, Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and a new International Communications Co-ordinator post in our recruitment team.

These enhancements will change the way you contact the university and should in future deliver a faster and more effective service. We will keep you informed at each stage of the process.

DOCTORAL COLLEGE

The new Doctoral College opened on 1 August. It has responsibility for all issues affecting doctoral (PhD, DBA, D ClinPsy) students as applicants and current students and deals with all subject areas: Engineering and Design, Humanities and Social Sciences, Management and Science. For those of you who work with PhD applicants and offer holders the key initial contact is:

Main email address:      doctoraladmissions@bath.ac.uk

Main contact number:   +44 (0)1225 385949

A more detailed list of individual programme contacts can be supplied on request to international-relations-office@bath.ac.uk for those of you working frequently with PhD applicants.

CENTRAL POSTGRADUATE TAUGHT ADMISSIONS (Engineering and Design, Humanities and Social Sciences, Science)

From 1 August we have one centralised admissions team for all post-graduate taught programmes in the Faculties of Engineering and Design, Humanities and Social Sciences and Science. Please contact this team directly for all queries relating to an individual student’s application and offer.

Main email address:                                                       pgtadmissions@bath.ac.uk

Main contact number:                                                   +44 (0)1225 385115

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

School of Management will continue to have a separate admissions team for all post-graduate taught programmes. Please contact these teams directly for all queries relating to an individual student’s application and offer.

Main email address (MSc Office):                            msc-mn@management.bath.ac.uk

Main contact number:   (MSc )                                   + 44 (0) 1225 383757

Main email address (MBA Office)                            mbaapps@management.bath.ac.uk

Main contact number (MBA)                                      + 44 (0) 1225 383431

There is a useful list of all School of Management contacts which includes all the individual programme contacts. http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/about/who_contact.html#msc

UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS

Contacts for the centralised undergraduate admissions team are unchanged.

Main email address:                                                      admissions@bath.ac.uk

Main contact number:                                                   +44 (0)1225 383019

INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION YEAR

Please contact the International Foundation Year directly at City of Bath College for all queries.

Main email address:                                                      bathfoundationyear@citybathcollege.ac.uk

Main contact number:                                                   +44 (0) 1225 328724

AGENT PORTAL

All our representatives have access to our agent portal. This allows you 24 hour access to real time information and updates on all the applications of all the students from your company in one place. We are updating our guide to the portal which will be included in our next newsletter. Any portal related questions in the meantime please email international-relations-office@bath.ac.uk

OTHER KEY CONTACTS

Academic Skills Centre / Pre-Sessional                                 english@bath.ac.uk

Student Immigration Service Advice (General)                 student-immigration-advice@bath.ac.uk

    www.bath.ac.uk/visa

CAS queries                                                                                       adm-cas@rt.bath.ac.uk

Student Accommodation Team                                                 accommodation@bath.ac.uk

+44 (0) 1225 383111

International Recruitment Team: Important Updates

Communicating with the International Recruitment Team

We will shortly be welcoming a new colleague Antonio Marcos as our International Communications Co-ordinator to join Fay Pafford (International Student Recruitment Co-ordinator) in an enlarged administration and communications team. Antonio will be the central point of contact for any agent/counsellor/ representative who needs to get in touch with the recruitment team and will also be the editor of this newsletter.

From 1st September 2017 we will therefore be changing some of our systems and processes. We will keep you regularly updated.

Agents Conference 2017 Feedback and Action Plan^

Thank you in particular to those delegates who submitted post-conference feedback questionnaires and to everyone for being such engaged participants and offering such detailed responses in both formal sessions and in the networking opportunities.

Below I have summarised the key feedback from the post-conference questionnaires. This was mainly focused on the logistics of the conference.

I have also collated all the notes from the two interactive sessions plus feedback from staff. This has provided us with a wide range of ideas for improvements to all aspects of recruitment and I have drafted an action plan including key themes such as: Employability; Marketing Materials and Communications; Agent/University Partnership; Commission and Targets; Alumni; and ‘Activities and Scholarships ’. This is now with our senior manager and will go out for consultation to key staff to agree on which actions we can follow up on and our priorities. I will keep you posted on developments in further newsletters.

