University - we don't know where to start!

I used to be a lecturer at Edge Hill but they've slowly been decimating the courses (mainly Arts/Humanities in favour of STEM) so I lost my job along with dozens of others.

I don't know anything about the Plant Sciences course (to be honest I didn't know they had one!) but, with your sons predicted grades, I think Edge Hill might be a good option.

The campus is stunning and the accomodation fantastic. You get the uni experience but in a very safe environment. I loved London as a teenager and couldn't wait to get down there for years on end so by the time I moved there to study I was overjoyed and very excited. I was very surprised to absolutely hate it, feel unsafe, struggle to make friends (people seemed so cold and distant compared to my hometown) and find it very expensive - it is financially crippling to study in London unless you have family already living there. I know I would have been much happier at Edge Hill. We didn't have many problems with homesickness, compared to other universities I worked at. The students are a really nice bunch, it's not at all "edgy" or "rough". It is rural, in a small pretty country town called Ormskirk.

That being said, if he wants a bit of city life then Liverpool is 20 mins by train and Manchester not too far either. There are also cities and towns like Preston, St Helens, Warrington, Chorley, Wigan that aren't too far so it's not cut off at all.

The management is very keen on the "student experience" being at the forefront. There are lots of initiatives to keep students happy...there seemed to be a major event most weeks. Christmas Fair, Therapy Dogs, "Feelgood February" etc. There are excellent gym, sports, swimming facilities, the library is fantastic, there's a theatre which (as well as student shows) has visits from well known comedians, free cinema etc. Students can study a language for free too and the student societies are excellent and varied. Dining is fab. Gahhhh I really miss working there!

There are videos on Youtube by students on living at Edge Hill, check them out and visit too.

Do ask though about recruitment...if there's 10 students or less each year it's likely the course will be phased out.

Just start off by going to the first open day that close to you even if he's no intention of going there. They have all kinds of "talks" about funding, accommodation, and usually short tours of the campus. You have to start somewhere!

They usually have stalls where you can talk to staff/students, pick up brochures/leaflets, do tours of laboratories, gyms, theatres, etc - just whatever floats his boat really. Each department will also have subject talks which give an overview of the courses they offer, structure (i.e. module patterns), etc etc.

Our son was the same and he found it a brilliant way of "immersion" in the experience, and a good starting point to answer some of the questions, etc. It meant he could make informed choices about which other Uni open days he wanted to go to and then, as some "talks" have the same content whichever Uni, you don't need to do the "funding" talk again etc.

Once you've done a few open days, you can then start drilling deep into the brochures and websites to get to the detail of the Uni, facilities, courses, etc.

Yes Edge Hill is an unusual one. Not an ex-poly, not RG, not plate glass, but newish. They were some other kind of college and then moved out of Liverpool and at some point became a full Uni. Are the grades they want about right?

You want to include a couple of applications that are "aspirational" (wanting better grades than your sin is predicted), one that's "safe" (slightly lower grades than he's expecting) and the rest more or less in line with what he's expecting. By the time he has to narrow it down, he will have a better idea how his grades are looking.

What grade degree will he need for the next stage?

What kind of grades can he expect at A level? Any idea what he's getting for assignments? What GCSE grades did he get?

Firstly, have a look at this about how much money he will be entitled to from the government in the form of a maintenance loan which will pay for his accommodation, food, books, travel, socialising etc. His loan will be based on your household income meaning you will have to top up his loan. As a ballpark Dc's first year halls were £6k, the loan was £4.5k (minimum loan amount available) and Dc still needed food. That is where the bank of Mum and Dad comes in.

https://www.savethestudent.org/student-finance/maintenance-loans.html#amount

Google best UK unis for plant science, start looking at their entry grades to see if this fits in with his grade profile. Also youtube will have videos from the unis themselves and also students talking about their lives at that uni.

Open days are great but are usually held when uni students are home so far less people milling about but they are good to book onto. Visit some cities over the next few months, walk around the university grounds or around the buildings to get a feel for what it is like. Start looking at summer schools now, google year 12 summer schools in plant science etc, some will be online, some are free others are a few hundred quid.

I suggest a spreadsheet to keep track of the unis and their entry grades etc. And remember to come back and ask MN questions, anything from a particular uni or course, accommodation, whatever. Lots of us have been through this with our own children. Both Dh and I went to uni but Dc2 is at a sixth form where 75% are first gen uni applicants. When I went only around 20% of 18 year olds went, that means a lot of adults didn't go so you are not alone in that.

Wow that is niche for a 17 year old - good for him! He's certainly doing the right subjects, and recognises need for plan B - he sounds very clued up. Yes to open days, check out how much you'll be expected to pay maintenance-wise. And for him, check Biology course content carefully - plant science modules may be very scarce at some places. What grades is he likely to get?

Hey, it's a a minefiled, isn't it?

