International Agent Newsletter

Dear Colleagues,

Welcome to the Spring edition of our agent partner newsletter. This newsletter is mainly focused on information for our Postgraduate Masters applicants, but also includes new digital developments for those interested in our undergraduate programmes too. We have lots to tell you about our extended scholarship provision, revised Computer Science Masters degrees, combined pre-sessional English and Masters provision offer, and deadlines for accommodation requests for 2011 entry.

Please, as always, read the information carefully and circulate to your colleagues. Do also come back to your country manager with any questions.

We do appreciate this year is particularly challenging in terms of student recruitment with all the changes taking place and on behalf of all our team here at Bath we really do appreciate all the hard work you have already put into this recruitment cycle (and the next!) and wish you every success.

With Very Best Wishes,

Andy,Graham, Jo, Virginia and Zoe 

Scholarships 2011 Update from Virginia

There are a lot of exciting developments for scholarships in 2011. In addition to our usual University of Bath International Scholarships Scheme 2011, there are scholarship programmes in all Graduate Schools plus some new funding from our alumni for key regions of the world. I have highlighted some of the main schemes below.

For all information:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/international/finance/scholarships/index.html

Please refer applicants to the email below. It is answered promptly by my colleague Millie Davis. She will also deal with queries about individual cases.

international-scholarships@bath.ac.uk

If any of you or your staff want to discuss broader issues such as the strategy, promotion and operation of the schemes, then do contact Andy, Jo or Zoe or myself. 

University Scholarships (MSc/MA programmes)

I manage the following scholarships centrally. Full details and criteria are at:  http://www.bath.ac.uk/international/finance/scholarships/index.html

The key things to remember for all these scholarships are:

• Separate online application.
• Applicants must have firmly accepted our offer before they apply for a scholarship. They can’t get access to the form until they are ‘FIRM’ and they need to use the same user name and password as they use for ‘applicant tracker’ to enter the form.
• Closing date is 30 June 2011. All applications received by the deadline are treated equally.

University of Bath International Scholarships Scheme 2011 (UoBISS) 

Key facts for UoBISS:

• 75 for MSc applicants

• Open to applicants from any country but priority given to certain markets: Latin America, Nigeria, Russia, Pakistan, Vietnam and Jordan.
• Priority also given to applicants who come via an official partner. On the scholarship form there is a question which asks them ‘Did you apply from an official University of Bath representative?’ Make sure that you tell your students to answer YES to this question.
• We also encourage applicants who have already got a partial scholarship from another source and try to help them to match funding.

Regional Schemes

There are also some additional MSc schemes for certain markets. You can find out more below. There are two new ones for 2011: Frank Wallace and Stuart Appleton

http://www.bath.ac.uk/international/finance/scholarships/index.html
Jack Cater Scholarship (Hong Kong)
Santander MSC Scholarships (Latin America)
Steve Huckvale Scholarships (Africa)
USA Alumni Scholarships (USA)
Frank Wallace (China)
Stuart Appleton (East and South Asia and Pacific)

Faculty Schemes (MSc/MA/MRES Programmes)

For 2011, the International Office will also manage the scholarships for students from the Faculty of Engineering and Design, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and School of Management and students can apply for these in the same way as for the University of Bath and regional scholarships.

Faculty of Engineering (Elite Masters Scholarships)

The Faculty of Engineering & Design has a number of £2000 (GBP) scholarships for overseas fees status entrants to MSc programmes starting in autumn 2011. These awards are made on the basis of outstanding academic background.

School of Management (MSc Scholarships for International Students)

Scholarships for MSc applicants from:

Africa:  One scholarship worth £2,500.
Central Asia:  Two scholarships worth £2,500 each.
Latin America:  One scholarship worth £2,500.
Greece:   Two scholarships worth £2000 each.
India: One scholarship worth £5000 and a further four scholarships worth £2,500 each.
Turkey:   Two scholarships worth £2,500 each.

 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (MSc)

There are 10 international scholarships at £2000 for students applying for programmes in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. This Faculty scheme covers MRes applicants as well as MSc.

PHD Funding

There are several schemes. Some are offered centrally by the University and some by the Faculties and Graduate Schools. The best source of information are the Departmental funding pages. There is also some information at:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/pg/researchfunding/

Masters in Computer Science Update

Following feedback from agents and applicants, the Department of Computer Science has repackaged its Masters degrees to make them more attractive.

Simpler structure: there are now only three degrees, with distinctive themes aimed at different applicant groups.

Clearer descriptions: each degree has a concise description in our brochure and on the web.

Better explanation of content: each module in the degrees is also described.

Options within the degree: no need to decide before arriving at Bath.

New teaching labs: fully-equipped and in a brand-new modern building.

Fees and application procedure explained: supported by one-stop online application process.

Job market examples: a wide range of real employment opportunities described.

Simplified and visually-improved web site: radically enhanced in the last year.

Current applicants are not affected: anyone who has already applied will take exactly the same degree they applied for. They may optionally accept one of the new titles instead but it is their choice, made after they arrive here.

The new degree titles are:

MSc Software Systems
MSc Internet Systems and Security
MSc Human Computer Interaction

Full details are on our web pages:
www.bath.ac.uk/comp-sci  click on Postgraduate Taught

 

Combined Pre-Sessional English and Masters Degree Offers of Admission

 Following a successful pilot project in 2010, the University will be extending the opportunity to students in need of a small improvement in their English proficiency to undertake a combined 13 month Pre-sessional English course and Masters degree across the full range of our Masters provision this year.The combined Masters offer means that eligible students will receive an unconditional offer of admission and a single CAS that will cover the entire duration of their studies.  It will not therefore be necessary for these students to renew their visa after the English course. 

Further details of this initiative are as follows:- As the name suggests, this combined offer provision is for Masters students ONLY.  Prospective undergraduate and PhD students who are looking to undertake a pre-sessional English course in order to improve their English will still receive a conditional offer of admission.  We may extend this combined offer to undergraduates and PhD students in the future but in view of the fact that the vast majority of our pre-sessional students are looking to progress to a Masters degree and there are significant setting-up issues in extending this provision further, we are focusing for the time being on Masters students.- The combined offer is for students eligible for the 5 week pre-sessional courses PS5 and PMBS5 only.  The English language Centre continues to offer a range of year-round programmes of longer duration but for these students conditionality will still apply.

