Dear overseas partners,
Welcome to the June 2020 issue of the University of Bath Agents' Newsletter.
We hope you are all safe and well.
Due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this edition of the newsletter is vitally important to make sure you are updated with all the latest news from the University of Bath
There are a number of important updates detailed below, including our continued response to the Coronavirus pandemic, an update on Visa's and immigration, our latest digital events and more information on our pre-sessional courses.
Please look at the table of contents below to make sure you don't miss an important update.
As always please share this information among your teams and with all those involved in counselling prospective students.
If you have any questions or require further information, please email j.m.vittles@bath.ac.uk.
Coronavirus Update^
The continued disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic means we are all facing challenging times. At Bath, we have taken many preventative measures to protect our community and we want to reassure you we are doing all we can to help students who are due to start studying in September 2020.
We have provided as much guidance as possible on our website, and have split the information into Undergraduate and Postgraduate. You can read the information for Postgraduate Offer-Holders here and the information for Undergraduate applicants here. We have provided as much information as possible and will update this guidance as the situation develops.
Please also refer to our COVID-19 topic page for updates relating to all aspects of our response to the pandemic.
Digital Events^
Mater's Study Live Chats
This series of online chats are designed for prospective Master's students. Students may already hold an offer to study with us or they may be yet to start an application, they may even be looking for 2021 entry and beyond. Please invite them to join our Postgraduate Recruitment Team and ask us any questions they may have. This may be related to:
- Admissions process
- Studying in September
- Postgraduate courses
- University support
- Accommodation
Join us weekly from 11:00-13:00 (GMT+1) every Wednesday until 12th August 2020. Find out more and register.
Entrepreneurship Masterclass: Unlocking the potential ahead
Our current situation forces us to think outside of the box. We need to reimagine a new world of working, studying and living so we can succeed in this ‘new normal’.
This Masterclass with Professor Dimo Dimov will explore the nature of thinking and its role in innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Masterclass will also provide a taster of the kind of insights you could gain from studying an MBA or MSc course at the School of Management. Our School of Management admissions teams will be on hand to chat after the Masterclass.
Learn more about this event and register online.
Visa/Immigration update^
The Student Immigration Service at Bath is available to support our international student communities from application through to graduation. The team is available by email and our webpages are updated on a regular basis.
Graduate route
We can announce that UKVI have confirmed students who commence a new course by distance learning or blended learning due to Covid-19, will be eligible to switch into the Graduate route on a concessionary basis.
Students may be able to benefit from this concession if they enter the UK before 6 April 2021 and complete the final semester of their studies in the UK. Such students will still need to have extant leave as a Tier 4 student when the new route launches in 2021 and meet other eligibility criteria.
Key features announced so far:
- The visa will enable international graduates to stay in the UK for two years to work, or look for work, in any sector and at any level.
- Students who successfully complete a course at undergraduate level or above from the summer of 2021 will be able to apply for the route.
- A new visa application will need to be made but the process will be simple. A sponsor will not be required. There will be an application fee and applicants will pay the Immigration Health Surcharge.
- Students who have successfully completed a degree at undergraduate or postgraduate level in any subject area and who have a valid Tier 4 visa will be eligible to apply after the route is launched.
- It will be possible to switch from the Graduate visa into the skilled work route subject to meeting the requirements.
Further information on the Graduate route is available on our website.
Coronavirus: latest updates on visa application centres
Some UK Visa Application Centres (VACs) are resuming services where local restrictions allow.
For updates to the status of VACs in your country check with:
- TLS contact if you’re in Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East
- VFS global for all other countries
Ongoing global restrictions mean some UKVI services will remain closed. Where services are resuming, existing customers will be contacted.
Coronavirus: latest updates on English testing Centres
Some English Testing Centres are also resuming services. Visit the International English Language Testing System (IELTS)’s website, the Pearson Test of English website or the LanguageCert website or contact the test centre for more information.
