When to apply for uni accommodation?

We would recommend exploring accommodation options well in advance of accepting our offer to study with us and to begin securing accommodation as soon as your place at dBs Institute is confirmed. Accommodation in the cities we are located in is competitive, so accepting your offer earlier will give you a larger timeframe to explore options and secure housing.

How much is student accommodation?

The cost of accommodation for students varies from city to city. However, across the UK, the average monthly cost of student accommodation in 2024 is £622.91. In the private sector, the average monthly cost of rent in the UK is £1,223. Depending on whether you are living alone in a studio apartment or in a shared house with other students, the cost of your accommodation will vary. Generally, it is always cheaper to split your rent and bills with others in a shared house, but this is not always possible. It’s important to explore all of the options available to you in the city you will be studying in before making a decision

How to apply for student accommodation?

If you’re looking for student accommodation, student halls are a great choice for many first-year students. You can apply for accommodation at student halls directly through the providers, but spaces often get filled as term-time approaches so make sure to apply for a room as early as possible! If you are looking to find private housing, apps like Zoopla and Rightmove are great places to start. We recommend setting up alerts that are filtered by your budget and desired location so that you’ll be one of the first to know when a new property becomes available. You can find more information in our Accommodation Guides above.

How to Apply

Ready to join the
dBs community?

Once you've explored our courses, experienced an open day, and had a chat with our Admissions Advisors, you're ready to start your application journey. But what's next? We've made it easy for you, just follow the steps below and we'll guide you through how to apply.

If you have any questions about our courses, entry requirements or how to apply to us, contact our admissions team by email admissions@dbsinstitute.ac.uk or
call +44 161 552 6467.

Read how to apply undergraduate

Read how to apply postgraduate

Explore our courses

Apply for Undergraduate

To apply for one of our undergraduate programmes you will need to make an application through UCAS.

UCAS is an online centralised application service that all students use to apply to university to provide information about previous/current education, experience, references and a personal statement.

Please note that the UCAS 'on-time' application deadline for equal consideration is Wednesday 29 January 2025.
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You can still apply after the 29th January deadline, however, you should be aware that places may be limited on our courses.

Application Process

Apply through UCAS

Track Application

Invited for interview

Attend Interview

Offer

Accept Offer

Your UCAS Application

You make your application online, through UCAS.com. You don’t need to do it all at once – you can save your progress and sign back in anytime. In addition to our guidance, the UCAS website has step-by-step guides to completing your application. We’ll use your completed UCAS application to make decisions about your application.

Make sure you include all of the qualifications that you have and are currently taking. You can also tell us about any work experience that you've done, as well as any other information that may be relevant to your application.

Your Qualifications

Please make sure you list all your academic qualifications including any pending qualifications you are still working towards. Your qualifications equate to UCAS Points which are used as a way of measuring the value of all post-16 qualifications in the UK.

You can work out how many points you have using the UCAS Points Calculator.

Your Personal Statement

Your personal statement supports your application to study at a university or college. It’s a chance for you to demonstrate why you’d like to study a particular course or subject, and what skills and experience you possess that show your enthusiasm and commitment to your chosen field.

Check out our top tips for an awesome personal statement

How to get started

You can only write one personal statement – it’s the same for each course you apply for so we recommend you avoid mentioning any universities or colleges by name. Look at course descriptions and identify the qualities, skills, and experience it requires – you can use these to help you decide what to write about.

What to write about

The best place to start is to think about why you are applying. Tell us about your ambitions and what interests you about the subject and course. Include what you think makes you suitable for the course – tell us any relevant skills, experience or achievements gained from education, work or other activities. Give examples of any related academic or work experience.

Be Honest

Your personal statement should represent you as an individual, so there is little point in copying an example from the internet and inserting your own name and subject. Express yourself with confidence and get your knowledge and enthusiasm across genuinely.

Show, don’t tell

Don’t just list your achievements; explain what you learned from them and how they helped you to develop. Describe how they have given you skills that will help you at university and in your career.

Proof Read

Ask friends and family to read your statement, they may have suggestions you haven't considered and can tell you whether it makes sense. Reading it out loud will also help you spot bad punctuation and messy wording.

Your Reference

All applicants are also required to provide an academic reference. Ideally, this should be a written recommendation from a teacher, adviser or professional who knows you academically and can talk about your suitability for higher education or a future career.

Your Choices

You can have up to 5 course choices. You don't have to use them all. If you only make one choice there is a lower application fee.