- The link below gives full details of the combined offer of admission.  We have to adhere to strict English proficiency requirements and this essentially means that students must be within 0.5 in the IELTS test of what would be the standard requirement for direct entry to a degree programme.

This 0.5 requirement applies both to the overall score AND the results in each of the four categories of assessment.  Similar requirements apply to TOEFL and other recognised English language proficiency tests.
http://www.bath.ac.uk/elc/combined-offers

- The tuition fee for the combined offer will be detailed in the offer of admission and is simply the standard Pre-sessional English course fee plus the appropriate Masters fee.  However, as this is being treated as a 13 month degree programme, the payment arrangements are as they would be for any degree student and therefore a minimum of 50% of the TOTAL tuition fee must be paid prior to commencement of studies for students considered to be self-financing (students with a scholarship from a recognised sponsor will have their sponsor invoiced as normal).

- The Combined Masters will start teaching on 22 August 2011 and allowance must be made for the need to have all the necessary arrangements in place well before this date, so that the visa application may be made.  This includes the need for any academic conditions to have been fully satisfied.

Our capacity is limited and we envisage that all places will be filled well before August, so the earlier eligible students satisfy their admission requirements and accept a place on the combined Masters the better.  We are looking to expand our summer English provision in future years in order to meet the rising demand.  PS5 and PMBS5 will still also have some places available for suitably qualified undergraduate and PhD students this year, although as mentioned, these students who need to improve their English proficiency will NOT receive an unconditional offer of admission – the Pre-sessional English course will be treated as a separate element of their study and they will need to renew their visa afterwards.

Applying for Accommodation as a Masters student – new guidance and dates

1. New applicants should be directed to the external home page and for accommodation details they start at:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/pg/accommodation/

These webpages will be updated in the next 4-6 weeks with our new prices and options for 2011-12 BUT  There is one significant change -

*The Accommodation guarantee deadline is being brought forward to 31 JULY from 13 August*

2. The course offer letter advises the student that once they confirm acceptance of the offer they will be able to apply for accommodation and give a link to our accommodation pages.

3. Once they have accepted their course offer and the University of Bath has acknowledged their acceptance they can apply on-line and this year we will go live with on-line applications from 4 April 2011

Just before this date the Accommodation Office email all the Masters students who have accepted offers already and invite them to now apply for their accommodation if eligible.

4. Subject to some new processes being in place in time, the Accommodation Office is hoping to send out the majority of room offers during June and July to the Masters students who have applied before the guarantee deadline –

It is VERY IMPORTANT to encourage your Masters applicants to respond by 31st July  as there is a lot of pressure on room space.

5. Once they receive their room offer, they have 10 days to reply, and in order to confirm their acceptance they are requested to send us £400 pre-payment (except those getting scholarships) This will be refunded if their visa gets refused.

Rooms are offered from 24 September this year.

6. This year we are also introducing on-line application for pre-sessional students and they will be able to apply for both the summer vacation period required (in a temporary room on campus) and their permanent room preference (which is simply a preference and never guaranteed).

New – Online  library of University of Bath publications in digital format

 

We are delighted to give you access to a new digital library of our materials to help you counsel students and provide advice and guidance in a quick, visually appealing and cost-effective way.

We hope you will find this really useful and welcome your feedback.

Here is the link to our full library of publications:
http://www.yudu.com/library/82826/The-University-of-Bath-s-Library?refid=82826

 You can either send people links to the whole library, or to individual publications; just copy and paste the link that appears when you download a publication.

You and your students can also now -

Download our undergraduate prospectus for your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch FREE – using the Universities UK app

Anyone with an iPhone/iPad or iPod touch can download our Undergraduate Prospectus in a format that’s easy to read on these devices. The links on the prospectus can be clicked on to take users through to various pages of the University of Bath website.

And here’s a digital version people can read on their computers or any other device that can access the internet: View the digital version of our undergraduate prospectus  This also has links readers can click on to go through to our site.

A pdf version will be available to download on www.bath.ac.uk/study soon too.

And of course the most up-to-date entry requirements etc will always be at www.bath.ac.uk/study  

 Happy viewing!

A very warm welcome to our final agent newsletter of 2010 from a very wintery Bath! We have had unseasonally cold weather here which has meant many of our international students have been enjoying snow for the first time.

We are pleased to end the year with the news that our new Masters programmes in Finance are now open for application and full information is detailed below, including new dedicated email addresses for each of our Masters programmes within the School of Management.

There is also a reminder for you to return your new agent contracts to us, and new country webpages to discover showcasing you as our official representatives.

Finally, please be advised that the entire University will be closed for the winter break from 24th December 2010 to 3rd January 2011 inclusive, with all staff throughout the institution on leave.

We look forward to communicating with you again in the New Year 2011

With Very Best Wishes and compliments of the season,
Andy, Graham, Jo, Virginia and Zoe
International Office Recruitment Team

REMINDER TO RETURN NEW CONTRACTS TO US
As you are aware, with effect from the 2011 intake, commission payable to our agents for successful recruitment to the International Foundation Year will become the responsibility of the Consortium led by City of Bath College.  This was mentioned in the October Agents’ Newsletter. This single change necessitates that we reissue our agents with new contracts.  Essentially there is a new paragraph to reflect this new arrangement and the rest of the document remains unchanged.�
Country managers have been sending out these new contracts to you for signature and we look forward to receiving two signed copies from you returned to Graham Waton in the International Office.at the earliest opportunity.

