Deciding whether to go to university is a big decision. Below are a few benefits of why university could be for you.
Academic
• Opportunity to obtain a qualification from an internationally recognised institution
• Over 43,000 courses to choose from almost 200 UK universities
• Choose one subject or combine subjects (honours or joint honours)
• Study full-time or part-time
• Learn from experts in the field – with plenty of support
• Variety of learning methods/assessments
• Experience world-class facilities
• Have the opportunity to have a year in industry or study abroad
Career prospects
• Transferable skills such as delivering presentations, problem solving and time management that can be used for future employment
• Some careers require a specific degree (e.g. Veterinary Science or Civil Engineering)
• Placement years at universities allow a student to gain valuable experiences with top employers
• Graduates have a greater earning power and higher employment rate than non-graduates
Employability
Doing a course at a university with a good reputation will give you a head start when looking for employment after graduation. But many major employers are increasingly favouring applicants who have gained work experience alongside their degree studies. Check which universities provide opportunities for paid industrial and volunteer placements. Some courses, particularly in science and more vocational subjects such as business studies will offer placement years as part of the course.
• Opportunity to experience new things, visit new places and meet people from across the globe
Hundreds of sports clubs and societies from which to choose.
• Student life is about diversity and achieving a good balance between work and social life (and having FUN!)
Independence
• Opportunity to develop as an individual and enhance “life skills” including:
– Budgeting (and paying bills!)
– Cooking
– Gaining cultural awareness and developing social skills
-Live at home or live in halls of residence (whatever your choice, make the most of it!)
Student finance
Parents and supporters of students may be concerned about student finance and the cost of your son or daughter attending university. However, it is important to understand that UK students do not have to find the money for university fees up front – and many students may also be entitled to non-repayable grants and bursaries from the government and/or the University.
Tuition fees
The tuition fee at most universities for home undergraduate students is £9,000 a year. Most UK students do not have to pay their fees while studying – eligible students can take out a tuition fee loan from the government.
Financial support
Support available from the UK government
•Tuition fee loans
•Non-repayable grants
•Loans for living costs
Graduates only start to pay their government loans back once they are earning over £21,000 a year.
For more information about support available from the UK government, including eligibility for tuition fee loans, visit the __gov.uk website__.
With thousands of courses and hundreds of universities and colleges, it can be difficult deciding on what and where to study. Below is a download with some useful tips to get you started.
There are a variety of tools available to assist you in making an informed decision. Attending open days, higher education fairs and utilising the many online resources available should help you select the most appropriate course for you. Research is key!
The following websites may help your decision making process: ucas.com (The website for applying to almost all full-time undergraduate degree programmes at UK universities and colleges)
Each university decides the content of its own courses so a course with the same name may be very different at each university that offers it, and courses with different names may cover similar content. You will need to compile, from a variety of websites such as UCAS, UK course finder, What Uni and Which Uni, a list of courses which cover the subject you are interested in. Once you have your list you can use these websites to see which universities offer these courses.
Grade offer requirements
Some universities require a specific combination of grades while others use the UCAS points system.
So you might see grade requirements written as for example BBB or 300 (old) UCAS points. Full A-level grade and UCAS points equivalence are
Full A-level grade
UCAS points equivalence for 2016
A*
56
A
48
B
40
C
32
D
24
E
16
When making a choice of university and course you should consider what grades you will need to get onto your chosen course at each University that offers it. The University Course Search section of UK Course Finder will list all the universities which offer your course choice by grade offer requirement. Use the filters ‘very strong’ (ABB/320 and above) Strong (BBB to ABB/ 300 – 320) and Fair (below BBB/below 300) to come up with manageable lists. The lists then links through to the course entry on UCAS for fuller details of the course. The UCAS course entry often links to the course information on the university’s own website. Which University will also produce a list according to grade offer requirements.
Many elite universities have been able to increase the numbers of students they take, and from 2015 all universities were able to take as many students as they wished. This means that many universities who in the past would only have taken applicants with AAB and above grades are now taking those who gain BBB, to ensure their courses are full. So if you are expecting to get BBB it is worth looking at courses whose grade offers are given as ABB and AAB.
Entry to Oxbridge, and a few other universities such as Durham and London School of Economics (LSE), is still very competitive. All successful applicants to these universities have to achieve exceptionally high GCSE and A-Level exam grades (mostly A*s), pass entrance interviews and often entrance tests. Entry to the other 40 elite universities listed below is less competitive but A-level grade offers will still range from AAA to BBB, depending on the course applied for.
You will also need to check if there are any required A-level or GCSE subjects and grades for the course you are interested in. Science courses, for example, will often require two specific science subjects and may specify a grade for one or both of these subjects. Remember also that the actual grade offer to you may be different to those published, and the grades you actually need to gain may also be different from those shown on comparison sites, as these are aggregated over the last five to eight years.
Why go to university?
Deciding whether to go to university is a big decision. Below are a few benefits of why university could be for you.