Coronavirus: UKVI concession to permit distance learning for Tier 4 students
We wish to inform you that, due to the COVID-19 situation, distance learning is now permissible for international students.
Although Tier 4 students are not normally permitted to undertake distance learning courses, UKVI has approved a concession under the current exceptional circumstances.
- New international students who have been issued a Tier 4 visa but have been unable to travel to the UK are permitted to undertake distance learning, where the programme requirements permit this.
- New international students who have not yet applied for a visa but wish to commence a course by distance learning -if the programme permits it- do not need to travel to the UK to do so and therefore do not require sponsorship under Tier 4.
This distance learning concession will be in place for the duration of the 2020-21 academic year. The concession will be subject to regular monitoring to ensure it is working as intended, and it will be subject to review at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.
You will have received updates from the University about plans for the start of the new academic year. We will continue to be in touch with you and your students with further details as we have more information to share.
CAS process
The CAS process will resume from 30 June 2020. All unconditional offer holders will automatically receive a link to pre-CAS check questionnaire, therefore, there is no need to request a CAS. Once a satisfactory response to the pre-CAS check has been received, we aim to issue CAS within 15 working days.
Undergraduate Admissions Latest^
Please continue to contact us should you have any concerns or questions via admissions@bath.ac.uk or uginternationaladmissions@bath.ac.uk
The vast majority of our courses are still open for application through UCAS but the deadline is the 30th June for any main scheme applications. The deadline for any 'extra' applicants (those who have applied to 5 choices already) is the 5th July. Should you have a student who is considering 'extra' please make sure you contact us first before giving up any other offers, this is really important. Clearing will then open in July. We should advise that at this time we cannot confirm what clearing vacancies we will have this year.
We can advise that regular communications are being sent to the applicants via email, please can we ask you to encourage your students to review their emails regularly. We have also recently sent communications regarding our proposed future plans for the start of the new term in September. Please ensure that this information has been advised.
Information is also being provided online and being regularly updated.
We can also advise that due to the lack of IELTS or other English test centres being open, we have sourced other acceptable tests, many of which are online, in order for your students to undertake an English test in order to meet the conditions of their offer. Full details of the new tests can be found on each course page in the online prospectus under ‘Entry Requirements’. All applicants with an English condition have been contacted via email to advise them of the new alternate tests available. These include IELTS Indicator, TOEFL IBT Special Home Edition, Duolingo to name a few. https://www.bath.ac.uk/topics/undergraduate-study-2020/
The Admissions Team have successfully managed to gather some information from around the world with regards international qualifications but should you have local information about when results may be available, or how the qualifications are being awarded etc that you feel would be helpful to us, please do let us know on uginternationaladmissions@bath.ac.uk
Pre-sessional update^
20-week Pre-sessional English (PSE) update
Our 20-week Pre-sessional English (PSE) online programme, which started on 20 April 2020, comes to an end on 26 June. 16 students from China, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Taiwan, Japan and Thailand joined the course, 15 of whom have conditional offers to study postgraduate courses at the University of Bath.
Students have taken part in daily live sessions on Microsoft Teams and worked together in online study groups.
“[Online lessons were] a higher level than I expected. I especially like the group discussions with classmates from different countries… Not only was the learning programme enriched, but the online learning environment was wonderful.” - Toshiaki Masumoto from Japan
10-week and 5-week Pre-sessional English (PSE)
The 10-week online PSE starts on 6 July 2020 and the 5-week online PSE on 6 August 2020.
Our Pre-Sessional webpages have the latest details on the online programme including dates, fees and entry requirements. We are still open for applications.
There are two parts to the PSE: language and academic skills. The times of language classes for the first 5 weeks are now confirmed as 09:00-10:50 (GMT+1) online in real time Monday – Friday. The academic skills component is delivered using Moodle, the University’s virtual learning environment. Students can complete these activities at times convenient to them.
