This guide will introduce ApplicaaFutures – a powerful system designed to help secondary schools transform the way they support Year 11 and 10 students as they explore and apply for post-16 sixth form opportunities at local sixth form and colleges.
ApplicaaFutures
ApplicaaFutures is composed of the following:
✏️ OneReference - manage and send references quicker than ever
🌍 ApplicaaOne - give your students access to every post-16 course in the UK
↗️ Destination Tracker - track applications, offers and enrolment easier than ever
1. OneReference
Reduce Workload with Reusable References
The OneReference universal template is based on over 800 sixth form and college reference forms. We have carefully curated the most common questions typically requested by sixth forms and colleges. By proactively completing a OneReference profile for a student, you will have a ready-made profile that can be reused multiple times saving you valuable time.
Setting yourself up:
1. Access your ApplicaaFutures form
a. For existing Applicaa customers, Applicaa will have already added the ApplicaaFutures into your existing system. If you can’t see this form on your system, please contact Applicaa support and we will make it available for you as soon as possible.
b. For non Applicaa Customers, you will need to request your Free ApplicaaFutures by clicking to this link and completing the instructions.
2. Complete the ApplicaaFutures onboarding steps which includes the following steps:
a. Import additional staff that will assist with completing references
b. Adding Year 10 and or Year 11 form groups
c. Bulk importing your students
d. Bulk importing student predicted grades
e. Invite students to ApplicaaOne where they can explore local post 16 opportunities
3. Complete student references within the OneReference section of ApplicaaFutrues
a. This can be carried out by bulk importing the information if you already have this on an excel file
b. You can also invite staff to log in and complete the references within the system for each student, one at a time.
You can click to create a reference for each of the students you are responsible for, and you will also be able to see an activities summary which shows you how many references have been completed and sent.
You will be able to filter by form group, so you can narrow the list.
Click the pencil icon of the student you wish to write a reference for, and their profile will be displayed to you.
Complete the reference responses, and then you can save, or save & go to the next student, if you want to continue working through your list.
How does reference sharing work?
When you create your Applica Futures form and invite your Year 11 students to join ApplicaaOne, they can use their ApplicaaOne profile to apply to 25% of all Sixth Forms and Colleges in the country.
This includes 50% of Sixth Forms and Colleges within London, as they use Applicaa to manage their admissions.
References for Applicaa Sixth Forms and Colleges
Since you will have already completed a reference record for your students, the system will automatically use this record to populate the reference questions required by any Applicaa Sixth Form or College they apply to.
If there are additional custom questions that cannot be auto-completed, you will be notified to provide the necessary answers. Otherwise, the reference will be completed automatically, and notifications will be sent to you, the student, and the Sixth Form or College.
What about non-Applicaa Sixth Forms and Colleges?
The system also allows you to share a student’s OneReference record with non-Applicaa Sixth Forms and Colleges. For example, if you receive a reference request via email, you can share the existing reference record by opening the student’s OneReference record and clicking “Share.” From there, you can input the email address of the institution to send the record.
This section will also act as a central hub, showing all institutions where the student’s reference record has been shared—both automatically and manually.
You can also share references from the main table, one by one or as a bulk action.
Sharing with Non-Schools
You can also share the reference record with non-school organisations, such as apprenticeship providers or employers, using the same sharing functionality.
2. ApplicaaOne:
As part of your ApplicaaFutures onboarding, you will invite students to join ApplicaaOne—think of it as UCAS, but for Sixth Forms and Colleges.
This FREE online platform is designed to take the stress out of finding the perfect Sixth Form or college, by giving students the power to manage and track every aspect of the application process from one place:
OneSearch - with a listing for every post-16 course and institution in the country, ApplicaaOne enables students to browse and apply for over 18,000 courses, register for open days and view their eligibility based on predicted grades.
OneApplication - No need to keep starting from scratch - students can create a single profile and application that can be reused for every submission they make through ApplicaaOne. The platform allows them to track all their applications right up until enrolment.
