Clearing the Way for a Place at University at SOAS
19 August 2009
Government Minister speaks about his clearing experience
With A-level results just around the corner, the admissions team at SOAS is getting ready to offer advice to hundreds of students hoping to secure places at university via clearing.
Advice on getting the most from the process has come from many organisations, experts and individuals including than Higher Education Minister David Lammy MP. He has been speaking about his own experience of coming through clearing to secure a place to study Law at SOAS back in 1990.
In an interview with The Independent newspaper, Mr Lammy recalls how he managed to get a place at SOAS having not originally applied there. In the article he said: “I remember very well coming out of Russell Square tube station with my elder brother, who brought me to the interview at SOAS, wearing a suit which was his not mine."
Speaking with journalist Liz Lightfoot, he said he chose SOAS because of its “international focus and ground-breaking courses”. He said its global reputation helped him to secure postgraduate study at Havard University. He added: "Going to university is a very new horizon. It is you, and you alone stepping into this place and the beginning of a really important stage of life. So for me, the waiting was all caught up with this anticipation and excitement."
Head of Admissions and Student Recruitment at SOAS, David Atkins, is aware of the added pressure students are under this year. He commented: “We know what an anxious time this is for both students and their families, particularly this year with an estimated 50,000 additional people applying for university. But despite the increase, prospective students should not be deterred from picking up the phone and speaking to the experts.”
SOAS is concerned with the places that matter in the 21st Century. It is the only Higher Education institution in the UK specialising in the study of Asia, Africa and the Middle East, covering such important issues as human rights, poverty reduction and globalisation.
Among its alumni are authors, philosophers, musicians, TV presenters, comedians, a Crown Princess, a Prime Minister (of Mozambique), a President (of Ghana), diplomats, journalists, MPs, human rights lawyers, managing directors, political activists and academics.
To speak to the SOAS admission team about places available at SOAS call 0207 898 4444. Information on Clearing at SOAS will appear at www.soas.ac.uk/clearing at 9am on Thursday 20 August 2009. You can also follow SOAS on Twitter at twitter.com/soasnews.
Source: Independent Newspaper
