Information for Applicants - FAQs

If your application is to a course which requires an interview, but this can be assessed in another way such as via an online portfolio, we will request this information in order to process your application without inviting you to interview. For all courses where an interview is essential, we will invite you to attend a video or telephone interview so that this assessment can still take place.

If you have any questions about a video or telephone interview in relation to your application, please email [email protected].

We are hosting virtual Open Events where you can see our campuses, facilities and find out more about our courses. Information about our virtual Open Day and how to book a place can be found here.

If you have any questions about life at USW, helpful information can be found on our website for the following areas:

Accommodation
Campuses
Careers
Courses
Fees and funding – undergraduate
Fees and funding – postgraduate
International

The University is reviewing non-academic entry requirements for our courses in relation to where consideration or compensation can be made. The following course have amended their entry criteria:

Chiropractic

Applicants who are joining us in September 2021 but who are currently unable to fulfil observation of a minimum 3 hours of a chiropractor in clinical practice in light of the Covid-19 situation, will have this taken into consideration. It will not be necessary to contact us if you are unable to undertake this observation.

BA (Hons) Counselling and Therapeutic Practice

Applicants, providing they meet or are expected to meet academic requirements, can be invited to interview with at least 80 hours work experience, rather than the advertised 150 hours. Applicants who are successful in obtaining a place will still be required to secure the remaining 70 hours before the start of the course, which can be undertaken via online volunteering or telephone work; however, this will be revised if the situation continues. 

BSc (Hons) Social Work

Applicants, providing they meet or are expected to meet academic requirements, can be invited to interview as long as they have at least eight weeks’ work experience (approximately 300 - 400 hours) which has been carried out in a supervised social care setting or agency. Further information can be found under the Entry requirements section on the Social Work course page here.

If your course entry criteria requires working with others and is not listed above, please contact us on [email protected] for advice.

We are planning to deliver significantly more in-person learning on campus next term, including workshops, seminars, tutorials, labs, and practical sessions. All programmes that would usually be delivered on campus will have on-campus activity every week.  

We want you to be able to collaborate and innovate with other students, to discuss and challenge, and to have access to specialist resources and facilities. We want you to experience hands-on and practical learning, where you develop skills ready for the workplace, and so we are busy planning this in for the next term.  

Building on the feedback that we have had from students about their experience of blended learning we are also seeking to keep the best of what we have put in place with this approach. Students have told us that having virtual lectures has allowed them to playback at a convenient time, whilst connecting with others on the course digitally. So, we will be keeping some of this in place. 

The precise make up of delivery will vary for each course, however we will continue to offer you a high-quality experience. There will be significantly more in-person learning and teaching than we have been able to offer this academic year as a result to changes to guidance about the number of people we can safely have in our learning and teaching spaces, mixed with online delivery. Your timetable will be ready for you to view in September.  

Your safety and well-being continue to be our priority and we are committed to delivering our courses, research opportunities and other services as safely as possible. We have operated within Welsh Government and Public Health guidelines and established a wide range of safety measures at our campuses to protect our community over the last year. Face coverings will still need to be worn in indoor public areas of our campuses, although they can be removed in teaching spaces if desired, where PPE hasn’t been deemed mandatory for a specific task. Asymptomatic Covid-19 testing will continue to be important, as will everyone needing to regularly sanitise and / or wash their hands. There will also be one-way systems in some areas of our buildings. More people are also now receiving their first and second vaccines, which will further help to keep everyone safe. 

The nature and balance of learning and teaching methods and activities are sufficiently flexible to adapt and enable you to succeed in your studies. Due to the pandemic, the methods and activities adopted for the coming year may differ from those previously published and may be subject to further change through the course of your study if such change is necessary due to public health concerns, health and safety guidance or in response to Government Guidelines. Please note that if you are hoping to join us to study from a country outside of the UK, your options/studies may also be impacted by Government guidelines or decisions of that country. 

Any changes to your course have been considered and approved through the University Quality Assurance processes, which include student and external scrutiny. If any further changes are necessary we will inform you at the earliest possible opportunity.  

As a student at USW you will be fully supported, no matter how you are studying with us. Our analysis of student feedback to our learning approach during the last year shows that our students have been able to access their learning effectively, and your course and faculty teams will be on hand to support you.  

So too, are the wide variety of student services available at USW. From our libraries to the Advice Zone, Wellbeing Service and Study Skills Support, we will be there for you as you start your academic life at USW.   

We are arranging a great programme of events for our Welcome Week, together with our Students’ Union, which will be a combination of virtual and face-to-face events for our new and returning students. 

There will be more sports, clubs and societies restarting, operating in line with Welsh Government guidance as well as the relevant national governing body regulations. 

Applications for halls remain unaffected and you can find out more about accommodation options and submit an application on our accommodation webpages.

We offer a guarantee of accommodation in the halls of residence for all new students starting at the University. The guarantee means that full time students will receive an offer of accommodation based, as closely as possible, on the information and preferences they have provided in their accommodation application. You can find out more our Guaranteed Accommodation webpage.

You may have concerns about how the pandemic will affect accommodation contracts, but don’t worry, we are here to support you and are taking a flexible and fair approach. This year we have given payment holidays for our University-owned accommodation, when we haven’t been able to offer face-to-face learning and teaching on our campuses due to Covid-19 regulations.  

If you have any questions about accommodation, please e-mail [email protected].  

If you are looking to book a room with a private accommodation provider or landlord, we would encourage you to check the terms and conditions carefully. You can find out more information about the various accommodation options available here.

In line with Welsh Government guidance, it is mandatory for face coverings to be worn indoors at all of our sites. They can be removed in teaching spaces if desired, where PPE hasn’t been deemed mandatory for a specific task. We ask students and staff to be mindful of the interests of other people and if in doubt please wear a face covering.  

There will of course be some exemptions for people wearing face coverings, and this may be because of a physical or mental illness, or because of a disability or impairment. Whether somebody has a reasonable excuse not to wear a face covering will not always be obvious.  

Students do not of course need to wear face coverings when they are in their own accommodation within University-owned halls of residence on our Treforest campus. Students still need to wear them outside of their accommodation in shared facilities such as the laundry facilities.  

Where PPE is required, because of a specific task, then clinical standard personal protective equipment will be issued after a relevant risk assessment of tasks has been carried out. 

The normal pattern of field trips is not currently possible. No international field trips are currently taking place. However, some UK field work may be possible if the safety of students and staff can be maintained, and if it complies with current Government guidance. Each field trip is being  considered individually by the course teams to evaluate whether they will be possible later during the academic year, taking into consideration the wider situation with the Covid-19 pandemic at that time, as well Government guidelines, travel restrictions and social distancing protocols.

We are delivering a full and interactive blended teaching and learning experience and we will be supporting you with your studies. The blended learning approach that we are providing, which includes a blend of virtual and on-campus delivery, will ensure you continue to receive good experiences and a high-quality education.  As a result, we will not be reducing our fees.

Gap year study is beneficial in so many ways and we value this experience and what it allows you to bring to your course in the future. The University will consider deferrals for many of our courses and you should e-mail [email protected] to check whether this is possible for your course. Deferrals are unfortunately not accepted for our nursing courses.
If you want to apply for September 2022 entry, you will still need to meet all the conditions of your offer by September 2021.