Undergraduate education year in school on the grounds of academic giftedness) may enter below this age but large universities are now setting minimum age limits of 16 or 17 after a number of well publicised "child prodigies" were found to be emotionally and mentally unprepared for university life. Applications for undergraduate courses in UK higher education are made through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). For their first degree, most students read for the degree of bachelor, which usually takes three years, however in the sciences and engineering integrated courses covering both undergraduate level and advanced degree level leading to the
UCAS before paying the fee and submitting the form themselves. For most current applications, the cost per student is £18 to apply for a single course, or £24 for two or more courses. Depending on the subject and on the university that they are applying for, candidates must submit their application by the relevant submission deadline to ensure their application is given equal consideration by the higher education providers they are applying to. It is possible for students to submit applications up until 30 June each year; but a late submission may not be given the same consideration as those submitted