CareersHub - For students who are still considering their options, the CareersHub offers tailored guidance with resources to help students understand potential career paths, job markets and educational requirements.
3. Destination Tracker:
The Destination Tracker section of ApplicaaFutures provides a powerful tool for staying informed about the progress students are making and identifying those who require support with their post-16 destinations.
The system enables you to to the following:
- Access to live data and status updates
- Manually update and add additional destinations
- Automatic calculations of NEET risk
- Dynamic reporting tools to easily share destination data with local authorities
For areas with a significant number of Sixth Forms and Colleges using Applicaa for enrolment, the Destination Tracker offers an excellent starting point that can be supplemented as described below.
1. How does live tracking for Applicaa destinations work?
Students require an ApplicaaOne profile to apply to an Applicaa Sixth Form or College. This profile is linked to all of their Applicaa applications, enabling them to view status updates and track their progress.
If you have added your Year 11 students with their email addresses to ApplicaaFutures and invited them to ApplicaaOne, the destination data from their ApplicaaOne profile will be visible to you as their home school.
Please note that when students are invited to join ApplicaaOne, they are explicitly asked to acknowledge that by signing up, they consent to the automated reporting of their destinations back to their current home school.
2. What if my students already have an ApplicaaOne profile or are using a different email from the one we hold for them at school?
COMING SOON:
When students sign up for ApplicaaOne, we request the following information to ensure they are matched to their current home school profile, even if they use a different email address for their ApplicaaOne account:
- ULN (Unique Learner Number)
- Two email addresses:
- Their school email address
- Their personal email address
Once their current school lists a profile with a matching email or ULN, the students are required to confirm they recognise the school and its request.
They will receive an email notification to approve the tracking request, ensuring appropriate handling of their personal data and explicit consent as defined by GDPR.
3. How can we track non-Applicaa destinations?
Both staff and students can manually report destinations applied to outside of the Applicaa network, along with their current status. Applicants can update this information through their ApplicaaOne profile, while staff can do so via the Destination Tracker section of Applicaa Futures.
4. How is the NEET Risk calculated?
A student is flagged as being at risk of becoming NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) if:
- No applications have been started or submitted (i.e., zero applications).
- All submitted applications are considered “inactive.”
- Application Status is:
- Declined
- Incomplete
- Deadline Missed
-
Offer Status is:
- Declined
- Withdrawn
- No Offer Will Be Made (new status coming soon).
-
Enrolment Status is:
- Declined
- Automatically inactive after 20th September if the enrollment status is not “Enrolled.”
- Application Status is:
- If none of the above applies, the student is NOT at risk of being NEET.
5. How are statuses displayed in ApplicaaFutures Destination Tracker?
The displayed status changes as a student progresses through the application, offer, and enrolment process:
Step 1: At the start the Application status of the application is displayed the most current status
- Application Started: Application is incomplete.
- Awaiting Reference: Awaiting a reference.
- Applied: Application is completed and awaiting further action.
- Withdrawn: The application has been withdrawn.
Step 2: Switch to the Offer Status
Once the Application Status progresses and the Offer Status is no longer “Pending,” we display the Offer Status instead:
- Offered: The student has received an offer.
- Offer Accepted: The student has accepted the offer.
- Offer Withdrawn: The offer was withdrawn by the institution.
- No Offer Will Be Made: The student will not be considered further (new status).
Step 3: Finalise with the Enrolment Status
When the Enrolment Status is no longer “Pending,” this becomes the displayed status:
- Enrolment Pending: Awaiting next steps for enrolment.
- Details to be Checked: Enrolment details need to be verified.
- Ready to Enrol: The student is prepared to enrol.
- Enrolled: The student has successfully enrolled.
- Enrolment Waiting: Waiting for enrolment confirmation.
- Enrolment Declined: The student or school declined enrolment
Thank you for taking the time to read through this guide. We hope you found it helpful and informative as you navigate the features of our system. Should you have any questions or need further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out.