It has been created by an adviser who has visited 130 UK universities and has over 20 years of experience in advising applicants.
(see the section The author)

• The advice is therefore tried and tested. The author has worked in a school Careers Department that has for 30 years been prominent nationally in the area of Higher Education advice.
  
  

• It is designed to help prospective applicants to focus on what the author considers to be the most reliable evidence. 
  
  

• It is sufficiently flexible to be relevant for applicants to all types of undergraduate degree programme at all UK universities, but sufficiently specific to highlight issues for particular pathways.
  
  

• Although the focus is on Year 12 and 13 students (in England and Wales; Year 13 and 14 in Northern Ireland) and, to be concise, reference is made to “A Levels”, the main Year 13 qualification offered by applicants, the guide is equally relevant for those applying outside a Sixth Form context (perhaps in a “gap year” or as mature students) and those studying BTEC, Scottish Highers/Advanced Highers, IB Diploma, Cambridge Pre-U or other qualifications.
  
  

• It is addressed to potential applicants. It should also be useful for those supporting them: parents and other relatives, guardians, Sixth Form Tutors and HE advisers, teachers or friends. 
  
  

• The guide is free because the author is committed to equal opportunity and widening participation in university admissions.
  
  

• Its aim is to complement the committed work done by staff in schools and colleges and in university outreach departments and other organisations promoting widening participation. 
  
  

• It encourages applicants to be ambitious, not in some narrow sense of gaining a degree as a stepping stone to a high-pay or high-status job (although this might be the result); but in the broader sense of finding a degree programme and university setting in which the individual might flourish and thus be more likely to flourish beyond there.
  
  

• To this end, it encourages the potential applicant to do quite a lot of research. Some students might do all of what is suggested, but doing most is better than doing some, and doing some is better than doing none. The time scheme is given as a suggestion. It is not crucial that it is followed in every respect. If one starts early, the process is likely to be easier, opportunities are less likely to be missed and the outcome is likely to be more successful.
  
  

• One aim is to highlight good practice by universities and to direct potential applicants to other useful websites.
  
  

• Start at The step-by-step approach section, where you will find a list of topics covered. The steps have been divided into the 3 Stages headed Basic research , Refining choices and The application process , which potential applicants are encouraged to follow in that order. There is also other valuable material, such as up-to-date lists of University Entrance Requirements.