Making Higher Education Choices

I frequently get asked by my students about how to make sound university choices. Some want to be at the best university whilst others are keen to find the right course. There s a lot to consider.

If you know, for certain, that you want to follow a vocational course such as medicine, vet science, engineering, or anything where you can t learn the required skills elsewhere, then at least you know what you re applying for. There will likely also be fewer institutions to choose from which means fewer options but the number of applications per place may be high. Always make sure you have a Plan B, just in case competition is fierce in your application cycle. But if you re thinking about a pure subject a science or language, English, history, psychology, management, etc then the whole UCAS system is your oyster.

So where do you start? Things to consider might include:
- University ranking
- Course/Subject ranking
- Entry profile (typical offer)
- Campus vs Town location
- Quality of teaching
- Student experience rating
- Quality of research
- Geographical location
- Extra-curricular offerings Sports, societies, political & volunteering opportunities

There are no hard and fast rules to follow in making your choices, so I always offer these two guiding principles to my students.

1. Choose a course you will be happy studying
Higher education is going to take up years of your life. Choosing a subject that you actively enjoy means you re more likely to complete the course, and come out of it with a good result. Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else. said Peter Pan creator James M. Barrie. The happier you are with your work, the happier and more successful you will also be in all aspects of your life. You will form a huge part of your personality, acquire new life skills and meet those and learn things that will shape your future whilst studying. Wouldn t it be great to be a healthy, happy, fully functioning and contributing member of the community when you manage all of that?

2. What grades are you likely to achieve in the summer?
Sometimes your teachers will make grade predictions that you don t like. Tough. That s their professional opinion, made on reflection of the work you ve done over the course of the last year or so. Asking them to inflate your predicted grades may get you more offers, but if you don t achieve those grades, then you may lose out on both your firm and insurance choices on results day.

Based on your predictions, look for courses with entry profiles that cover your bases:
- One aspirational choice (deals with any possible under-predictions)
- Three choices at or around your predicted grades
- One backup choice just in case you miss a prediction or two. Do, however, make sure you would be happy going to your backup choice!

Many students prefer the inclusive nature that a campus university will lend itself to some want the opportunities that a town-based location will offer. To some, the institution name going on their future CV is more important than the quality of teaching that will help get them there.

Ultimately the choice is yours and as I said, there are no simple rules for choosing. Just ensure you are genuinely happy with your choice of course and university, as you are the one who has to live with it for the next few years.