Higher Education Information and Advice - Home Page

1. Introduction to Higher Education: what is HE?
2. Choosing a Course
3. Home or Away?
4. Why Higher Education?
5. How Much Will it Cost? Financial help
6. What can I study?
7. Labour Market Information
8. How to get further information and resources

Introduction to Higher Education

What is Higher Education?

This term refers to studies for other qualifications as well as first degrees such as Higher National Diplomas, Diplomas of Higher Education and Foundation Degrees.

You don't have to go to University either. Higher Education is offered in HE colleges, FE colleges, art institutions, colleges of agriculture and by distance learning.

Will I fit in?

If you are concerned that you won't fit in there's no reason to worry. If you are a mature student you won't be surrounded by 18 year olds. In 2008 430,489 students aged 21 or over were admitted through UCAS to full-time higher education. At some universities there are more than 50% mature students. Also there has been an increase in the number of students who have followed an alternative pathway such as vocational qualifications and students from a background where they are the first family member to participate in HE. Again some universities admit a higher proportion of these students than others.

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Choosing a course

Try not to rush into making a decision based on the title of the course. Many courses with similar titles vary enormously in terms of content, module choices, teaching styles and facilities. Some courses have compulsory parts and some even allow you to follow a broad curriculum early on and then allow you to specialise or change track at a later stage.

There are 50,000 courses available through UCAS and the choice can seem overwhelming. Having such a wide range of courses means that you can study subjects and specialisms not available at college.

Make sure that you are aware of which subjects you will need to have studied at college. This means checking the entry requirements and entry profiles for the courses you are interested in. Many courses will accept students who have achieved a specified academic standard regardless of academic background. However, some courses will require a certain knowledge base and will ask for a minimum grade in a specified subject.

Good Decision

Find out what courses fit well with your present course, whether it be an Access course, BTEC national or A levels.

Will the content suit me?

Will I enjoy what I'm studying?

Bad decision

Don't be tempted to think my best mark is in a particular subject or module so it would be best to do that.

Have you done the Stamford Test yet? Have a go at this using the UCAS website.

Use the UCAS website www.ucas.com to research courses available. This will help you to broaden or refine your thinking about the courses on offer and which ones are suitable and a realistic option. Research the course entry profiles using the course search facility on the UCAS website and the course content.

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Home or away?

More and more students are now living at home and going to a local university or college. Many mature students are already settled and choose to go to local universities. Some opt for fitting in Higher Education around employment.

if you decide to move away then you may need help with finding accomodation and normally application packs are sent out automatically to everyone who has been offered a place. However if you have any special requirements it is a good idea to contact the Housing or Accommodation office at your university as soon as possible.

Some universities have accommodation which is specifically for mature students and sometimes there are flats or houses suitable for couples or families.

With halls of residence some are self-catering, some are catered, some are single sex, whilst others are mixed. Some will guarantee places to all first year students and some will put students from similar courses together.

Good decision

Do I want to live away from home and can I afford it?

Do I want a big city or smaller location?

Does it look like and sound like a university that will suit me? You need to visit and get a feel for the place.

Bad decision

Don't just choose the nearest place or somewhere that sounds good with out doing in-depth research and wherever possible visiting preferred choices.

Why Higher Education? 

There's a world of opportunities out there. Higher Education could be your path to an exciting new future. It can help you gain valuable qualifications and open up career options. It can introduce you to new people and experiences. It can allow you to carry on studying something you are really interested in and improve your job prospects and earning potential.

Good Decision

A good decision would be to think about the following - Is University for me?

How will university help me with my future career?

Do I want to do a degree?

Bad decision

A bad decision would be 'Everyone thinks I should apply to University so I might as well go' or 'My friends are all going so I will too'.

How much will it cost? Is there any financial support?

There is a new service called Student Finance England administered by the Student Loans Company, which gives help and support to people with higher education finance queries and applications.