New MSc in Finance programmes for 2011
The School of Management is pleased to announce three new Masters programmes in the field of Finance, to complement the highly successful MSc in Accounting and Finance. The new programmes are:
• MSc in Finance
• MSc in Finance and Banking
• MSc in Finance and Risk
The new programmes combine the research and teaching expertise of the School of Management, the Department of Mathematical Sciences and the Department of Economics and International Development.
All the programmes are full-time and last 12 months. They have a modular structure and are divided into course units and electives, followed by a dissertation.
For entry to the programmes, applicants will require the equivalent of our minimum 2:1 grade. Another essential requirement is evidence of excellent quantitative skills. The Director of Studies has stipulated that applicants’ first degree should be in a subject with high mathematical/quantitative content. Subjects meeting these requirements are Engineering, Mathematics, Economics or Physics. Other subjects may be considered if quantitative subjects have been studied in enough depth. Applicants will require an IELTS score of 6.5 overall with no less than 6 in each part, or 92 overall in the internet-based TOEFL exam, with no less than 21 in each part.  An application fee of £50 is required for all of the MSc Finance programmes.
Applicants whose first language is not English may be interested in taking advantage of one of the English Language Centre’s pre-sessional English courses prior to starting their MSc. There are several programmes available and more details can be found at www.bath.ac.uk/elc
You will be pleased to know the new Finance programmes have been approved and are now available on the online application system. There will be a £50 application fee to apply for these programmes.
On the online application form, please can we ask that you make sure you complete the field that says:

‘If you are submitting your application through an official Education Agent, please tell us which one.’ There should be a drop down menu for you to select your agent’s name from. This information is really important for our future planning, so we’d be very grateful if you could fill this part in.

Finally, if students are paying their application fees by credit card, could you please ask students to upload the credit card payment form to the application tracker.
IMPORTANT – Enquiries relating to the suite of Management programmes
We have a special email id attached to each programme for general enquiries. Please use these when contacted the School of Management as it helps us answer your questions in the most effective way possible.
• MSc Management                      mscadmin@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc AMP                                 mscamp@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc Marketing                          mscmkg@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc International Mgmt              mscinternational@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc ITM                                   mscitm@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc Accounting and Finance     mscaf@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc Finance                             mscfinance@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc Finance and Banking          mscfinandbanking@management.bath.ac.uk
• MSc Finance and Risk               mscfinandrisk@management.bath.ac.uk

New School of Management promotional video
The School of Management recently launched a new promotional film, highlighting the city of Bath and the facilities at the University, as well as our programmes and our research. The video is available on our YouTube site. Go to:  http://www.youtube.com/bathsofm#p/a/f/0/wavgseRgaV4
We hope you like it!

New country web pages
You may have noticed that our country information pages are changing, and we have already launched new pages for; China, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada, Norway, Nigeria, Taiwan, USA, with more to launch very soon. We would be very keen to get your feedback on what you think of the look and layout of these pages and how you think they work for your students.
Go to http://www.bath.ac.uk/international/country/ to find your country page. Please send your comments to Jo – j.power@bath.ac.uk

A Record Year for Recruitment!
A huge thank you to all of our representative around the world for their fantastic efforts in helping make 2010 the best year yet for international student enrolments at the University of Bath.  The admissions data shows that we enrolled 150 more overseas students than last year, with most of the growth being at the Masters level.  In total over 1150 new full-time, non-EU students joined the University of Bath this September. 

If you have yet to submit details of the students you referred to us please do so immediately.  In the first instance it is best to send a list to Graham Waton (G.W.Waton@bath.ac.uk), so that he may check the registration details on our database.  Once Graham has verified that the students are in attendance an invoice can be submitted.

We have very fond memories of the agent conference this time last year and hope you feel, that like us, this has made our partnerships stronger and encouraged us all to move forward as a team during 2010, with great results for everyone.  Congratulations!  The development of the agent portal is another step forward in offering our support to you.

With Very Best Wishes for the recruitment cycle 2010/11,

Andy, Graham, Jo, Virginia,and Zoe

2011 Masters Applications now Open
On 1st November our on-line application portal for Masters applications opened.  This includes a new suite of Finance programmes within the School of Managment that we will showcase in the December newsletter. Details are available at http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/msc-finance/

We will continue to offer an entirely electronic application route onto our postgraduate programmes via our Study web pages.  Please be sure to remind applicants to include the details of your organisation when they are completing the application, so we know that the application has come through your office.  Supporting documents, such as transcripts, references and English test scores can be uploaded with the application or at a later date using the Applicant Tracker facility.  There is a 2MB file size limit for an attached document, so just be aware that super high resolution attachments may not make it through and any such docs should be saved to a smaller file size.

Internal changes to the Admissions Process – Postgraduate and Undergraduate

The 2011 application cycle also sees some internal changes to our admissions processing.  The new Graduate Schools will process Masters and research applications themselves, rather than our central Admissions Office.  This is intended to streamline the application procedure, since postgraduate admissions decisions have always been made in academic departments and now the Faculties themselves will both review applications and make the decision as to whether to offer a place on one of their programmes.  As far as the students are concerned there is no discernable change to be aware of – the process of application remains the same. 

Whilst postgraduate applications are being dealt with by Graduate Schools, we are moving towards greater centralisation of undergraduate admissions and the Admissions Office will be responsible for making more admissions decisions for UCAS candidates in the year ahead.  The Admissions Office will retain responsibility for issuing CASs to all unconditional firm degree programme applicants, both undergraduates and postgraduates.

Agents’ Portal
Following (unanimous!) feedback from the Agents’ Conference last November we have completed the next phase of the Application Tracker project that will enable our representatives to see summary data of the application status of all of their students that have applied to the University of Bath.  This should replace the need to email individual country managers regarding the status of an application.

The Agents’ Portal links directly to SAMIS, our admissions database. As well as giving you real-time information on the status of all of your applicants it will allow you to see a copy of any offer letter and the clearance checklist for individual candidates, so you can see which conditions have been met or remain outstanding, and whether the visa CAS has been issued in the case of students holding an unconditional offer.

You will shortly receive the unique username and password for your organisation from your dedicated country manager within the International Office that will allow you to access the Agents’ Portal. In the case of representatives with more than one office in a particular country the username and password will allow you to access data for ALL of your applicants. 

Please ensure that postgraduate applicants use the drop-down menu in the on-line application to verify that they have used your services, as the portal relies upon this to link the student to you.

 In the case of undergraduate students applying through UCAS or postgraduate students who omitted to tell us at the time of application that they have used your services we can add this information retrospectively upon receiving an email (international-office@bath.ac.uk) from the student concerned verifying that they wish to have you as their representative and have used your services. This email should follow the format you have agreed with the country manager and have put into practice in previous application cycles.  As always, please ensure that the student’s application number is stated clearly in any correspondence!

