If your son or daughter is applying to university or college through UCAS, you can play an important role in the process.

First of all, you can register for our newsletter (www.ucas.com/parents/register) aimed specifically at parents. This will keep you informed throughout the application cycle.

Once you have done this, you should consider reading UCAS’ six steps to applying, so you know exactly what each stage means and how you can help your son or daughter.

You can also take a look at UCAStv (www.ucas.tv), which has a comprehensive set of videos that explain exactly how to deal with each part of the application.

The deadline for most courses is 15 January 2012. Universities and colleges are obliged to consider any application received by this date. They aren’t bound to consider those that arrive later.

Parents can play a key role in two main areas. First of all, it’s important for your son or daughter to get a feel for a university they are applying to. You can take to them to open days, help them arrange visits and keep an eye open for higher education conventions being held in your area.

Secondly, parents can be extremely helpful with the UCAS application itself, by checking through all the fields, making sure they are filled in correctly and looking out for spelling or grammar errors.

While UCAS gives instructions about what to include, having somebody else look at it might mean they pick up something that has been missed, especially in the Personal Statement.

UCAS adviser Ross Sanger said: “Another pair of eyes looking the statement over is a great idea because you can miss the little things.

“Somebody might say to you ‘you’ve forgotten to put that on there’, or ‘you haven’t gone into detail on that area of your work’ which might show more of your qualities.”