Please contact english@bath.ac.uk for any queries about PSE.
Here are some quick points to help you when advising your students:
- 10-week students will receive an automated email (late June) asking them to complete Registration Online (ROL). It is important that they do this promptly. Without completing this, they cannot get access to the University systems to start the course.
- 10-week students will also receive an email in the week of 29 June-3 July with details of how to join the course on Monday 6 July.
- The course requires full-time study of 6-8 hours study per day. It is not possible to work full-time and take the course online.
- We monitor attendance and engagement very carefully. All students are expected to attend class, complete assignments and participate in discussion forums and group projects.
Payment of fees
- Standalone students are invoiced directly by the Skills Centre with payment being due before the course start date. Queries regarding Standalone fees should be directed to english@bath.ac.uk
- Combined students pay their fees in the same way as Degree students
- Queries regarding combined fees should be directed to stu-fin@bath.ac.uk
Course Spotlights^
New Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science BSc degree launched for 2021 entry
The new course has been developed in response to industry demand for graduates with skills in applied mathematics, programming, statistics and data analysis.
Students on the course will learn how to use mathematics to formulate problems and analyse data from real-life applications. They'll develop strong programming skills and will also gain an understanding of machine learning and artificial intelligence at the cutting-edge of data science.
Further Maths is not required for entry onto the course. Common units studied across our mathematics courses in the first year mean that students may be able to switch onto another mathematics course.
Webinar
We will be holding a webinar with lecturers on Wednesday 22nd July 11:00 BST where students can find out more about the course and ask any questions.
To sign up to the webinar please register using this link.
Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science webpage
To find out more about the course visit the Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science webpage here.
Finance-related degrees
In the School of Management, we have four finance-related degrees to choose from. All four courses provide a solid theoretical foundation in finance and you’ll learn to apply this knowledge in a range of real-world scenarios. In this film, Danqi, Faizal, Jing Jia, and Eduardo talk about the differences between the courses and share their experience of studying at Bath.
Learn more about our finance-related courses
We are ranked 39th in the world for Finance by the Financial Times.
New Rankings^
Bath is the best university in the South West, and ranks 9th nationally, according to The Complete University Guide 2021 released earlier this month.
For the second year running, the University of Bath is in the top ten for this year’s Complete University Guide 2021. It retains its position from last year in the national rankings (9th) and is also the number one university in the South West for the fifth year running.
You can read the full list of subjects where we are ranked in the top 10 here.
We're are also delighted to announce the following updates to our School of Management rankings.
The Complete University Guide 2021
- 1st for Marketing
- 3rd for Business and Management Studies
- 5th for Accounting and Finance
The Financial Times Master's in Finance
- Ranked in the Global Top 40
- Of the UK-based institutions listed, we're 7th
Learn more about our SoM rankings and accreditations on our website.
To share on your social media^
MSc Marketing student Panagiota shares her favourite memories from her time at Bath.
MSc Molecular Biosciences student Laura shares her favourite memories from her time at Bath.
Teams Video Chats
We have recently produced a number of videos focused on various aspects of choosing a university and on life here at Bath.
The below video focusses on finance at University in a conversation with three undergraduate students. Please take a look at our Youtube channel here for the full range of videos.
As ever, if you would like the MP4 files for these videos, please do contact Jack via email here.
We will also have PGT specific videos coming soon, which will share with you as soon as they're available.
Instagram takeovers
We have produced many Instagram takeovers in the last few weeks focussing on both UG and PG life and study at Bath. To stay up to date with all the latest takeovers and content, please follow our Instagram here, and we'd advise your students to do so too.
One of our PGT ambassadors has also recently run a takeover for the British Council on their Instagram page @studyuk_britishcouncil. You can catch up with the takeover via the highlights section on the Instagram account below.
Follow us on Social Media^
You can keep up to date with all the latest news from the University on our social media channels below
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Beautiful Bath^
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