The Agents’ Portal is a ‘view only’ facility, so the onus will remain upon the students to access their personal details through Application Tracker to do things such as upload further documents or accept an offer of admission.

Introducing the new International Foundation Year

Welcome to our first newsletter of the new academic year.  A fresh cohort of international students has just commenced their degree studies at the University and already our attention turns to the 2011 intake!   As always, we will seek to update you about various developments here in Bath in the months ahead and there is plenty of information to communicate.  However, we wanted to focus this edition of the Agents’ Newsletter on one particular item – the new International Foundation Year.

Those of you who attended the Agents Conference last November will recall that Andy Howman mentioned that the University was looking at its undergraduate pre-degree provision with a view to recruiting more Foundation Year students.   Following a competitive tendering process, a Consortium of Further Education Colleges lead by the City of Bath College (provider of our existing Foundation Year for the past decade) successfully bid to offer an enlarged programme called the International Foundation Year (IFY), commencing with the 2011 intake.  The University was impressed by the combination of existing expertise and the prospect of involving additional partners in new locations.

You will imminently receive copies of the IFY brochure in the forthcoming agents mailing and you can also find an extensive website, complete with application form, via the link below:
http://www.bathfoundationyear.com/

Some of the aspects to our revamped Foundation provision which we hope you will find make the provision attractive to prospective students include:

• In addition to the pre-existing opportunities to study at City of  Bath and Wiltshire Colleges, applicants now also have the option to study at Chichester College or Greenwich Community College in London
• There is no longer any need for students to apply through UCAS
• Guaranteed progression onto all of our undergraduate degree programmes for successful students*
• More flexible English proficiency requirements
• An increased number of partial scholarships, both for new IFY students and those who perform exceptionally well on the IFY and progress onto a Bath undergraduate degree
• An enhanced social programme, which will bring the students from all the partner colleges together for certain events, including taster visits to the University campus

The International Office at the University of Bath will continue to support recruitment into the Foundation Year.  However, the Consortium is also maintaining their own outreach operation and will administer the application process.  Commission payments to agents upon successful recruitment of students to the IFY will become the responsibility of the Consortium.  The Consortium recognises that recruitment into pre-degree courses such as this is especially competitive and in order to seek to provide a good incentive to representatives they are prepared to offer an enhanced level of commission for all new Foundation Year students with the exception of those seeking onward progression into the School of Management.  The commission for non-business students recruited to the IFY will be 15% (for School of Management students it will remain at 10%).  My colleague Sarah Pigott,  Programme Director for the International Foundation Year, will shortly send through a draft contract, inviting you formalise this arrangement.  The International Office for its part will send you a letter confirming this change to our existing agreement and that IFY commission is now payable by the Consortium.  All other aspects of our contractual arrangements with you will remain unchanged and this includes the entitlement to claim a further 5% commission from the University of Bath for every IFY student you recruited  who subsequently progresses on to one of our degree programmes.

I hope you find this new provision a welcome addition to the Bath portfolio.  If you have any questions about the IFY please feel free to contact either Andy Howman in the International Office (A.Howman@bath.ac.uk) or Sarah Pigott at City of Bath College (PigottS@CityBathColl.ac.uk).

*As before, there is one exclusion.  The BSc in General Architectural Studies will not be available, although the programmes in Civil Engineering and Civil and Architectural Engineering are.

Commission

If you are due a commission payment for 2010 admissions, please send through your preliminary list of new registrations to Graham Waton (G.W.Waton@bath.ac.uk) in the International Office and he will confirm the status of your students, allowing you to send through an accurate invoice.

Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to our April newsletter which focuses on new Masters programmes in the Department of Biology and Biochemistry, our Foundation Year entry for 2010, Pre-depature briefings, a new mailout of materials and a request for information from you on how the new CAS system is rolling out in country.

 With Very Best wishes from the Recruitment team, currently dodging the April showers here in Bath !

New Postgraduate programmes in Biology for 2010 entry onwards

Master of Science (MSc)   “A First Step in Graduate Specialisation”

The University of Bath is delighted to offer 7 different Masters programmes new for entry 2010 with specialisations in:

BioSciences, Developmental Biology, Evolutionary and Population Biology, Medical BioSciences, Molecular Microbiology, Molecular Plant Sciences and Protein Structure and Function.

Details at http://www.bath.ac.uk/bio-sci/postgrad/msc/

The other programme in this department is the MSc Industrial Biotechnology & Enterprise – a separate collaborative programme currently only available to students based in India.

Aim of MSc programmes

The aim of each MSc programme is to provide professional-level training that will develop highly skilled bioscientists with strong theoretical, research and transferable skills all of which are necessary to work at the forefront of modern biosciences. An MSc from the University of Bath will be recognised as a graduate award that will be valued by companies and higher education institutions worldwide. Graduates will have a competitive edge in relation to undergraduate students applying for similar positions; they will be able to find posts in industry and government where a working knowledge of the nature and demands of academic research is needed.

Which programme is best for me?

• The MSc in Biosciences is new from 2010 but since September 2002 we have been running a successful one-year, full time MRes degree in BioSciences. The new programme is based on the same design principles as those for the MRes programme but is suitable for those who have undertaken three year undergraduate degrees and/or who have had no laboratory experience. The programme is designed to allow students to customise the programme according to their needs under the guidance of the Director of Studies and to develop the skills needed to undertake a 15 week research project in semester three.

• The MSc in Developmental Biology focuses on the fundamentals of developmental biology with direct relevance to man. The department has outstanding facilities for experimental work using a range of model vertebrate organisms.

• The MSc in Medical BioSciences is designed to provide opportunities for the student to study the theoretical and practical aspects of recent topics in the sciences that underpin modern research related to medicine.

• The MSc in Molecular Microbiology addresses modern problems of microbiology from epidemiology and immunity to emerging diseases

• The MSc in Molecular Plant Sciences provides opportunities to study molecular problems from the expression of gens through to genetic modification of food crops in the developing world

• The MSc in Protein Structure and Function provides advanced training in the molecular basis of structure-function relationships in proteins and the molecules with which they interact.

