We have been through the process. We now have a better understanding of the process you should follow and things to look out for. Use our info and hopefully it will help you make the right choice!
You are about to make what could be a life changing decision. So don’t jump in at the deep end and hope you stay afloat. You should gather as much information as possible before you decide what you want to do and where you want to do it.
We want to help you start your research as painlessly as possible and then hope to guide you in the right direction to make the best possible decision for yourself.
League tables, good university guides and prospectuses
These should help you make your selection but they are all flawed!
The league table statistics are, on the whole, more than 3 years out of date. This is not very helpful to you because you want to know what they are like now and what they will be like 1, 2, 3 years down the line! So, use them at your peril!
The most important statistics to pay attention to are the non completion rate and the graduate destination.
Why?
Non completion or “dropout rate”
Well, if there is a high non completion rate or drop out rate there must be a reason behind it! Make it your mission to look behind the gloss of the prospectus to find out what is behind it.
Ask yourself “Why?” the stats are what they are!
Graduate destination
How many of the previous students are employed, in further education or still seeking a job? A very important statistic to check out. If a student is struggling to find a job now, what chance will you have 3 years down the line? Rhetorical question but if you still want the answer, it’s very little!
The majority of you looking to go to Uni are doing so to improve your employability. Granted this may not consciously be your primary objective but the life experience and the letters you earn to put after your name when you Graduate should improve your job prospects. You will be spending about £10,000 on fees alone, make sure you improve your chances of earning this back in the big bad world.
Choose a course that will fast track your progress towards where you want to go!
We’ve done the stats, what next?
The nicely presented, brilliantly glossy, all singing all dancing sales brochure! Oh sorry, slip of the tongue, prospectus.
The title says it all really. Universities charge fees. There are over 100 Univerisities and Higher Education institutions in the UK. They are all competing for your custom. You will pay £3,070 for fees a year. You may well pay for accommodation on top of that.
They are hardly going to write anything bad about themselves are they!
They are however very useful for gathering information about the Uni and the area so use them to gain a basic introduction.
But be warned, they may well be a little bit biased.
The single most important thing (in our opinion).
Are you motivated to do something you don’t want to do? Would you be more motivated doing something you do want to do?
Answer obvious? Should be!
Then choose a course that interests you. After all, you will be expected to motivate yourself to do the work. You are paying to be lectured at. At the end of the day, if you have no interest in what the lecturers are saying, you won’t listen. This is your chance to break away from a strictly defined and highly limited subject offering. But make sure that the course you are choosing has decent job prospects at the end of it.
Choose the course you want to do!
That’s the intro done, what next?
Use our Uni guide section, it is brilliant!
We have spent ages collecting the info we believe should give you a great overview of each Uni in the UK.
We have info on what we say, what the Uni says, what current students say and a selection of videos for you. We will also update a list of open days so you can plan a visit to the Unis.
If we were doing it again this is what we would do;
1. Do some research on courses here www.ucas.com/search/index.html ***
2. Find out where you can study the course you want to do
3. Use our site to research that Uni and use our links to find out the stats
4. Get yourself a shortlist to view
5. Find out when the open days are and book your place on them
6. Get a feel for the Uni at an open day and ask questions when your there
7. Take your time. Look again. Then make your decisions.
*** bear in mind that UCAS not impartial, they act as a broker by matching students to the Uni. There information is limited because their primary function is not to provide loads of information (that’s our job).