Applying to a British university goes through UCAS, the shared platform of UK universities. One application, sent once, for a handful of courses. The system is simple on paper. It becomes delicate when the applicant comes from a French lycée, because UCAS is built around A levels: grades predicted before the exam, offers expressed in letters, and a school that commits to its student's future results.
The French baccalaureate and UCAS grades
Families often look for the baccalauréat's "UCAS points". In practice, that is not how selective universities think. They express their requirements in baccalauréat terms: an overall average, and often minimum marks in certain subjects, typically the specialisms related to the course. UCAS's profile of the baccalauréat général notes that universities may set subject-specific requirements in addition to the overall result, and that in size the baccalauréat compares with three A levels.
For the BFI, the international version of the baccalauréat, UCAS's profile gives a useful benchmark: 16 out of 20 in a subject is likened to an A* at A level, and 15 out of 20 to an A. It also recalls how rare top honours are: in 2022, 14.2% of baccalauréat général candidates obtained the mention très bien (an overall average of 16 or more).
Predicted grades, the point that surprises French schools
A UCAS application is sent before the baccalauréat. The university therefore decides on predicted grades, which the school enters in its reference for each qualification still pending. In the UK, this is routine. In a French lycée, staff are not used to committing in writing to the average a student will obtain in the baccalauréat, or to their specialism marks.
The school therefore has to be prepared: designate the person who writes the reference, explain what UCAS expects, and base predictions on results from the penultimate year and the start of the final year. Predictions that are too cautious cost offers; predictions that are too generous lead to offers the student will not meet. The offer is usually conditional, and the baccalauréat decides in July.
The reference and the personal statement
The school's reference is structured in three sections: details about the school, any extenuating circumstances, and other supportive information. The student's personal statement, since 2026 entry, answers three questions within an overall limit of 4,000 characters, with at least 350 characters per answer: why this subject, how studies have prepared for it, and what the student has done outside formal education.
This text is nothing like a French cover letter. It talks about the subject more than oneself, with precise examples of reading, problems worked on, projects. A student who has done olympiads or the Concours général has valuable material here, provided it is told; I explain this in Maths olympiads on a university application.
Example: the UCAS calendar for 2027 entry. Applications open on 12 May 2026. Deadline 15 October 2026 at 18:00 UK time for Oxford, Cambridge and most courses in medicine, dentistry and veterinary science. Equal consideration date 13 January 2027 for most other courses. Final date for sending applications 30 June 2027. Dates shift slightly every year.
English and tests
British universities require proof of English. UCAS's profile states that the British version of the BFI is widely accepted as sufficient proof, without a further test. For a student taking the standard baccalauréat, a test, IELTS or equivalent, is usually needed, at the level set by each course.
Some courses add an admissions test: the TMUA for maths and computer science, the ESAT for science and engineering, at Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial and elsewhere. I cover them in Oxford and Cambridge admissions tests and TMUA preparation.
Preparing a UCAS application from a French lycée
The right calendar starts in the spring of the penultimate year: choosing courses, checking requirements in baccalauréat terms, the English test, preparing the school for the reference and predicted grades. The summer is for the personal statement and admissions tests. The autumn of the final year is for submission, before 15 October for Oxford and Cambridge.
That is the work we do at Carmine: choosing the five courses, supporting the school, working on the personal statement, preparing for the tests. For maths, I prepare students in private lessons, from the TMUA to universities' written papers.