At the risk of being too simple, here is how it works.

Your son applies through Ucas. There is a fee (about 30 quid from memory). The deadline is usually the end of Jan for the year you applying to. /some jjis, like Oxford and Cambridge have an early deadline). You get 5 choices.

Your son has to write a personal statement and get teacher references. He has to input his predicted grades and any other relevant qualifications (so for music, you might put the grades you achieved in say, piano or whatever). Once the Ucas form is compete you press submit.

The universities will start to make offers. Once the offers are in you firm a choice and insure a choice. The insurance choice is one that you are pretty damn sure you'll get the grades for, so if you don't make the grades for the firm, on results day you'll be certain of getting your insurance. If everything goes horribly wrong and you miss the grades for both offers, you go into clearing. Clearing is where unis advertise the courses that didn't fill up and you scramble to get on one of those courses. Lots of phoning round on results day.

So that's the application process.

To get to the stage where you put preferred unis down, you start by thinking about what subjects or careers interest you.

So, say your son is taking stem subjects and wants to study pharmacology, you look at all of the pharmacology courses. Then you check that your son has the right a levels. If he does, then you look at the typical offer. So say your son is predicted and A and 2Bs, you look at unis around that entry requirement. One should be aspirational (so 2As and a B), a couple should be around the same entry requirements as predicted grades and one a bit lower (say, 3 Bs).

By now you should have a decent list of unis. Then you start thinking about where those unis are. So, say you live in Manchester, does he want to live within a 2 hour radius, or is he keen to go all the way down south?

Some unis are campus unis, so a dedicated space where all of the buildings are with accommodation in or very near the same site. Or a city uni, where the buildings are dotted throughout the city and accommodation is too.

Some unis accommodation is more expensive than others.

We looked at some unis in the midlands. University of Birmingham is a campus uni. Coventry Uni is a city uni. Warwick is a bit of both, but students often live in Coventry and commute to Warwick (not that far). Some students live at home and drive to uni every day or get the train to uni every day.

I'd set aside some time over a weekend and do all of the uni/course research. Then book into some open days (go on the actual university website, they'll be advertised). You should be able to visit the department, talk to the staff who run the course as well as current students. You should be able to see the accommodation and other facilities, like the library, student Union and stuff.

There are some things that are different, depending on the course. Arts courses may ask for a portfolio or interview for example.

Hope this helps! I have been a bit general about some elements, but the gist is there!

Exciting times.

Start with the perfumery school and work backwards.

What degrees do they favour? Then which is the best uni you can get into that does that or those subjects.

Then look at the careers those courses lead to if he doesn't make his dream, what else would he be happy with?

That’s quite niche!

Costs obviously higher in London. DS currently pays £165pw for university accommodation, going down to £115pw next year (foregoing ensuite). A friend at a London university is paying £250pw

Following, as I'm in the same boat and clueless. Apprenticeships are another option depending on what your son wants to do.

I may be slated for this but here goes. One of the reasons for the income gap between rich and poor being so huge is that first generation aspiring uni students are sometimes ignorant of or ill advised in choosing the right degree and university that will make them employable in a very expensive competitive world. They may also not know lawyers, IT consultants, engineers, pharmacists, biochemists etc in the family or friend group so don't aspire to the professions.

A 'vocational' degree like law, medicine, biochemistry, pharmacology, veterinary science, accountancy, certain sciences and so on from a 'good' university (not a former polytechnic - Oxford Cambridge or a Russell group university or a other well regarded uni outwith that group- look at Times higher education guide etc) is more likely to lead to well paid employment.

He should do lots of googling and think about what he wants and also look at statistics for employability and salary levels on graduation and onwards. Eg. Economics graduates and law graduates often amongst highest paid.

You could join WIWIKAU on Facebook, there’s loads of people on there asking every question possible so it might help. I’d use the links above too for balance because WIWIKAU can get a bit intense. That site is very focused on all unis being equal, whereas I feel like MN is more focused on some unis being better than others- I’d personally err more towards MNs view although I can see there are exceptions/there’s nuance.

One thing to factor in too is letting your DS lead. Obviously most teenagers need a bit of help, but if research/a point of view/some light scheduling is more than he can cope with (and I’m not saying it is- just if) then a year out is amazing for building life skills!

League tables can be quite odd, sometimes useful to look at individual criteria ranking rather than overall ranking as some league tables have a bias towards a certain criteria which might not be as important to your DS.

When doing open days look at the surrounding area too as might be living there after first year

Take him to a few open days. Even take him to stroll around some campuses on ordinary days, if you're anywhere near or passing.

Narrowing down to some subjects - or groups of subjects - is a good start.

I gave up on the Guardian university league tables for subjects when they insisted University of Suffolk was the strongest institution for History degrees. The complete guide or the Times guide are good, though, and the UCAS site has much more information than it used to.