A method of transmitting data by a communications device (104, 260) in a wireless communications network, the method comprising determining an amount of uplink data to be transmitted by the communications device to the wireless communications network, and either transitioning to a connected state if the determined amount of the uplink data is greater than a first threshold or, if the determined amount of the uplink data is less than the first threshold, selecting a random access preamble from one of a plurality of groups of random access preambles, selecting modulation and coding for transmitting the uplink data, and transmitting a random access message (420, 562) on a wireless access interface to the wireless communications network as part of a random access procedure, the random access message including the selected random access preamble from one of the plurality of groups of the random access preambles, wherein the group of the random access preambles from which the random access preamble is selected is determined according to at least one of an estimate of a transmission path loss for the communications device and the determined amount of the uplink data for transmission and each of the groups of the random access preambles has a plurality of modulating and coding scheme levels associated with it, and the modulation and coding for transmitting the uplink data is selected from one or more modulation and coding scheme levels allocated for the determined group of random access preambles, at least two of the modulation and coding scheme levels correspond to a different payload size, and the selecting the modulation and coding scheme level includes selecting one of the plurality of modulation and coding scheme levels associated with the selected one of the group of random access preambles. determining an amount of uplink data to be transmitted by the communications device to the wireless communications network, and either transitioning to a connected state if the determined amount of the uplink data is greater than a first threshold or, if the determined amount of the uplink data is less than the first threshold, selecting a random access preamble from one of a plurality of groups of random access preambles, selecting modulation and coding for transmitting the uplink data, and transmitting a random access message (420, 562) on a wireless access interface to the wireless communications network as part of a random access procedure, the random access message including the selected random access preamble from one of the plurality of groups of the random access preambles, wherein the group of the random access preambles from which the random access preamble is selected is determined according to at least one of an estimate of a transmission path loss for the communications device and the determined amount of the uplink data for transmission and each of the groups of the random access preambles has a plurality of modulating and coding scheme levels associated with it, and the modulation and coding for transmitting the uplink data is selected from one or more modulation and coding scheme levels allocated for the determined group of random access preambles, at least two of the modulation and coding scheme levels correspond to a different payload size, and the selecting the modulation and coding scheme level includes selecting one of the plurality of modulation and coding scheme levels associated with the selected one of the group of random access preambles.