How to encourage working towards University?

[OneMoreMum]

Any ideas on how best to encourage kids towards university and working hard to get into a good one?
DS1 is in year 9, is bright but lazy and has been given targets of all A's in his GCSEs if he makes an effort, B's if not, his current reports (obv only the first of a 3 year GCSE program) forecast mostly Bs and Cs.
How do I light a fire under his bum now about making an effort so that he can get to a good university/good job etc, while there's still time to up his game?
Do any universities run any sort of open days for school kids rather than A-level students? We are in easy reach of London, Birmingham, Oxford & Cambridge - geographically anyway!!

Does he know what he wants to do? (Unlikely at 13 I know!) I think that unless he has a specific aim and then picks a course which has good contacts in that area, university at 18 is a bit of a red herring. There's the student experience of course but for starting £27,000 worth of debt (ie, not even counting living costs) I really don't think it's worth it unless it's a definite investment.

My advice would be do A Levels (you have to now anyway don't you?) and if he doesn't have a clear idea of what he wants by the end of his first year of A Levels, to go out and get some life experience working full time. If he later finds that he needs a degree for a career that he wishes to go into, then he can do it as a mature student where he's more likely to be motivated and do better.

Uni Open days are just that: open. Although most ask for registration, you can usually just turn up anyway and look round. There are lots of targeted events for younger kids, but most will be for schools to sign up for not individuals.

But I think you are putting the cart before the horse. What is he interested in long term (not necessarily named jobs) and what subjects are his strengths and weaknesses. So if video games are his thing, why not check out jobs in the industry (if arty look at graphics, if maths, maybe programming etc etc). You can stress getting ideas and not making plans.

Once he has a vague idea, then work back from this to access routes and qualifications

How did you know video games are his thing? Maybe because he's a 14 year-old boy?? He's really good at science, my preference would be to steer him towards that but obviously it's up to him.
What I mean is that if he decides he wants to go to a good uni at 17, it's too late if he hasn't worked hard at 14/15/16 and come away with a bunch of C's at GCSE. I want him to see the path that working hard might bring.....

Too early

A teenage DS, games had to figure!!

But don't panic. As long as he gets 5Cs including English and Maths at GCSE, he will be able to get into a good uni, including RG, although not the most competitive places (Oxbridge, medicine etc), GCSE's don't matter as much as AS/A2 levels.

Every where I work there are a small number of candidates who have to wait until GCSE results day to have their places confirmed as they are re-sitting Maths in Year 13 and need a C to be admitted, and our A level entry points is ABB-BBB depending on the programme!

It is hard when they don't want to work (DS2 comes to mind) but it will be ok.