Entry requirements
Academic requirements
Upper second class honours degree or equivalent

English requirements
IELTS 6.5 (with not less than 6.0 in each of the four components).
TOEFL 580 (paper-based test) or 237 (computer-based test) with a score of not less than 4 in the TWE or 92 (internet-based test) with not less than 21 in each of the components

How to Apply
We will work as quickly as possible to add the programme to our drop down menu on the online application form but this may take a little time. In the interim please apply through the MRes Biosciences until the programmes receives final ‘sign off’ from the senior team.

 Questions?
Email the PG Administrator at biosci-pgt@bath.ac.uk who will be happy to guide you

Master of Research (MRes)  “Strong Foundations for a Research Career”

We also offer six MRes degree programmes designed to provide an insight into a range of research activities, techniques and skills, with specialisations in Biosciences, Developmental Biology, Evolutionary Biology, Molecular Microbiology, Molecular Plant Sciences and Regenerative Medicine

      Details at http://www.bath.ac.uk/bio-sci/postgrad/mres/

 Each of our MRes programmes has four main objectives:

      –To broaden knowledge of the conduct, management, implications and exploitation of research

      –To enhance the specialist knowledge at Masters level

      –To provide experience of high-level research in state-of-the-art topics

      –To provide training in a wide range of research techniques

      Students who complete an MRes degree will be well qualified to proceed to a three-year MPhil/PhD programme. Graduates will have a competitive edge in relation to undergraduate students applying for doctoral studies. They will be able to find posts in industry and government where a working knowledge of the nature and demands of academic research is needed.

 

MSc International Money and Banking now officially open!

 

Direct online applications are now being accepted for the new MSc International Money and Banking.

For 2011 the IELTS requirement will be 6.5 across all our Economics Masters programmes
 

Foundation Year 2010 entry – places still available for good applicants

The Foundation Year is still looking for good quality international candidates for 2010 entry.

If you have international students who have completed (or will complete this year) their High School Diploma or Year 12 equivalent, then we would be delighted to receive their UCAS application.

The Foundation team are happy to look at informal applications and give advice before students proceed to make their formal application via UCAS.

The UCAS codes they will need are as follows:

Course code: Y008
Institution code: B16
Campus codes: G (for City of Bath College) or P (for Wiltshire College,
Salisbury)

They need to clearly specify in the UCAS Personal Statement section which Bath degree they would like to study after the Foundation.  A full list of degree pathways is available here (including the grades they will need to achieve during their Foundation in order to progress automatically in 2011):
http://www.bath.ac.uk/foundation/application/progressiongrades2009-10.pdf

Please note that our English language requirements have recently been
modified as follows:

Applicants wishing to target Management subjects (e.g. Business Administration, Accounting & Finance) must now have a minimum IELTS grade of 6.0 (or TOEFL/Cambridge ESOL equivalent).  They can begin the programme on 13 September 2010.

All other applicants can begin the programme with an IELTS grade of 5.5 on 9 August 2010 when they will need to attend a five week pre-Foundation Year English Language course first.  They will then start the Foundation Year on 13 September 2010. The only condition is attendance on the 5 week pre-Foundation Year English; no formal exams are taken.

We look forward to hearing from you or your students!

Best wishes,
Dr. Florin Bisset
Foundation Year Manager
F.Bisset@bath.ac.uk

Pre-departure briefings

�
Each year members of the International Office provide a series of information sessions around the world to University of Bath applicants, preparing them for their studies in the UK. The first round of pre-departure briefings will take place in late June and early July in Bangkok, Beijing,  Shanghai, Tokyo, and Taipei, and be hosted by Andy Howman, Head of the International Office, and Nicola Peacock, International Student Support Manager.

Jo Power from the International Office will also be conducting briefings for students in Hong Kong, Brunei and Malaysia in late August, dates to be confirmed.

Full details will be available shortly. Although we cannot conduct briefings in every country we still aim to provide our applicants with all the information they need ahead of their arrival in Bath.

   

 New mailout

We are getting ready to send you a mailout of new Bath materials for use in your offices. This is to complement the standard mailing we did in October 2009 as we have a number of new products that we hope will provide useful recruitment tools for you to gain a greater insight into our programmes and enable you to offer practical advice to your students.
Contents of the mailout:

5* x New Undergraduate prospectus 2011
2 x New MSc International Money and Banking leaflet
2 x Innovation and Technology Management information
5 x New Faculty of Engineering & Design Masters programme brochure

*(15 to agents in Hong Kong & Malaysia, 10 to Brunei)
You can search for any of our undergraduate courses online through http://www.bath.ac.uk/study/ug/
We will start mailing these out from next week so you should start to receive them from Monday 10 May.

Request for information from you

We recognise that this is a challenging year to advise students with the introduction of the new CAS system and would welcome your feedback on how the system is being rolled out in your countries and if you have any specific concerns.

We would also like to reassure you that we are looking at ways in which we can help make the transition as smooth as possible for both you and your students.

Welcome to the Spring edition of our agent newsletter.

Spring is all about looking forward and making changes and we are delighted to have lots of new developments to get you excited about!

1. A new programme for you to promote for entry 2010: MSc in International Money and Banking

2. Lots of new departmental scholarships to compliment our University of Bath International Scholarships Scheme 2010

3. Lovely newly refurbished accommodation for our incoming students and revised application dates

4. MSc Economics application fee – waivered for entry 2010

5.  BSc Accounting and Finance so popular we are no longer accepting applications for this year

NEW! NEW! MSc International Money and Banking for 2010

The Department of Economics has just confirmed that we will be offering the new MSc in International Money and Banking for September 2010 start with a target of 20 students for the first year.

Aims and Content of the MSc

The new MSc is aimed at students who are planning a career in either the government sector (e.g Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Development, Central Bank) or in the private sector as a strategic and analytic advisor. Their role would be to advise government or corporate decision-makers on the economic context (e.g. money flows, exchange rates and regulatory and monetary policy) and the possible options and consequences of different decisions. In other words they analyse markets, rather than the financial health of an individual company

Given the recent worldwide financial crisis, there is a now growing emphasis on bringing financial markets into a closer relationship with the ‘reality’ of the laws of the market and economic policy.

Some examples of key questions that a graduate of this programme might advise on could include:

• If the USA implements its healthcare reform and adds to its deficit,    how will this impact on the strength of the dollar?
• Should governments regulate insurance companies as well as banks?
• Is XX Bank exposed too much in Dubai?
• If the dollar falls, what are the consequences for X company?