Academic
• Opportunity to obtain a qualification from an internationally recognised institution
• Over 43,000 courses to choose from almost 200 UK universities
• Choose one subject or combine subjects (honours or joint honours)
• Study full-time or part-time
• Learn from experts in the field – with plenty of support
• Variety of learning methods/assessments
• Experience world-class facilities
• Have the opportunity to have a year in industry or study abroad
Career prospects
• Transferable skills such as delivering presentations, problem solving and time management that can be used for future employment
• Some careers require a specific degree (e.g. Veterinary Science or Civil Engineering)
• Placement years at universities allow a student to gain valuable experiences with top employers
• Graduates have a greater earning power and higher employment rate than non-graduates
Employability
Doing a course at a university with a good reputation will give you a head start when looking for employment after graduation. But many major employers are increasingly favouring applicants who have gained work experience alongside their degree studies. Check which universities provide opportunities for paid industrial and volunteer placements. Some courses, particularly in science and more vocational subjects such as business studies will offer placement years as part of the course.
www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk
www.unistats.com
www.bestcourse4me.com
www.push.co.uk
Social
• Opportunity to experience new things, visit new places and meet people from across the globe
Hundreds of sports clubs and societies from which to choose.
• Student life is about diversity and achieving a good balance between work and social life (and having FUN!)
Independence
• Opportunity to develop as an individual and enhance “life skills” including:
– Budgeting (and paying bills!)
– Cooking
– Gaining cultural awareness and developing social skills
-Live at home or live in halls of residence (whatever your choice, make the most of it!)
Student finance
Parents and supporters of students may be concerned about student finance and the cost of your son or daughter attending university. However, it is important to understand that UK students do not have to find the money for university fees up front – and many students may also be entitled to non-repayable grants and bursaries from the government and/or the University.
Tuition fees
The tuition fee at most universities for home undergraduate students is £9,000 a year. Most UK students do not have to pay their fees while studying – eligible students can take out a tuition fee loan from the government.
Financial support
Support available from the UK government
•Tuition fee loans
•Non-repayable grants
•Loans for living costs
Graduates only start to pay their government loans back once they are earning over £21,000 a year.
For more information about support available from the UK government, including eligibility for tuition fee loans, visit the __gov.uk website__.
How are repayments calculated? Get an idea of how much you would repay monthly __https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay__
With thousands of courses and hundreds of universities and colleges, it can be difficult deciding on what and where to study. Below is a download with some useful tips to get you started.
There are a variety of tools available to assist you in making an informed decision. Attending open days, higher education fairs and utilising the many online resources available should help you select the most appropriate course for you. Research is key!
The following websites may help your decision making process: ucas.com (The website for applying to almost all full-time undergraduate degree programmes at UK universities and colleges)
theguardian.com/education/universityguide
University league tables
thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/gug/
University league tablesthecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk
Advice on courses and universities
thestudentroom.co.uk
Online student community
Course content
Each university decides the content of its own courses so a course with the same name may be very different at each university that offers it, and courses with different names may cover similar content. You will need to compile, from a variety of websites such as UCAS, UK course finder, What Uni and Which Uni, a list of courses which cover the subject you are interested in. Once you have your list you can use these websites to see which universities offer these courses.
Grade offer requirements
Some universities require a specific combination of grades while others use the UCAS points system.
So you might see grade requirements written as for example BBB or 300 (old) UCAS points. Full A-level grade and UCAS points equivalence are
56
48
40
32
24
16
When making a choice of university and course you should consider what grades you will need to get onto your chosen course at each University that offers it. The University Course Search section of UK Course Finder will list all the universities which offer your course choice by grade offer requirement. Use the filters ‘very strong’ (ABB/320 and above) Strong (BBB to ABB/ 300 – 320) and Fair (below BBB/below 300) to come up with manageable lists. The lists then links through to the course entry on UCAS for fuller details of the course. The UCAS course entry often links to the course information on the university’s own website. Which University will also produce a list according to grade offer requirements.
Many elite universities have been able to increase the numbers of students they take, and from 2015 all universities were able to take as many students as they wished. This means that many universities who in the past would only have taken applicants with AAB and above grades are now taking those who gain BBB, to ensure their courses are full. So if you are expecting to get BBB it is worth looking at courses whose grade offers are given as ABB and AAB.
Entry to Oxbridge, and a few other universities such as Durham and London School of Economics (LSE), is still very competitive. All successful applicants to these universities have to achieve exceptionally high GCSE and A-Level exam grades (mostly A*s), pass entrance interviews and often entrance tests. Entry to the other 40 elite universities listed below is less competitive but A-level grade offers will still range from AAA to BBB, depending on the course applied for.
You will also need to check if there are any required A-level or GCSE subjects and grades for the course you are interested in. Science courses, for example, will often require two specific science subjects and may specify a grade for one or both of these subjects. Remember also that the actual grade offer to you may be different to those published, and the grades you actually need to gain may also be different from those shown on comparison sites, as these are aggregated over the last five to eight years.