GTTR Apply - an update 18.10.12

We have a further update on GTTR Apply 2013, outlined below. We are very grateful for your patience over the last few days and hope that this update will be good news. 

We have identified and fixed what we believe were the underlying causes of the performance issues experienced on Tuesday with GTTR Apply 2013.

We have started testing and this will continue throughout the night until tomorrow, but early indications are positive.

If testing is completed successfully, we expect to be able to reopen GTTR Apply 2013 tomorrow afternoon (Friday 19 October). This is earlier than we anticipated.

We mentioned in our previous updates that we expected GTTR Apply 2013 to be offline until after the weekend at the very earliest. Therefore, if we are able to open it earlier, we will not be processing any applications until the morning of Tuesday 23 October. This is to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to register and submit their application.

This means that if you have already submitted a 2013 application, or you submit a 2013 application tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, Sunday or on Monday, it will be held in our system, until all applications are released to institutions at the same time on the morning of Tuesday 23 October.

When testing has been completed tomorrow we will be able to give a firmer indication of the expected reopening time, but we wanted to give you as much information as we can now to provide reassurance and enable you to prepare.

Ian Leitch, Head of Information Technology

Philip Blaker, Head of Admissions

Getting admissions test results to your universities

At this time of year we get a lot of questions about university admissions tests and English language tests. There seems to be some confusion as to how the results of the tests get sent to your university choices. So we’ve picked out some of the main admissions and language tests which we're getting questions on and explained how the results find their way to your university choices. Click on the relevant test to see full information on their official website.

BMAT

A statement of results will be issued to each candidate on 21st November 2012.  Candidates and centres will be able to download their results using the BMAT online results sites:

Results Online - Candidates 

Results Online - Centres

Results will be passed automatically by them to any BMAT university to which a candidate has applied.

GAMSAT

Results become available late November 2012. Candidates will receive an email notification of when their results become available.

GAMSAT scores from UK sittings will be passed on to your university choices by UCAS.

IELTS

Your Test Report Form (TRF) will be posted to you 13 days after the test. All test centres will post your Test Report Form to you.

You need to have stated your university choices on your IELTS application form. You can then have copies of your TRF automatically sent by IELTS to five universities free of charge.

LNAT 

At the time of registering for LNAT, you need to enter the UCAS personal ID number. The result of the test and the essay will then be sent to the university choices stated on your UCAS application form.

Candidates taking the LNAT before 15 January 2013 will have their results emailed to them in early February 2013. Candidates taking the test after 15 January 2013 will get them in early July 2013.

TOEFL

The fee that you pay for your TOEFL test includes four free official TOEFL score reports. These can be automatically sent to your universities by mail. You’d notify TOEFL of what ones before the test.

Official score reports will be sent to your designated recipients approximately 13 days after you take the test.

UKCAT

You will have been given a copy of your test results before you left the test centre.

After the 15 October UCAS application deadline Pearson Vue, who run the UKCAT test, contact UCAS to get details regarding the Consortium Universities you’ve applied to.  Your results are then passed on by Pearson Vue to your university choices. They can’t pass your mark onto any universities outside the Consortium.

  

More details of other admissions tests can be found here

GTTR Apply 2013 - an update

Further to the issues we have experienced with GTTR Apply, here is an update on the current situation. We really appreciate your patience with this and are sorry for the inconvenience: 

Following technical issues experienced shortly after the original launch last Wednesday, GTTR Apply 2013 was taken offline whilst we carried out essential maintenance. Our technical team implemented a number of fixes which were successfully tested, in both test and live environments. Testing confirmed that GTTR Apply 2013 was performing as we would expect and it was agreed that we would reopen the application system, which we then made available on Tuesday 16 October at 17:45 (UK time).

Shortly after reopening GTTR Apply 2013, a different technical issue was experienced that made it very difficult – and sometimes impossible – for people to log in. When they did manage to get into it, the connection was often terminated partway through their application. We took GTTR Apply 2013 offline because it makes it easier to resolve the technical issues, and also because it makes the application process fairer if we do it this way.

Initial analysis of this issue has found that it is not related to the number of users at any one time.

Our technical experts have been working 24/7 on this problem, which has now been escalated to experts from the suppliers. They are working hard to diagnose the issues and propose solutions, so it will take time for us to fully understand the root cause and implement a suitable fix. It will then require a minimum of a day to test thoroughly.

We will keep you updated here and on the GTTR website.

Philip Blaker, Head of Admissions

GTTR Apply 2013 Update

Last night GTTR Apply 2013 was taken offline for essential maintenance.

We apologise for the inconvenience these ongoing technical issues with GTTR Apply 2013 have caused and we're grateful for the patience you've shown while we've investigated them.

We currently expect GTTR Apply 2013 to be unavailable until after the weekend at the very earliest and we'll provide further information as the situation changes.

Please note, we're working closely with GTTR providers to ensure all applicants have the same opportunity and no-one is disadvantaged by the technical issues we've been experiencing.

15 October deadline: Last minutes issues and how to avoid them!

The 15 October deadline for Oxbridge applications and applications for medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine/science is almost upon us! As I’m sure your tutors and advisers will have mentioned more than a couple of times, this is an important deadline and late applications are rarely considered by the universities. So, to make sure there’s no last-minute drama, I’ve gathered together the sort of issues that usually cause applications to be submitted late and given some advice on how to prevent them happening to you!

Know your login details for Apply

Make sure you know your login details, as you'll need to log in to Apply to send your application. Use the login reminder service on the Apply page if you're not sure. You can also find guidance on login problems for Apply here

Send it earlier if you can

The deadline is midnight on 15 October (23:59 UK time) but try to send it sooner in case you experience any problems, eg internet connection issues, payment problems.

Be prepared for any payment issues

You must pay for your application before it can be sent to UCAS. If you enter invalid payment details five times, you will be locked out from making any more payment attempts - if this happens, you'll need to call us so send your application early just in case. You can get some guidance on payment problems here

If you're applying through a school or college, they'll need time to review your application

Your tutor needs time to complete the reference section and check and approve your application before they send it to UCAS. If they spot any errors, they'll send your application back to you to amend. If this happens, you need to change it and send it back to them, so that they can send it to us. It may not happen, but it's good to allow time for this just in case. Simply sending it to your school or college before the deadline won't count as sending it on time; it has to be received by UCAS.

You need a reference before you can send your application to us

However you request a reference (whether you're applying independently or through a school or college), you still need to have a reference attached to your application before it can be sent to UCAS.

If you're applying independently, allow enough time for your referee to read the instructions, write and attach the reference, and confirm that it has been completed. A red tick will appear next to the 'reference' link in Apply once it's complete. This means you can complete the rest of the application and send it to us.

If you're applying through a school or college, send your application to them early to allow them time to do write the reference and carry out the other checks before the deadline.

If you've agreed with the universities that a reference is not required - check the information on the reference page to see what to do.