Where To Study

You need to start to consider the course(s) you want to study in Higher Education as soon as possible. You may already have an idea when you chose your Level 3 qualifications, but by January of your Year 12 year you need to really start developing your course ideas.

Some Higher Education courses are designed to help you get a specific job or career. For example if you want to become a solicitor you will need to study a law degree (Vocational Course), while other courses are a lot more general and can lead to a lot of different career choices (Non Vocational) allowing you to keep your options open. 40% of graduate jobs don’t ask for a specific qualification.

When deciding what to study you need to think about what interests you, as it is going to take up a least 3 years of your life. The options you have include:

  • Continue onto Higher Education with one of the Level 3 subjects you are already taking i.e. History, English, or Business Studies.
  • Combine two or more of your current Level 3 subjects, i.e. Business and Accounts.
  • Combine one of the subjects you are currently learning at Level 3, with a new subject you have not studies before , i.e. Sociology and Criminology.
  • Take completely new subject or subjects.
  • Take a general vocational qualification course that has a wide occupational basis, such as Travel and Tourism, Art or Business.
  • Choose a course that is related to a specific career i.e. Law, Engineering, Sports Therapy.

To help you come up with your course idea’s list you need to answer the following questions:

  • Do I have a specific career in mind and so need a specific Higher Education course to meet the requirements for this?
  • What subject am in interested in studying or would I like to find a course that combines a couple of the subjects that I enjoy.
  • Where do I want to study? Do I want to stay near home or do I want to move away to learn.

The National Careers Service Job Profiles is a great way for you to research the jobs available to you, it has a details on over 750.

The following websites will provide you with help matching your interests and career ideas with Higher Education courses:

  • UK Course Finder - www.ukcoursefinder.com - you will find a study interests questionnaire which helps you to identify what subjects you like and don’t like, and using your responses will suggest courses from a variety of colleges and universities that will suit you.
  • HotCourses - www.hotcourses.com - allows you to search for Higher Education courses, as well as other courses available to you.

Final Course Choice

You should aim to have an idea on your final choices with regards to course and institutions by the end of August during year 12, prior to starting year 13 in September.

You have the opportunity to apply for up to five courses through UCAS, or four courses if you are applying for medicine, veterinary science or veterinary medicine.

Research Course(s)

You need to be doing this between February and August of year 12. Using the list of courses you are interested in you need to utilise a range of resources to research these courses in more detail.

Universities and Colleges

You can find out about individual universities and colleges, along with the courses that they offer by visiting their websites. The complete university guide is a good place to start looking—http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/universities they provide a list of universities and colleges throughout the country.

You can find the following information on the websites for the different universities/colleges.

  • Prospectus - can be viewed online, or can be downloaded or you can order one to be sent out to you. It will list details about courses, student life, entry requirements for the different courses, contact details, accommodation and much more.
  • Contacts for Admissions/Course Tutors - here you will be able to find out more information about the course you are interested in, as they are responsible for choosing students and teaching the course.
  • School Liaison/Marketing Department - this will tell you about open days and taster courses that may be offered by the university/college.
  • Careers Advisory Service - this is where you will find information on the kinds of careers previous graduates have gone into.
  • Open Days - You should find details about any open days the university holds which is worth adding to your diary. Going to visit the university will give you the chance to look around campus, talk to tutors and students of the university, and get a feel for what it might be like to be a student there. It is worth takings someone else with you i.e. a parent, so you can get a second opinion. Some academies/sixth form and colleges may arrange to take students to open days as a group.

Useful Information/Websites to help you:

Higher Education Conventions

  • Every year UCAS arrange 50 Higher Education Conventions where students have the opportunity to meet with university and college staff, ask questions and pick up prospectuses. Attendance may have you consider universities/colleges that you may otherwise have dismissed as a choice for you.

    The conventions are free of charge to attend, and you may find your academy/sixth form or academy offers to take a group of students, but if you want to go on your own you will need to ensure you book yourself onto the event.

    If you do plan on going to one of these Higher Education Conventions you need to remember to take a notepad and pen, make some notes on the questions you want answered, and write down interesting facts you learn on the day. If you want to find out more you need to visit the UCAS Events webpage.

UCAS

  • UCAS stands for Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, and they are responsible for all Higher Education applications. If you go to the UCAS website you will find a lot of information to help you, including advise on what course to choose, the ability to carry out a course search, entry requirements and information on the UCAS Points system. You will also find information on course profiles which will give details on how students are selected, right through to how the course will be delivered and assessed.

Unistats

  • This website, http://unistats.direct.gov.uk, provides you with a college and comparison site, this means you can compare the different subjects offered by different colleges/universities . It also provides information on the types of jobs recent graduates have gone into, and also provides quotes from students that attended the college or university.

Prospectus

  • This website www.prospects.ac.uk provides information on the careers that are available to graduates depending on the courses followed.

The Guardian Higher Education

Push

  • This website www.push.co.uk provides an independent guide to UK universities, student live, gap years, open days, student finance, and much more. This is a must site for all student considering Higher Education to visit.

Final Course Choice

You should aim to have an idea on your final choices with regards to course and institutions by the end of August during year 12, prior to starting year 13 in September.

You have the opportunity to apply for up to five courses through UCAS, or four courses if you are applying for medicine, veterinary science or veterinary medicine. When you list them don’t worry about putting them in order of preference, as they will list in alphabetical order.

You can also apply for more than once course at the same university/college , but only one of your choices can be a choice for Oxford or Cambridge university.

There are also rules over what combination courses you can apply for, in order to find out more about the choices you make and the application process, you can visit the UCAS website, filling in your application form www.ucas.com/how-it-all-works/undergraduate/filling-your-application

When it comes to making your final choices, you need to make sure that the course you have chosen meets your requirements. List the things that are important to you, below is a list to help you:

  • Entry Requirements - what grades, subjects or UCAS points you need. Will you meet these requirements?
  • Type of Qualification - is it academic or vocational, single honours or joint, or even combines honours, modular or sandwich?
  • Reputation - What is the quality of teaching and research? What are students saying about the course/university?
  • Student Satisfaction - The National Student Survey is an annual survey covering all colleges and universities, and helps to provide information on how satisfied students are with there course and the university/college.
  • Academic Facilities - How big is the faculty your course belongs to? Is equipment and ICT equipment readily available?
  • Teaching Methods - What is the comparison between the time spent in lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical or work related activities.
  • Course Assessment - is it examination based or coursework based or mixture of both.
  • Graduate Prospects - where to graduate go to once they complete their course? How many go into work? What kind of work do they go into?
  • Location - Do you want to stay at home? Do you want to go further afield and gain a little more independence? How far from home will you consider?
  • Costs - different locations are cheaper to live in then others and this may impact your decision where to go. Are there bursaries, scholarships or even sponsorships available?
  • Accommodation - Are all those in their first year offered accommodation ? Is it self catering? Is it near the to where lectures and seminars take place? How will you travel?
  • Study or employment abroad - is it a part-time course or full time.
  • Part-time or Holiday Jobs - Does the university help or encourage employment for students? Is there an employment service?
  • Social Activities - What societies, clubs or facilities are available?
  • Disability Support - check the support provided, if you need to use a wheelchair, are the facilities supportive of this. Do they meet the needs of your disability requirements?

Once you have a list, you then need to put it in order of importance in order to help you decide where is the best place for you.