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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

University - we don't know where to start!

56 replies

Unicycle82 · 14/03/2024 08:34

My ds is nearly 17 and in his first year of A levels.
He would really like to go to university and we would like to support him. We are very proud, neither myself or my dh went to university and we literally have no idea where to start.

They did go to a UCAS event from college but they only had an hour there and ds said it was packed and just came back with some brochures.

Does anyone have any tips when looking for a university. Did you shortlist 2 or 3 and then travel to see them?

How do you know which universities are best for certain subjects? Or which would suit your child better?

Thanks so much in advance ☺️

OP posts:
crumblingschools · 14/03/2024 08:58

With open days it is now very common for parents to attend as well as young person (in my day would have been total embarrassment if parents attended but now very much encouraged).

Look at price/availability of accommodation, can differ widely

HaveringGold · 14/03/2024 08:57

What I would add is don't be shy - ask anyone you know whose been through the process recently to talk him (and you) through it. Neighbours, family friends, parents or kids a couple years older than him. I'm sure they would be happy to talk to him and give a bit of flavour to the online research.

BumpyaDaisyevna · 14/03/2024 08:54

First up what subjects is he doing at a level.

What grades is he likely to get.

Then you use online info eg www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/courses to sort courses by the likely grades you'd need.

Then choose some that are in the right ballpark in terms of likely offer for the subject- choose one or two that would be a bit ambitious and one that would be an easy win - make a shorltlisy.

Then research the websites of those ones and choose a few to visit open days for, based on which you like the look of, which is closer to what you want (city/campus) etc.

anyolddinosaur · 14/03/2024 08:54

Start here https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/advice-parents-guardians-and-carers

What grades has he got to date and what is he predicted? That determines where he should apply. The school might recommend something like one aspirational, 2 where he expects to get the grades and a couple in case he doesnt get the predicted grades. You should now that what they say in their prospectus is normally less than they offer to students. The Student Room website is useful, he should join.

LIZS · 14/03/2024 08:53

There will be open days in June and September. Hopefully the college will also run information sessions with systems to help narrow down by subject, type of uni, predicted grades vs, entry grades etc and to describe the stages of the process. They may even request them to consider a draft of ps over the summer. Unless they are likely Oxbridge, Medicine/vet/dentistry or need to take a further test such as bmat there is no urgency in early year 13 although some prefer to get the application out of the way.

crumblingschools · 14/03/2024 08:45

Does he have an idea of what he wants to do?

Needs to think about whether campus or city based

Would he want to commute or live away?

Need to think of the costs (depending where you live). In England student loan doesn’t cover living costs. DS saved from his part-time job to help fund his first year