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
Honors student to the level of distinction with which an undergraduate degree was earned. Honours degrees are usually four-year programs (sometimes also three-year programs, e.g., in England). A student who holds a "de jure" Honours degree is eligible for direct entry either to a Doctorate (Ph.D.) or to a two- to three years very-high-research Master's degree program. 'Honours' can also mean that students have achieved their degree with a high overall average GPA and typically have undertaken a small final project, paper or essay (also known in the UK as a dissertation). See British undergraduate degree classification. A third meaning is a