Informed Choices
Helping your students make the rights
choices about Higher Education
Claire Edden
Outreach Officer
Simon Fairbanks
Recruitment Officer
William Rupp
Outreach Officer
Welcome!
This session aims to:
• Give you a clear understanding of the
journey ahead for your students
• Signpost practical advice and support you
can provide
• Provide an opportunity to ask questions
Remember: this is an overview and details of
specific topics (such as finance) are covered in
other sessions
What do you think?
• Yellow post its: How did you choose your
university course? (Thinking of things such
as what factors were important to you,
what were your influences)
• Green post its: What are the major
barriers/challenges to applying to a
research intensive (Russell Group)
university for your students?
Applicant journey
August: Accept offer
or make other choices
Apply!
Deadlines in October for
Oxbridge, medicine;
January for all other
courses
2-6 months post
application: Offers made,
further research
6-12 months prior to
application deadline: Open
Days, further research,
application forms
18 months before application: Research courses,
universities, potential outcomes/careers
1. Choosing the Right Course
• Picking the right course is critical to success at university
• With thousands of courses, research is essential
– Use the UCAS course finder
– University websites
– Prospectuses and other materials.
• Students should consider:
– What are their skills?
– What careers are they interested in? Many careers don’t require a
specific degree but some do, such as medicine and engineering.
– What do they want to study? …as opposed to what other people in
their lives want them to do.
2. Choosing the Right University
• An extension of the course selection process, so
more research is required.
• Not all universities are created equal: students
must do research based on their values and
needs.
• Use as many resources as possible, including
contacting universities directly.
• Aim to have a long list of up to 10 universities
that offer the course(s) that interest the student.
3. Choosing the Final Five
• Now that students have their long list, they need
to narrow that down to a short list of five.
• To do that, they need to think about environment,
proximity to home, facilities, financial help, NSS
scores, league table standings and more.
• Don’t rely on social media to form opinions.
• Speak to alumni from the course/university.
• Be realistic, but be aspirational too.
Attend Open Days
• Designed to provide first hand experience to potential applicants
• Open to everyone!
• Book early, book often.
• Top tips for Open Day success:
– Get there early, make the most of the day
– Read as much as you can before you arrive
– Be confident and talk to people
– Research sessions and pre-book where possible
– Prepare questions for the day
– Follow up afterwards if you have further questions
4. Apply
• All the research has lead to this point!
• Submit the UCAS application to five universities.
• Make a range of selections based on predicted
grades: don’t be afraid to dream big.
• Firm = aim high.
• Insurance = safety net.
• Application does not equal choice at this stage.
5. Choose
• Take some time. Students don’t have to take
their first offer. Wait for all five responses.
• Post-Offer Open Days, department-led.
• Ask more questions than ever before.
• Be honest! This is a big choice and students
need to do what’s right for them.
• Once again: Firm and Insurance
Other options
• Confirmation, Clearing and Adjustment: lots
of choice, lots of potential, even if students
haven’t met their predicted grades.
• Gap year
• Deferred entry offered on some courses
• Work
• Apprenticeships, Further Education.
Questions?