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UCAS holds a new tune for applicants with the help of local musicians

4 October 2010

Thousands of university applicants from all over the world are now being serenaded with the best of Gloucestershire's music talent. UCAS, the Cheltenham-based admissions service, is working in partnership with The Cheltenham Underground to showcase a new range of hold music produced by local musicians.

The initiative was launched in August in time for UCAS' busiest period, Clearing, when a staggering 15,478 calls were answered on A level results day alone. Following its success, potential students who call the award-winning Customer Service Unit in Cheltenham, are now hearing Gloucestershire's up and coming artists.

The idea was the brainchild of Stuart Williams, Team Coordinator, and John Madden, Customer Service Adviser, who both work in the Customer Service Unit at UCAS. In his spare time, John promotes unsigned musicians from Gloucestershire and further afield through The Cheltenham Underground, which was established in 2008 as a monthly live music night at late night bar Slak in Cheltenham. Local acts, such as Joe Summers, Stressechoes and Waiting for Kate, have all been regulars. Stuart and John both felt the performances at these gigs were a better reflection of what would-be students listen to in their spare time.

Andrea Robertson, Director of Customer and Application Services at UCAS explains: 'At our busiest times we do need people to hold for a short while but instead of offering the usual range of hold music, we want to engage with our applicants more and share music produced locally'.

The idea has received a warm welcome from the acts that have featured, as Sam Hudson from the band 'Zenith' describes: 'This has offered us more exposure and it's absolutely the way forward. Students have a vital say in the music which dominates the charts of today.'

If you're a musician and would like to get involved with UCAS' hold music, visit www.myspace.com/thecheltenhamunderground to get in touch with The Cheltenham Underground.

About UCAS

UCAS is a charity and is the world's leading shared admissions service for higher education. We manage applications for full time undergraduate courses, together with applications through GTTR (Graduate Teacher Training Registry), CUKAS (Conservatoires UK Admissions Service) and UKPASS (UK Postgraduate Application and Statistical Service). Since its inception in 1993, UCAS has processed around 30 million applications and placed over 5 million students on higher education courses.

Services include:

  • An informative website (www.ucas.com) enabling students and parents to access a wealth of information designed to help their application to higher education run smoothly.
  • A state-of-the-art contact centre (0871 468 0468) providing a point of contact for students, schools and higher education institutions.
  • An online application system.
  • A simple, straightforward tracking service enabling students and schools advisers to access up-to-date information about their applications at the click of a button.
  • Over 50 higher education events each year providing 250,000 students with face-to-face advice on the UCAS process. Internationally, we participated in events in over 12 countries and also provided training and professional development throughout Europe and beyond.
  • www.yougofurther.co.uk is UCAS' student networking site. It allows future and present applicants to interact with each other and provides further advice on higher education.
 

Media contacts

Lisa Davies, Corporate Communications Officer, 01242 544619

Email: communications@ucas.ac.uk
Out of hours: 07768 740461

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