The core focus will be on Banking and Monetary and Financial Economics. However, it is not an ‘Economics’ degree. There is no Accounting.

There are no formal placements or internships for the first year (2010/2011) but we are actively looking at ways of enhancing the programme for 2011 onwards via study tours, guest speaker programmes, internships and are considering a range of options.

Entry Requirements

Students will need good quantitative/mathematical skills (e.g subjects such as Calculus, Advanced Mathematics, Statistics or Linear Algebra) but they do not need to have studied Economics (Micro, Macro, Econometrics) before. Applicants who have studied modules such as Derivatives, International Investment, International Finance would be very suitable.

The IELTS requirement is 6.5. They can be graduates of Departments of Economics or Business Schools or from other quantitative subjects such as Science/Engineering.

Fee

Tuition fee is £14,180. There is no application fee but successful applicants will be required to pay a deposit of £250.

Application

We will work as quickly as possible to add the programme to our drop down menu on the online application form but this may take a little time. We will not be able to make decisions on applications for a few weeks until the programme receives final ‘sign off’ from the senior team but we can start promoting.

Promotion

The programme was only agreed last week so most material will be web-based. We will be sending you more information as we develop it and to assist you in active promotion, especially in the markets we will be visiting this cycle.

 

Scholarships 2010 Update from Virginia

There are a lot of exciting developments for scholarships in 2010. In addition to our usual University of Bath International Scholarships Scheme 2010, there are now extra new scholarship programmes in some Departments and the amount of funding available, especially for MSc programmes is growing. I have highlighted some of the main schemes below.

For all information:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/international/finance/scholarships/index.html

Please refer applicants to the email below. It is answered promptly by my colleague Millie Dunk. She will also deal with queries about individual cases.

international-scholarships@bath.ac.uk

If any of you or your staff want to discuss broader issues such as the strategy, promotion and operation of the schemes, then do contact Andy, Jo or Zoe or myself. 

University Scholarships (MSc/MA programmes)

I manage the following scholarships centrally. Full details and criteria are at:  http://www.bath.ac.uk/international/finance/scholarships/index.html

The key things to remember for all these scholarships are:

• Separate online application.
• Applicants must have firmly accepted our offer before they apply for a scholarship. They can’t get access to the form until they are ‘FIRM’.
• Closing date is 30 June 2010. All applications received by the deadline are treated equally.

University of Bath International Scholarships Scheme 2010 (UoBISS) 

Key facts for UoBISS:

• 75 for MSc applicants

• Open to applicants from any country but priority given to certain markets: Latin America, Nigeria, Russia, Pakistan, Vietnam and Jordan.
• Priority also given to applicants who come via an official partner. On the scholarship form there is a question which asks them ‘Did you apply from an official University of Bath representative?’ Make sure that you tell your students to answer YES to this question.
• We also encourage applicants who have already got a partial scholarship from another source and try to help them to match funding.
Regional Schemes

There are also some additional MSc schemes for certain markets. You can find out more at:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/international/finance/scholarships/index.html
Jack Cater Scholarship (Hong Kong)
Santander MSC Scholarships (Latin America)
Steve Huckvale Scholarships (Africa)
USA Alumni Scholarships (USA)

Departmental Schemes (MSc/MA Programmes)

These are managed by academic Departments and each scheme is slightly different. We are adding in links from our own pages as we find out about them, but do look on Department pages as well.

Faculty of Engineering (Elite Masters Scholarships)
The Faculty of Engineering & Design has a number of £2000 (GBP) scholarships for overseas fees status entrants to MSc programmes starting in autumn 2010. These awards are made on the basis of outstanding academic background. All eligible applicants will be automatically considered on the basis of the information supplied during the online programme application process, there is no need to fill in a separate application form for these particular scholarships
School of Management (MSc Scholarships for International Students)

Scholarships for MSc applicants from

• India (1x£5000 and 5x £2000)
• Africa (2x £2,500)
• Latin America (2 x £2500)
• Russia and CIS (2x £2,500)

Separate application process and closing date of 30 June 2010. Full details at:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/management/msc_management/scholarships/#international

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (MSc)

• Department of Economics (4 x £2000); Closing date 31 July 2010 Details at http://www.bath.ac.uk/economics/pg/funding-uob-taught.html

• Department of Education (limited number at £2000) see: http://www.bath.ac.uk/education/news/news0099.html
• Department of Social and Policy Sciences (4x £2000) Closing date 31 July. http://www.bath.ac.uk/soc-pol/postgraduate/funding/funding-uob-taught.html#dis

Scholarships (BSc programmes)

The number of scholarships at undergraduate level is also growing Most of these are managed by Departments. Two new schemes have just been announced. More details will be on the Department websites soon.

• Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (20@£2000)
• Department of Chemical Engineering (20@£2000)

There are 20 scholarships in each Department above at £2000 to be awarded to overseas applicants if they achieve an A in Maths and meet all other entry criteria.  The scholarship will continue throughout the programme of study but subject to 2.1 performance or better in each year. 

PHD Funding

There are several schemes. Some are offered centrally by the University and some by the Faculties and Graduate Schools. The best source of information are the Departmental funding pages. There is also some information at:

http://www.bath.ac.uk/grad-office/finance/index.html

Accommodation – new look for Spring!

On behalf of Mrs Del Davies, Student Accommodation Manager

Dear All,

We are delighted to showcase our newly refurbished accommodation for both undergraduates and postgraduates, with more communal space in the kitchen and living area, bigger beds and even flat screen tvs in the enhanced rooms!   Our costs are inclusive of bills and ResNet and core possession insurance and there is Data connection in every room, and VOIP in the newly refurbished rooms.

Woodland Court -newest residence on campus for undergraduates

Woodland Court Study Bedroom

Westwood - newly refurbished accommodation for undergraduates on campus. Study Bedroom.