Each university will only see details of its own course choices, so they will not know where else you have applied or whether all the courses in your application are the same.

All of our degree courses are listed on UCAS under our validating partner, Falmouth University. When applying through UCAS you'll need to reference the UCAS code for your course, which can be found on your course page, as well as the Falmouth University UCAS code: F33

Tracking Your Application

The Applicant Portal

Falmouth University will email you with instructions and a login for the Falmouth University Applicant Portal, where you'll see what else you need to do. You can use this to monitor the progress of your application to dBs Institute. We might contact you for more information, so keep checking your inbox for messages. You can upload documents like ID and proof of residency to the Applicant Portal.

Your Interview

You'll be contacted by the dBs Institute Admissions team to invite you to interview via email. You can choose in-person at our campuses, or online if you cannot attend in person.

The interview gives you the opportunity to demonstrate your creative and technical skills, which helps us to consider your potential to succeed. They are also a great way for you to get to know dBs Institute better and find out if we are the best fit for you.

If you can't make the interview date you've been given, there's no need to worry, just contact us at admissions@dbsinstitute.ac.uk

Preparing For Your Interview

At dBs Institute, we look beyond grades, and get to know you; our interviews are designed to assess your ability, style and personality.
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Please be prepared to:

Talk about your technical abilities and skills relevant to your course
Answer general questions about your background, interests and experience
You may be asked to provide a portfolio, depending on which course you are applying for

We would also like you to:

Think about what you want to tell us during this discussion
Think of any questions you want to ask us

This is your chance to find out what you need to know to make an informed decision about your future. It is important that you get a feel for whether we are the right place for you.

Your Offer

We try to make a decision within five working days of your interview. However, we want everyone to have a fair chance, so popular courses can take longer. Once we have made our decision, we’ll update you via UCAS, the Applicant Portal and via email.

Offer Types

Conditional offer

You'll need to fulfil some conditions before starting your studies, like achieving certain grades or providing further evidence of your qualifications.

Unconditional offer

You don't have any conditions to fulfil prior to starting the course, you have secured a place. We'll be in touch with you about the next steps.

Accepting Your Offer

Once you’ve heard from all of your choices, UCAS will ask you to respond to your offers.
You will need to log in to UCAS to respond to your offers.

Acceptance Types

These are the types of replies you can make.

Firm Acceptance

this is your first choice.

Insurance Acceptance

You don't have any conditions to fulfil prior to starting the course, you have secured a place. We'll get in touch with you about the next steps.

Decline

you'll need to decline any other offers you get.

Reply dates

These are based on when we get the last decision in from your choices. Check your UCAS application to see your personal deadline.

If you miss your deadline, UCAS will decline the offer on your behalf. If this happens, you’ll need to contact our Admissions team and UCAS as soon as possible.

Frequently Ask Questions

How do I get UCAS points?

How many UCAS points do I need to study a degree?

How much is a UCAS application?

When do UCAS applications close?

How to find my UCAS number?

Where to find UCAS status code?

What is UCAS extra?

How to get more UCAS points?

If you haven’t gained enough UCAS points to study at the university or higher education institute you were aiming for, it may be possible for you to re-sit some of your exams or to start your Level 3 qualification from scratch. Other options available to you are to go into Clearing, take some time away from education to gain practical experience or apply to one of our Access to HE courses, which don't have any formal entry requirements

What time does UCAS update on results day?

Apply for Postgraduate

To apply for one of our postgraduate programmes you will need to make a direct application via our validating partner Falmouth University.

Places are allocated as applications are received, so we recommend applying as early as possible.

Application Process

Prepare Your Application

Submit Your Application

Track Your Application
& Interview

Your Offer

Prepare Your Application

Personal Statement

You'll need to write a personal statement to accompany your application. It’s your chance to demonstrate why you’d like to pursue postgraduate study, and what skills and experience you possess that show your enthusiasm and commitment to your chosen field.

Additional Documents

You'll need to get the following documents together for your application:

A scanned copy of proof of identification (such as a passport)
Scanned copies of transcripts and previous qualifications

Get Your References

Select two references to support your application.
You'll need one academic reference and one professional.

Submit Your Application

Tracking Your Application & Interview

Once you've submitted your application, you'll get an email from Falmouth University to confirm that your application has been received. You will also receive email communications from the dBs Admissions team, who will advise you on your interview, so keep an eye on your inbox. You'll be contacted by the dBs Institute Admissions team to invite you to interview via email. You can choose in-person at our campuses, or online if you cannot attend in person.