College application process may change

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LONDON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- A proposed change in the college application process in the United Kingdom would have students applying after receiving their A-level exam results.

Currently, students apply for courses based on predicted grades, The Daily Telegraph reported. Under the reforms proposed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service Sunday, students would take the tests earlier and apply after they get the results.

UCAS said heavy reforms are necessary because the current system is "complex, lacks transparency for many applicants, and is inefficient and cumbersome for [universities]."

Only 51.7 percent of all test result predictions are accurate, with 41.7 percent being over-predictions, The Independent reported.

The proposal received generally positive reviews from university associations and students.

"We are supportive of a review," Professor Eric Thomas, president of Universities UK, said. "There may well be a case for making the applications system more efficient and user-friendly for applicants."

Usman Ali, vice president of the National Union of Students, said the student group welcomes the change.

"These are clearly very carefully constructed proposals, and we would certainly expect they are given careful consideration and not dismissed out of hand -- particularly not by those universities with the most work to do to ensure access is widened for students from disadvantaged backgrounds," Usman said.

The proposal, now under consultation until January, could be implemented as early as 2014. This would be the first major change in the college application process in the United Kingdom since 1961.