Is there a book I can buy…

[WellTidy]

That explains the applications process for higher education, what universities are looking for from a student in terms of academics and extra curricular etc?

It is 30 years since DH and I applied for university (UCCA, anyone?!) and I’m imagining it to be more competitive than ever for popular courses.

It would be really helpful for DS15yo to know what is expected of him and what other applicants are spending their time doing to stand out.

I don’t have a book to recommend but the UCAS website has lots of information. You can sign up for Parent emails etc.

Some of the process is about to change, mostly around personal statements and what the school write so be careful comparing past years with the year your DS applies.

Also look into apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships.

No - all the important, up to date info is on the Internet.

Both you and your son should begin with UCAS - read everything. Then you absolutely must read the websites and any additional prospectus for each course and university he’s interested in. They’ll tell you what they’re looking for. Those resources will direct you to others.

From there you can progress to making sure you know about any courses, workshops, competitions relevant to his preferred subjects that will be available to him in sixth form. And whether he needs to build up a portfolio of volunteer work, or art projects or acting roles or whatever - depending on where he hopes to go.

Now would be a very good time to make a start on this - it’s too late to affect his GCSE choices but should help him understand how well he’ll need to do, and how best to approach his A’ Level choices. Also - suss out how helpful his school are likely to be, so you can be proactive if they’re not.

(I’m sure there are books on uni application but really, waste of money. However, something on Critical Thinking might be useful.)

One other thing - many of the careers current schoolchildren will go into did not exist when we were leaving school. So you need to be open minded and investigate novel possibilities before dismissing them as nonsensical. (However hard that might be.)

The Times university guide is excellent and impartial. We recommend it to all our students.

Agree UCAS has a parents info area. Unless he is looking at a vocational degree like medicine or engineering he does not need to be concerned just yet about cocurriculars and work experience.

Schools usually provide career guidance regarding university.

From what I remember, work backwards. Ie start thinking generally what careers dc may enjoy, and then look at uni websites that offer those courses. They’ll give you an idea of what a-levels are needed.

Also, consider degree apprenticeships. There’s lots around nowadays, and a good alternative.

Regarding ‘standing out’, it’s always useful to have work experience in the a relevant area. Ie. Want to be a vet, volunteer at local RSPCA place, or want to be a sports physio, then help run a youth football team. Alternatively, just actively take part in dc drama school, netball club, etc so they can show dedication, teamwork etc outside of school.

Finally, don’t over do the pressure now. There’s a one way to go between now and then.

And yes, I remember UCCA and PCAS

@MetaDaughter
”One other thing - many of the careers current schoolchildren will go into did not exist when we were leaving school. So you need to be open minded and investigate novel possibilities before dismissing them as nonsensical. (However hard that might be.)”

Thats so true. Some I’d really love to do.

This is all really helpful, thank you. I will take a look at the ucas website and bring myself up to date.

He doesn’t know what he wants to do as a career. He particularly likes Geography, English and is interested in politics and current affairs. Loves a soapbox. Watches loads of Panorama.

He could try the new Career Matcher quiz at WhatUni:

https://www.whatuni.com/career-guides/career-matcher/detailed/

It’s helped DD (also 15) to identify a possible future direction, and she’s feeling all inspired!

The main thing they are looking for apart from grades is what are you doing outside of school/sixth form etc to show your love of your subject. To paraphrase a top uni admissions person, we want to know that you love your subject so much that when you are at uni you get up in the semi-dark on a winter morning, walk in the rain to your lecture and want to do the work set.

In your son's case, start documenting things now for his personal statement. Open up a word/google doc and he can put in what he watched, read, listened to. From that he needs to think about what he learned and where that might have led him. Neither of my two did Geography but I will take a stab at English for you based on what my son put for his STEM subject.

If your son read Pride and Prejudice he could focus on the role of women at that time then this could lead him to read other books written around the same time, possibly by a male author and see if the women are represented in the same way. He could look at women writing under pseudonyms and why they did that. It is about what he discovers, what interested him and where that led him. It might be two opposing views and he can say where he lands on it. It isn't just a list of books he has read but more like a research piece. Apply that to politics/geography etc.

Volunteering within his subject would be a good thing to do. Google jobs for geography degree and see what places come up to get an idea of what he could do now. UCAS is a great tool for information.

The one thing I will say is entry grades are the lowest they will take applicants in on. So if a uni course wants AAA then that might be an aspirational to one student but for someone with 4 A star predictions that might be an insurance choice. The higher the grades at GCSE the easier A levels will be and the more uni doors are open for top grades.

Google top unis for XXXXX, look at the courses they offer, there are usually lots of combinations of subjects too as well as the single subject. And ask here too for specific info as time goes on

I thought Personal Statements are about to be phased out?

