STAGES IN THE UNIVERSITY ENTRANCE PROCEDURE

1. VISIT TO THE National Higher Education convention to gather information on courses and different universities. (March in Lower Sixth)
2. Centigrade to test your aptitude for various courses and universities. (March in Lower Sixth)
3. Personal interviews with Mrs. Baillie. (Summer Term in Lower Sixth)
4. Choose your course and SIX possible universities. (Summer Term)
5. Write your personal statement to support your application. (Summer Term and holidays)
6. Visit some of the universities either during the summer holidays or when they hold open days
7. Complete application forms online, for Medicine and Oxbridge this needs to be done by 15th October. For most other courses by 15th December
8. Some courses will require you to attend an interview. You will be given a practise interview in school
9. Receive offers
10. Choose one firm and one insurance choice
11. WORK HARD AND GET YOUR GRADES

CHOOSING THE RIGHT COURSE

There are several considerations that need to be taken into account before you choose your course:

1. Remember there is no ‘best place’, you must choose the course that suits you.
2. Start with thoughts about what you like to study. A) Choose something that you have enjoyed at school or a related subject. B) There are over 25000 different courses so you could choose something new, beware some universities make the name of the course sound more interesting than it really is in order to attract students, so make sure that you look at the content of the course. C) You could choose a vocational course but do not just choose it because it is in demand at the moment, in 4 years time things will have changed.
3. You must be guided by your predicted grades and choose a course that matches your ability. It is important not too aim too high or too low.
4. Next you need to think about where you would like to study. There are two types of university; ‘city universities’ are usually in the city centre and they are often spread over a large area but have the advantage of having all amenities close by. ‘Campus universities’ however are self contained towns in their own right usually a few miles out of town; they usually have their own banks, entertainment etc. Then you need to think about where in the UK you would like to be - close to home or as far away as possible? Do make sure that you go to see the town before you decide.
5. Be intelligently sceptical about league tables, they vary greatly according to which organisation is writing them e.g. the Guardian thinks that career destination of graduates is important therefore it rates this highly whereas the Times rate student entry points. The only reliable guides are ‘research assessment’ this is done on the Hardy scale 1-5*, there is also teaching quality known as the TQA score which ranges from 1-24.
6. Other minor considerations are the size of the institution, the balance between male and female (very important some of you may say!), the extra curricula activities that are offered and the job success rate at the end of the course.

You will find that your Centigrade report back is very helpful; this will give you 6 subjects that they think would be suitable for you and the institutions where you could study them. At the back of the report is a section where you can fill in notes about the research you carry out on each university. Remember that the admissions secretaries are there to hep you so if you have any questions phone them.