Dear Parent, Carer & Guardian

Thank you so much for your support with encouraging students to sign up for the University Information Day that is taking place across both University of Sussex and University of Brighton on Tuesday 24 June. We have had interest from 600 students which is fantastic - I'm sure it's going to be an enjoyable and worthwhile day for them.

Students will receive an email from me inviting them to sign up for activities for the annual UCAS Personal Statement Writing Day on Thursday 26 June which takes place in College.

We have 11 universities coming in to give workshops to let students know what sort of content university admissions teams would expect to see in a university application form.

They will be running 1:1 sessions where a student (with a friend) can chat very informally with a university admissions team member to look at ideas they may have, help them work out how they relate their current experiences (college/ work experience/ jobs/ sports/ reading/ enrichment etc) to the requirements of the Personal Statement format. There has been a change in the way the Personal Statement is written for the 2026 cycle and this day would help students understand and build confidence with the process.

Please encourage your young learner to sign up for these two activities. There are normal lessons on the day so students will need to pick activities outside lesson time if possible. We do not run a day like this in the Autumn term.

For students who want help filling in the 'Education Section' of the UCAS application (the most challenging part of the form), we will also be running 4 workshops on how to get this part of the application completed accurately. If they want to take part in this workshop, please ask them to photograph all their GCSE certificates for the session as they will need their GCSE/BTEC subjects/grades and exam board information.

If you have any questions, please email me on cvd@varndean.ac.uk.

I hope you have a good weekend.

Best wishes

Cordelia Dobbie, Careers Manager