My impression is that only a minority of institutions actively care about the ‘loving your subject’ stuff - most will have an AI bot sifting everyone’s grades in the space of three seconds. But once you’re at university it’s your own motivation and energy that propel you forward - so the earlier in life you find an enthusiasm and … practise it, the better.

And I don’t acknowledge that there need be any connection between ‘gaining useful knowledge’ and ‘pressure’. You only need to read a handful of threads here to be aware that ‘pressure’ is what a parent and child feel when they rock up to a university fair or open day in yr 13, only to find the child has studied completely the wrong A’ Levels for the course they hoped to study …

@WellTidy DD is aiming to study English and is holding her dream offer (just needs to get the grades..). If your son is interested in Geography, English and Politics then a subjects like English, PPE, Environmental studies, Geography, Migration and probably a lot more are all available to him. The note about careers that don't yet exist is very pertinent. I also highlight my note below about essay writing competitions.

The really really competitive subjects are PPE and then the sciences like Economics, Natural Sciences, Maths etc. As a guide DD's friends studying STEM subjects got offers of A star A star A for their offers from Oxbridge, but the arts students are getting A star A A. DD also got all five offers out of her applications but her friends who are typically predicted 3 A stars got 3 out of 5. I don't think it is any secret that STEM is more competitive at the present time and by the time your DS comes through it will likely be even tougher due to the demographics and predicted numbers looking to apply at that time.

DD did do an EPQ which she was able to talk about at her Oxbridge interview. There is no guarantee it made any difference but I know it gave her confidence, momentum and knowledge. For her insurance universities they lowered the grade if she got a good result in her EPQ which isn't relevant for a huge number of universities but can be helpful for some. I think her EPQ and entering (and winning!) an Oxbridge essay writing competition helped tip the balance in her favour.

It's surprisingly easy , start looking at open days now if he isn't sure .
You just submit the unis and they send the offers .

Dd got two unconditional so we took one of them .

From recent experience with DS, admissions tutors are not interested in Duke of Edinburgh scheme (they said so explicitly). When your DS is in yr12 he could do a MOOC or two that he is really interested in. It might also help him decide what he would like to study. They are free and there is a huge range to choose from.

This is all hugely useful, thank you. I’d never heard of MOOS or EPQ and quite fancy some of the MOOS myself! Disappointing to hear that D of E isn’t in favour, as DS is doing his Silver at the moment. Also very enlightening to hear of these top grade offers being relatively normal. I got three Cs at A level, and did Law, so it seems that things have moved on somewhat!

MOOC

There is also a face book group “what I wish I knew about university “ and it’s associated web pages which is very helpful for any questions Eg student finance etc etc .

the main difference to when we applied ( also UCCA here!) is that the universities don’t get to see where else you have applied (*) or how you rank them . In my day certain universities rejected you if you didn’t rank them where they thought they should be !. Also in those days you could keep all offers open until results day - whereas these day you firm your favourite choice and insure with a backup which you will get if they meet their conditions but not those of your firm ( unless your firm decides to take you anyway) . If you meet those conditions then that is where you will go. If you don’t meet your insurance conditions either then automatically you go into clearing . The other big difference is that you need to apply for student finance whereas in our day tuition fees were free.

• if you submit early in Oct that might indicate you have applied for Oxbridge but that’s the sum of it !

re DofE - so much to be gained from doing DofE but not directly from a personal statement point of view . Saying that at Gold level my son did a residential which cemented a partic love and has shaped his uni direction . His sibling was involved in a serious medical emergency on gold expedition ( when you are unsupervised ) and a would be medic was able to use how they dealt with the casualty and the pressure ( air ambulance wasn’t able to land , and land rescue crews took ages to arrive ) in her successful application process.

Oxbridge essay writing competition

@PettsWoodParadise is this just for English students or other subjects and how do you find out about them?

The competition DD entered isn’t just for English, it is a wide range of subjects including biological sciences, computer science, etc etc . take a look at https://newn.cam.ac.uk/admissions/access-and-outreach/newnham-essay-prizes/

talk to your DC’s school and they may be able to recommend others.

@PettsWoodParadise - that’s excellent thanks so much

If you're on Facebook there's a group called wiwikau that's really useful https://www.facebook.com/groups/wiwikau/?ref=sharegroupp_link&exp=8ce3

The other big difference is that you need to apply for student finance whereas in our day tuition fees were free.

Okay, so the change since pre- Things can only get better days is that finance has to be applied for for (unless Mum and Dad are paying because it's so much less than school fees haha) for university tuition fees, but I went to university in the early 1980s and an application for maintenance (admittedly, a grant, not a loan) definitely had to made then and, as is the case today, was means tested.

Another one saying that you don't really need a book. This section on MN has been invaluable for us.

Can highly recommend the book 'From High School to Uni' for the next stage - after your kid has been accepted to university which tells you what to prepare, pack and get ready for student life.

Is there anything in that book that’s not on the Student Room or on MN - constantly updated??