You can begin your application for financial support at the beginning of the application cycle instead of waiting until March. UCAS and Student Finance England have agreed to share data with your permission to ensure that all students who are eligible for bursaries get them.

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What can I study?

There are lots of options to study at HE level. You will need to look at your preferred learning style, the career or occupation you aspire to, how much time you have for study, what other demands there are on your time, the entry requirements and what you are likely to achieve or have achieved.

• Foundation degree
• Honours degree
• Sandwich degree
• Modular degree
• Combined degree
• Major and minor
• Single and joint honours
• Higher National
• Diploma in Higher Education

When looking at higher education you will find that there is lots of jargon to contend with - see other helpful parts of the Wider Horizons website. There is a jargon buster for download from our Advice and Guidance page.

Lots of people now want to stay at home and travel in to university

Others decide to start off their higher education at a Further Education College as this can be a manageable first step

Sandwich courses offer the opportunity to experience the world of work in a job linked to your degree and develop your employability skills as well as motivate you by applying this to your studies on your return to university

Distance learning options are becoming very popular especially with younger students. As they present a way of studying whilst earning and avoid the problem of debt.

Part time higher education study can be a really useful route. Although this can extend the amount of time you study to six years, the chance to get your HE qualification or degree without incurring debt is an advantage worth considering. This is particularly popular with people studying alongside work and where an employer gives study leave and or pays for some or all of the fees.

Sponsorship by an employer or higher apprenticeships and sometimes called graduate apprenticeships. Because of stories of student debt you may find the chance to get paid for doing your degree very appealing. There are schemes advertised but you can also sell the idea to a prospective employer.

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Labour Market Information

Take the time to look at what is likely to happen in the future and what are the prospects for someone taking the course you are thinking of doing.

You can get an idea of employment prospects nationally, regionally and on a local level. The sector skills councils each have websites with varying amounts of information to help you. They will give a picture of the sector.

A useful starting point is the Graduate Prospects website www.prospects.ac.uk this is the official graduate careers site and it provides clear and specific information on the job market to students concerned about their future career.

The Skills for Business network aims to boost productivity and profitability of the UK by identifying and tackling skills gaps and shortages on a sector by sector basis www.ssda.org.uk

The regional observatories publish key regional data and intelligence which you can access www.regionalobservatories.org.uk

Local Businesslink and British Chambers of Commerce will have useful local information as will the local councils.

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How do I do the research? What books shall I use? Which websites are best?

UCAS website: www.ucas.ac.uk

directgov: www.direct.gov.uk/uni

Use the Stamford test on ucas website to find out what course you are suited to or have a go at centigrade - you can follow the link on the ucas site. There is a cost for the Centigrade service.

tHE guide www.heguide.org.uk

The BIG guide - from UCAS - new version each year

Degree Course Offers by Brian Heap - from Trotman - new version each year. This is a really useful book listing the offers from universities for different degree subjects. Lots of useful information such as what to include in your personal statement, number of applicants per place and examples of interview questions.

Choosing your degree course and university by Brian Heap - from Trotman - For each subject area a brief precis of courses at the different universities is given.

Art and Design Directory by ISCO

The following are all guides which give league tables and rank universities according to different factors - really useful as long as you are aware of the criteria. For example, don't be swayed by a ranking where weighting is given to an academic research if you are looking at a vocational programme and learning support is more important. Use alongside rather than instead of other sources of information and advice.

The Times Good University Guide - published each year and also available online www.timesonline.co.uk then go to life and style, then education

The Guardian - University Guide http://educationguardian.co.uk/universityguide2008

The Virgin Alternative Guide to British Universities

The Push Guide to Which University

The more you discover the better informed you are about courses and places you decide to apply for. One way to find out which course and HEI will suit you best is to find out the views of existing students. This can be found using www.unistats.com a website from UCAS and the Higher Education Funding Council. As well as the results from the National Student Survey this site includes information such as the UCAS ponts students joined courses with, what results they achieved and what they went on to do afterwards.