Eastwood - refurbished bedrooms and living space for undergraduates

Cleveland – postgraduate off campus accommodation
Refurbished living space, kitchens and bedrooms

John Wood – refurbished bedrooms and living space

 

I would like to bring to your attention the following changes to our application process and guarantee deadlines and would request that you update your webpages or marketing information accordingly. The safest procedure would be to link your pages to our main Accommodation website at:
http://www.studentaccommodationatbath.co.uk/
or the external university website at:
http://www.bath.ac.uk/external.html

The main changes are:

1.For those who are eligible for guaranteed university accommodation we must have received their on-line accommodation application by 13 August 2010 (previously it was 3 September).

Those who are eligible are:
• All new to Bath, full-time students in their first year studying Bachelor’s and Master’s undergraduate programmes on the Claverton Campus.
• All new Foundation Year students based at the City of Bath College.
• All new full-time Foundation Degree in Sports Performance students
• All new overseas fee-paying postgraduates.
• A limited number of visiting/exchange students as determined by reciprocal agreement negotiated through the Study Abroad Department at the University of Bath
• Students with specific medical conditions.

2. This year’s  Foundation Year students who successfully progress to their first year of undergraduate study in 2010-2011 will be guaranteed university accommodation if applied for by the deadline.  However, Foundation Year students 2010-11 who have UOB accommodation during their Foundation Year will not be guaranteed university accommodation as first years in 2011-12.

3. Previously on-line applications for first years, foundation year, exchange students and elc students have opened on a specific date in June.  From Tuesday 16th March 2010 first year undergraduates and Foundation Year students will be able to apply within 48 hours of confirming their firm acceptance of their course offer at UOB at http://www.bath.ac.uk/accommodation/application/form.shtml. This week the University will be emailing all eligible first years who have already accepted Bath as their firm choice to direct them to the on-line application form for accommodation and from now on, weekly emails will go out from University Registry’s tracker system to the first years who are have made Bath their firm choice to remind them to apply for accommodation.

For those with an insurance offer for Bath, they will be able to apply once their first choice University has rejected them and their offer at Bath is confirmed and becomes unconditional. Accommodation cannot be guaranteed if this happens after the deadline date of 13 August but we will do our best to offer them any accommodation that may still be available or provide them with details of property advertised in the private sector.
- We allocate accommodation after results are received and offers become unconditional firm with the University.

Full details of how to apply can be found at:
http://www.studentaccommodationatbath.co.uk/info/terms.shtml

Applications for Exchange students and ELC students will open later in May/June and our web pages will be updated with the exact date in due course.

The system for Postgraduates has not changed and they have been able to apply on-line from 1st March.

Students with medical conditions should be encouraged to contact us directly for a confidential hard-copy application form.

Please don’t hesitate to contact myself or Matt Waldron if you have any queries…D.A.Davies@bath.ac.uk and M.J.Waldron@bath.ac.uk

BSc Accounting and Finance applications closed for entry 2010

UCAS applications for BSc Accounting and Finance submitted to us after the deadline date, which was 22nd January, are no longer being considered.

Competition for this programme is very strong and we have received a very large number of high quality applicants for entry 2010. Unfortunately, therefore, not all apparently well qualified applicants will receive an offer, and we are no longer able to consider any new applications sent after the UCAS deadline date of 22nd January.

Kind Regards from Parissa Janaraghi, Course and Admissions Administrator, BSc Accounting and Finance, School of Management

MSc Economics Programme  – no application fee required for entry 2010

 Our Masters in Economics programmes no longer require an application fee and all those students who have already submitted one have been informed and refunded. The fee has been waivered to help streamline the application process for our students and we hope you will also appreciate it too.

 Welcome to the first issue of our agent newsletter for 2010. As promised we start the year with an update on the agents conference. We have been busy working our way through the feedback you gave us and the action and enthusiasm created throughout our academic community at Bath. The second section concentrates on an update on Admissions and Applications for 2010 Entry.

Finally we would like to wish you every success for the year ahead for whenever your own ‘New Year’ starts.

 With Very Best Wishes,

Andy, Graham, Jo, Virginia and Zoe 

We were delighted to welcome 26 of our international representatives from 16 different countries onto campus for our first three day agent conference event at the close of November and were very pleased that the cold weather did not put you off! 

We very much consider our agents as our in-country partners and believe that the key to success rests with the strength of this relationship between yourselves and the University of Bath.

We hope that the conference demonstrated our commitment to developing these long term mutually- beneficial partnerships, ensuring you have all the information you need to best advise your staff and students, and that you feel properly supported by the University. In your feedback many of you cited it as an excellent opportunity to learn both about the institution and from each other.

A full review of the conference outcomes and objectives for 2010 will be included in the January newsletter to share with all of you so please look out for our first edition of the New Year.

In the interrim we felt that an update on the Application Tracker and how to access it would be the most beneficial information to share with all of you at this stage. This is particularly valuable for those of you who were unable to attend the conference so please read the information below very carefully.

I hope you will agree that this is an exciting time to be representing The University of Bath.

Wishing you all a wonderful winter vacaction,

With Very Best Wishes from the University of Bath International Office, Andy,Graham,Jo,Virginia and Zoe

Application Tracker

As you are aware The University of Bath recently launched a new facility called the Application Tracker, for all students, which started working on 23 November. This enables applicants to track the progress of their application to Bath, edit their address, and access useful links about the university. A postgraduate applicant will also be able to accept or decline their offer (once only) through this system, however undergraduate applicants must use the UCAS Track website to accept or decline their offer.

All letters (including offer letters) will be sent electronically into the Application Tracker along with Email messages to communicate important information.

How the system works

Shortly after receipt of an online application (2 days) an automated email will be sent out to the home and contact email addresses with a unique username and password which allows access to the Bath Application Tracker.

Every time a change is made to the application (acknowledgement of documentation, offer etc) an email will  be sent to the email address placed in the home and/or contact address provided on the online form to invite the applicant to log in and check their Bath Application Tracker.

Agent Access

Following valuable feedback from colleagues at the agent conference concerning access to the new Application Tracker system for agents we recommend that you follow the steps below to ensure that you have full access to your student’s application to Bath and can continue provide the excellent high level of customer service to all Bath applicants.