Feedback Summary from Post-Conference Questionnaires

Many of you had useful suggestions and ideas which we will use in our planning to make the 5th Conference (probably late 2018) even better.  Some of the key points were:

·         Everyone enjoyed the chance to see the University, meet the students and staff and hear about new programmes and initiatives.

·         The opportunity to share best practice with other representatives was also valued.

·         Everyone seemed to enjoy the reception.

·         We are pleased that you seemed to value most of the sessions with the employability one in particular getting ‘rave reviews’.

·         Those who took part in the visit to City of Bath College also seemed to really appreciate the opportunity to learn more about the foundation year.

·         The link with an Open Day had a mixed response. Most of you seemed to value the opportunity but perhaps felt that it was not essential to link in this way for every conference.

Some of the things we need to do better next time are:

·         Provide dinner or hot food in the evening.

Response from Virginia:  We agree this is something we should re-instate. To explain a little: We all enjoy Bath’s ‘iconic venues’ but unfortunately the catering options at these venues are restricted due partly to the age of the buildings and the need to protect them. (No kitchens!). There are no venues in central Bath which can serve dinner to a large group (80-100 with key University staff) of people. We would need to transport everyone out of the city. I promise we will come up with a better solution for our next conference.

·         Problems getting to and from the Hilton

Response from Virginia: We agree that there were some problems with this. I am happy to put on a coach or other transport. The disadvantage is that this means everyone must arrive / depart at the same time and as the traffic in Bath can be pretty congested it can sometimes take longer, but as a minimum we can certainly have staff at the hotel to help with taxis in future.

·         The room/tea and coffee

Response from Virginia: We will seek a larger space for the main conference room next time and ensure the refreshments are prompt.

Some of your suggestions were:

·         ‘Special’ tours of the University from senior staff. Those of you who were lucky enough to have the impromptu tour of Engineering by the Dean really enjoyed it. We will include more of these next time.

·         A ‘speed-dating’ type activity where you can pre-book appointments with key staff and/or your country manager. We thought this was a great idea and will organise this at a future event.

Best Wishes, Virginia Irwin, Deputy Head, International Recruitment team

Update from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences^

MA Translation with Business Interpreting (Chinese) film

Watch our latest film discussing our MA Translation with Business Interpreting (Chinese). The film is in a mixture of English and Mandarin, with subtitles throughout. Watch the film on YouTube. If you can’t access it via YouTube please get in touch with Helen Lofkin at h.lofkin@bath.ac.uk and we can send the raw file to you to use on your own channels.

Chinese student experience story

On our MA Translation with Business Interpreting (Chinese), students may have the opportunity to spend time on placement during their holidays. Jihui Zhu spent 2 weeks at the International Maritime Organisation in London using her translating skills. She has written a short account of her experience plus photos in Mandarin for our Chinese speaking agents to use. Please contact Helen for a copy: 国际海事组织实习报告

University of Bath based swimmers win medals at the World Championships

University of Bath-based swimmers won five medals, as Great Britain enjoyed a successful 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest. Graduates from our FD Sports Performance, BSc Sports and Exercise Science and Chemical Engineering all took part in the Championships. A number of our students are also in training for the World University Games in Taipei. Read more.

BSc(Hons) Sports and Exercise placement video

This new film shows our Sports and Exercise students on placement where they talk about their experience and the benefits of a placement. Watch the film.

New courses that now have full approval for 2018 recruitment:

These are not yet online but will be added over the next few weeks.

MSc Public Policy

MSc Humanitarianism, Conflict and Development

MSc Applied Psychology and Economic Behaviour

MSc International Development with pathways in:

MSc in International Development

MSc in International Development with Conflict and Humanitarian Action

MSc in International Development with Economics

MSc in International Development for Sustainability and Social Justice

Helen Lofkin, Faculty Marketing Manager, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences