Welcome to

Higher Education Information

Evening

Introduction

Laurence JobAssistant Principal

WHY HIGHER EDUCATION?

Choice of course

Less unemployment - more versatile

Greater earning power

An investment

The experience itself

Higher Education – Making the right choice

Stella Barnes

H.E.& Careers Adviser

The Universities & Colleges Admissions Service is a UK based charity whose main role is providing the application process for almost all British universities

Applicants submit a single application via the UCAS online Apply service

Early applications are specifically required for Oxford & Cambridge Universities & Medicine, Dentistry & Veterinary Science Degree courses

Q.E. students receive targeted support throughout the UCAS process & particularly when writing their personal statement

Higher Education - a great deal of choice

More than 55,000 courses exist at over 340 providers including Universities, H.E. Colleges & F.E. Colleges offering Degrees, Foundation Degrees & Diplomas

At Q.E. more than 700 students apply through UCAS each year & they choose to study at between 80 – 100 different institutions spread geographically from Falmouth to Cardiff to Norwich to Aberdeen & Belfast

An increasing number of students are choosing to study abroad either full time or for a year as part of a UK degree in e.g. Switzerland, the Czech Republic, North America & Australasia

Current situation in H.E. (1)

Increased competition between H.E. providers has led to a marketing frenzy which has resulted in:-

Targeting applicants & sometimes exerting undue pressure on them to make early acceptance decisions

A rise in the number of UNCONDITIONAL offers

An increase in financial incentives

Current situation in H.E. (2)

Increasing popularity of Vocational Degrees Increasing popularity of part-time study

alongside work as grants & loans are now available

Encouragement for students considering applying to H.E.Is in Northern Europe – mainly Holland, that offer Degrees taught in English at e.g. 1700 Euros tuition fee (some are free)

Increase in PRIVATE H.E.Is e.g. BPP,New College of the Humanities & University of Buckingham - wide range of fees usually higher than the State sector e.g. £18k per year

In a 2014 High Fliers Research survey, the majority of employers said it was unlikely that an undergraduate without any work experience would get a job. As more than three-fifths of graduate employers provide placements, typically as part of degree courses & a similar proportion offer summer internships, it is important for applicants to be aware of this in order to be competitive.

Graduate employment prospects

DEVELOPMENTS

A greater emphasis on “value for money”- students as consumers making more use of student satisfaction surveys - UNISTATS appears on all H.E.I. websites

Increased parental interest in the quality of H.E. staff/student contact time & feedback

An increase in “HYBRID” degrees e.g. the Ernst Young / Lancaster University & PWC/ Newcastle University models

Greater collaboration between H.E.Is in course delivery & provision of facilities

Existence of Foundation Degrees of 2 years plus top-up of 12/18 months which suit some students who want a “stepped” approach

Ryan - A Foundation Degree success story

Foundation Degree in Sports Coaching at Myerscough College, Preston.

Coached Soccer in the U.S.A. Returned to Darlington & began work at EE

Took some part time courses at Q.E. to help him return to learning

Gained a place on the 1 year top-up Degree in Sport Coaching at Newcastle College

Has progressed to postgraduate training to teach P.E.

RESEARCH – Do not SKIMP on this make FULL use of both paper and web based RESOURCES

COMPETITION – Be aware of this there is NO EXCUSE not to be well informed when you apply

STRATEGY – Develop a REALISTIC PLAN

3 Ingredients for SUCCESS

An ESSENTIAL Resource

www.qeliz.ac.uk – follow the “After Q.E.” tab – there are a lot of useful websites linked to this and it is FREE

Our Q.E.Careers/H.E.website

ENHANCED RESEARCH is ESSENTIAL

Use the HEI websites & their social networking pages to full capacity and if information is hard to find contact course leaders/admissions tutors direct- many prefer e-mail

Do not rely too heavily on “league tables” Visit - either formally or informally & use

YouTube videos of campuses Use other websites for a balanced picture – a

useful one is www.whatuni.com. -don’t accept the heavy marketing & “hype” at face value

Use www.whichuniversity.co.uk to compare H.E.Is

Useful resource UNIFROG available on Moodle

H.E.I.s other factorsPhysical / Reputation

UK or abroad City

centre/rural Campus Employer

contact Collegiate Large/small Facilities Accommodatio

n Cost

Distance from home

Teaching quality

Research Staff/Student

ratio Entry grades Assessment Progression

How Can College Staff Help?

Encourage feedback from students at all stages of the application process & check progress on UCAS Adviser Track

Challenge ANYTHING that seems odd as H.E.I.s make mistakes

Play “Devil’s Advocate” if students are in a sea of confusion especially due to strong marketing

Our College mantra for H.E. advice & guidance to students

is:-

“The BEST University is the one

that BEST suits your individual needs”

Student Preparation for H.E. Applications

Support so far………

Throughout the year - Work with tutor. Advice and guidance ` from College’s HE & Careers

Advisers

January –March -Tutorial programme on Higher Education -Visits to universities

29th April - HE Convention at Teesside University

8th June – 19th June - A2/HE/Careers fortnight in college- Talks, tutorials and subject based

sessions - research tasks for students- time to develop CVs in preparation for

job applications for both full- time & part-time jobs as well as internships whilst at

university

The Future (1) Summer holidays

– individual research, university visits and undertaking wider reading and/or

voluntary work to strengthen university applications

First week back- Further research on university courses in light

of AS results- Advice on writing effective personal

statements - Meetings of students applying to Oxford and Cambridge and for Medicine,Dentistry & Veterinary Science

September - Identification of student intentions for next year

- Agreement of individual deadlines - Start of UCAS drop-in sessions

The Future (2) 25th September – Internal deadline for

applications to Oxford/Cambridge and for Medicine,Dentistry and

Veterinary Science

23rd October - Deadline for students applying for competitive courses

27th November - Internal deadline for remaining H.E applications.

15th January - Final deadline for receipt of applications at UCAS.

The Future (3)

Progress of applications monitored using “Track” section of UCAS website.

For some subjects (at certain universities) there are additional tests which students have to sit

For some courses students may be called for interview.

Responses (offers/rejections) from universities within days/weeks/months of receipt of applications.

Final CF & CI choices should be made by May onwards