The short answer most students hear is: good grades. Full stop.
The longer answer, the one that actually helps you get into your first-choice university, is considerably more complicated, and considerably more interesting. Grades matter, of course. But for the majority of competitive university places, grades alone don't separate candidates. Many applicants have the grades. What distinguishes the ones who get offers is everything else.
This guide sets out what universities are genuinely looking for, why each element matters, and how a good Sixth Form can help you build the complete picture.
Let's be honest about this first. Without the grades, nothing else works. Most universities have minimum A Level requirements for entry, and for competitive courses and institutions, the grades required are high, AAA or above for many Russell Group courses, AAA or AA*A for the most selective programmes.
Getting your grades is the foundation. Everything else in this guide is built on top of that foundation, not instead of it.
What good Sixth Form academic support looks like: small teaching groups where your teacher knows exactly what you understand and what you don't; regular one-to-one time with your tutor to track progress and intervene early; subject-specific guidance on how to approach assessment, not just on covering the curriculum. At Leweston, average Sixth Form teaching groups have around five students. In 2023, half of all Sixth Form grades were A* or A — twice the national average.
The personal statement is the main vehicle through which universities assess who you are beyond your predicted grades. It's 4,000 characters (approximately 600–700 words) in which you explain why you want to study your chosen subject, what you've done to explore it beyond the classroom, and what you'd bring to the university environment.
The personal statement that stands out is not the one that lists the most activities. It's the one that shows genuine intellectual engagement with the subject, evidence that you've read around it, thought about it, and have real questions you want to pursue at university.
What this means practically:
Universities increasingly use the term 'supercurricular' to describe activity that goes beyond school lessons but relates to academic interests, as distinct from extracurricular (sport, music, clubs), which they care about but less centrally.
Supercurricular activity includes: reading books and papers in your field, listening to relevant podcasts, attending lectures or talks, completing online courses (MOOCs from reputable providers), entering academic competitions, doing extended projects, and pursuing independent research.
The purpose isn't to accumulate a list. It's to develop genuine knowledge and perspective that goes beyond your A Level syllabus and that you can discuss intelligently in an interview or personal statement.
The Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), offered by many sixth forms including Leweston, is one of the most structured ways to develop this kind of independent intellectual engagement. An EPQ requires a student to choose a research question, conduct independent research, and produce either a written report or a practical project. Universities, including many selective ones, value it highly, both because of the independence it demonstrates and because of the lower conditional offers they often make to students who hold one.
Not every university interviews every candidate. But for the most competitive courses, Oxbridge, Medicine, Law at some institutions, Architecture, the interview is a significant part of the selection process.
University interviews are not designed to catch you out. They're designed to test how you think: whether you can engage with a problem you haven't seen before, whether you can take feedback and adjust your response, and whether you're intellectually curious in the genuine rather than performed sense.
Preparation matters: practising thinking aloud, working through past papers and interview questions, having conversations about your subject with your teachers and with each other. But no amount of rehearsed answers helps as much as genuine intellectual engagement with your subject over two years which is why everything else in this guide ultimately feeds into interview performance.
At Leweston, students preparing for competitive applications work with the Head of Careers and subject teachers on individual preparation, including mock interviews. The Head of Sixth Form coordinates applications for Medicine and Oxbridge with early deadlines.
Universities want to admit people who will contribute to their institution not just academically, but in the wider community. Evidence of leadership, commitment, and engagement with others matters, even if it's less central than academic performance and the personal statement.
What works: sustained commitment to something over time, combined with some evidence of responsibility or leadership within it. A student who has played the same sport for three years, competed at regional level, and taken on responsibility for coaching or organising is demonstrating more than one who has listed 15 activities for a term each.
At Leweston, the LEAP programme (Leweston Enrichment Activity Programme) is specifically designed to develop this profile. It includes both a University Application module in Year 12, helping students research courses, build supercurricular activity, and develop UCAS-ready content and an Employability module in Year 13 that builds on skills development, LinkedIn profiles, and careers-focused evidence.
Sixth Formers at Leweston also act as peer mentors for younger students in Year 13, and Prefects are appointed to genuine leadership roles rather than nominal titles. The Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award (exclusive to Sixth Form) and the Ten Tors Challenge both provide evidence of persistence, teamwork and independent capability.
Most students underestimate the importance of the school reference. This is the letter your Head of Sixth Form and teachers write to universities on your behalf and for competitive applications, a strong, specific reference can genuinely influence offers.
What makes a reference powerful is specificity: a teacher who can say 'she produced an independent essay on monetary policy that went significantly beyond the A Level syllabus, drawing on Keynes and Friedman, and engaged with the argument in a genuinely original way' is saying something different from 'she is a hardworking and conscientious student'.
This specificity is easier to achieve when teachers genuinely know the student which comes back to class size, pastoral continuity, and the depth of teacher-student relationships that characterise small sixth forms.
University application is not a Year 13 task. The building blocks are assembled across both years.
| Year 12 | Year 13 |
|---|---|
| Research universities and course requirements | Finalise UCAS choices (typically 5) |
| Begin supercurricular reading and activity | Write and refine personal statement |
| Identify EPQ topic and begin research | Medicine/Oxbridge deadline: October |
| Take LEAP university preparation module | Other deadlines: January |
| Visit a Russell Group university (Leweston arranges) | Interview preparation |
| Initial conversations with Head of Careers | Receive and manage offers |
| Develop subject knowledge and record it | Confirm firm and insurance choices |
Starting this process in Year 12 is the difference between a strong application produced thoughtfully over time and a rushed application produced under pressure in October of Year 13.
Not every sixth form approaches UCAS preparation with the same rigour. At its best, university support looks like:
Leweston has been shortlisted for Best Careers Support at the Independent Schools of the Year Awards in both 2024 and 2025.
To talk to the Leweston Sixth Form team about university preparation — or to come to a taster day — contact admissions@leweston.dorset.sch.uk or call 01963 211 015.