Please advise your staff and students to do the following:

• Enter the agent’s EMAIL address in both email address boxes (both home and contact) when the application is made
• Ensure that you have selected your agency name in the relevant drop down menu towards the end of the online application form
• You, as the agent, will then receive an email message from us providing you with the prospective Bath student’s unique username and password to access the information on behalf of the applicant. Use the username and password to log into the system  and view their application record
• Please share these details with the applicant, which will enable both you and the applicant to access this information as required
• Here is an example of the screen you will see

Welcome to the 5th University of Bath Agent newsletter. We are getting ready for the new recruitment year 2009/10 and have a number of exciting initiatives to share with you, including an invitation to our very first agent conference in November, new marketing materials and also developments in the way we are able to track applicants.

1st Bath Agent Conference November 2009

Dear Partners,

University of Bath Agents’ Conference Wednesday 25 November-Friday 27 November 2009

We are delighted that the University of Bath will be holding its very first Agents’ Conference in November 2009 and look forward to welcoming you to the University.

We have 20 funded places available for our international partners and we would like to invite applications from our partners on the attached agents-conference-application-form. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 2 September 2009.

What are the aims of the conference?

One aim of our conference is to give our partners an opportunity to learn more about the University of Bath: our international strategy, programmes, entry requirements, facilities, and the city of Bath itself.

Another key aim is to inform and incentivise our academic and support staff here at the University. There is a wide range of knowledge and understanding across our staff about international recruitment, the role of educational agents and the characteristics of different overseas markets. Meeting with you and being able to ask questions is an important first step for many of them in developing their international agendas.

Finally, we value your input: not just on operational areas such as the points based system or admissions procedures but also on the future recruitment strategy of the University across our markets. �

Who are the participants? 

The Conference involves a high level of interaction and participation (e.g. agent-led presentations; group feedback sessions) by the representatives as well as an ability to deal confidently with all staff at Bath including senior staff such as Deans and Heads of Departments.

It is not really suitable for new or junior counsellors as participants will be expected to be already familiar with promoting Bath and its programmes and to be able to provide detailed and specific market intelligence for all programmes and advise on the strategic direction of their organisation. They also need to be able to feedback to their team on returning.

The conference is really aimed at experienced senior counsellors and/or office managers from across our network of agents who still have everyday experience of counselling but who are also able to lead training to their team on their return. Your University of Bath country manager will be happy to discuss suitable participants if you wish.

What is the programme?

We are still finalising the programme but a draft programme is below;

Wednesday 25 November 2009

• Welcome and Introduction: Presentations and Q&A (Pro-VC; Head of International Office and International Student Support Manager)

• Agent Fair: Chance for each agent to talk to key staff (Deans, Heads of Dept, admissions tutors, central administrative staff) on their market, agency and the opportunities for enhancing recruitment to our programmes

• Campus Tour

• Focus on Engineering: Interactive session with the Faculty of Engineering staff including presentations on the international agenda in the faculty and feedback from our partners

• Dinner with the International Office team in the city centre

Thursday 26 November 2009

• Focus on Management: a chance for an up to date briefing from the School of Management and Q&A session

• Agent Led Panel Discussion: a chance to put questions and feedback to a panel of key UoB staff on areas such as the points based system, admissions procedures, careers and employability and student support

• Focus on Science: Working lunch with key staff from the Faculty of Science

• Afternoon for guided walking tour of Bath, sightseeing, afternoon tea and the chance to sample the Christmas Market: http://www.bathchristmasmarket.co.uk/

• Party at the home of Ms Lee Hennessy (Deputy Head of Recruitment and Admissions)

Friday 27 November 2009

• Focus on Social Sciences: Briefing on new developments from the Faculty team

• Agent-Led Feedback Session: including discussion of common areas of interest; examples of good practice

• Lunch and Close

What is included?

Each fully-funded place includes:

• Transfer of 500GBP (Europe and Middle East) or 750GBP (Rest of World) to cover the cost of a return economy class flight to London. (UK based agents will receive UK travel expenses for standard class return train travel.)

• Accommodation in a University of Bath residence for three nights: Tuesday 24 November, Wednesday 25 November and Thursday 26 November

• All meals and social activities and transport within Bath.

The agent will need to cover visas, insurance and return transfer from the airport to the University.

Questions

If you have any queries or questions, please contact Graham Waton our administrator on gw253@bath.ac.uk

We look forward to receiving your application forms and to welcoming you to the University of Bath in November.

With Best Wishes, Andy, Virginia, Zoe, Jo and Graham
 

New application tracking facility is on the way!

The next phase of enhancing our postgraduate application procedures will see the unveiling of an applicant tracker facility in October 2009.  Through a web portal you and your applicants to the University will be able to track the progress of their applications in real time.  As well as being able to monitor admissions decisions there will be the capacity to upload documents, submit or edit personal information, view detailed offer information, and accept or decline an offer of admission (for postgraduate applications).  In order to have access to this facility applicants will have had to have applied on-line for their programme of study.  It is therefore ever-more important that the electronic application route is the one your students follow, as paper-based postgraduate applications become obsolete in the way that they are with the UCAS system.  More detailed information about the applicant tracking facility will follow in the weeks ahead and, as always, we will welcome feedback from you as the system goes live.

New Postgraduate Study brochure to replace printed prospectus

This year we have decided not to go ahead with printing a full prospectus for prospective postgraduate students. We have found in recent years that students are increasingly making use of our website to find detailed information on the course they want to apply for, and the printed prospectus is a heavy document which only contains a few pages of relevant information for each student that receives a copy.

Currently, you can find our postgraduate prospectus online at http://www.bath.ac.uk/prospectus/postgrad/ . The 2010 version is being developed at the moment, and should be ready by the end of August.

We are aware that not having a printed prospectus will be challenging in some situations, particularly at exhibitions and when counselling students, so we have produced a new 24 page brochure titled ‘Postgraduate Study at the University of Bath’, which focuses on what students should expect from their experience at Bath. The purpose of the brochure is to help students make an informed choice about their study destination, and the information is organised according to the following themes; Research; Learning; Employability; Resources; Programmes on offer (a list); Support; Community; Living; Money; and the application process. We envisage that students will find this useful as an introduction to Bath, as well as helping them to choose the right university for them. Throughout the brochure, we are encouraging students to visit our website for more information.

The brochure is about to go to print now, so will be ready by the end of August. Graham Waton will be in touch soon to organise mailings for you. Our Undergraduate prospectus for 2010 is till available in printed format.