Applying to Higher Education

Getting started

For most of you the application process begins in earnest in September-November of your final year at school or college. There is lot of information available so it is important to be well organised. Good research is crucial so:

• You should be aware of and consult the many sources of information that are available - that includes talking to people, especially admissions tutors;
• Attend events if possible - they help you get the full picture;
• Choose a course that really interests you and look at the individual course content if possible. A university may not have top ten ranking in a particular list but may be good for your particular course. Keep your options open and make informed choices. There is a wide choice of courses at HE so if, for example, you are interested in physics you might also like to consider similar courses, such as engineering.

Sources of information

Here are some starting points for your research:

• University websites (don't forget to visit the relevant department pages);
• University printed prospectuses;
• University admissions tutors;
• UCAS website;
• Unistats, an official site letting you compare subjects across universities and colleges and see reviews by students;
• University open days, these are excellent for getting answers to lots of questions and to find out about the place you'll be living and studying in for the next few years;
• Taster courses;
• Summer schools, often residential courses that give you the experience of university life;
• UCAS books, information on useful publications;
• The Times university guide;
• The Guardian university guide;
• The Virgin guide to British universities;
• The Daily Telegraph guide to UK universities.

Guide to applying to Higher Education

Post-18 years there are so many options for you to take, and a much wider range of courses to consider compared to what was on offer to you post-16 years. But how do you know where to start to make the most of your potential?

You may decide to go into Higher Education but then there are even more decisions to make as you think about courses, location and funding. Fear not - Future Morph has pulled the information together for you to hopefully show you how to get the most of your research and help you decide what you want to do next.

Recent research into progression routes in STEM that was carried out on behalf of SCORE (Science Community Representing Education), showed that young people and their advisers now have a huge amount of complex information to locate and go through in order to make choices about progression into STEM degree courses. So we decided to give students a helping hand and put together this guide to applying to higher education to make the process a little easier.

Download the document below to view the Future Morph guide to applying to higher education. This guide is designed to help lead you through your search and record what you find out.

The guide focuses on 3 key areas that we think you should be addressing at this time including which course you should study, where you should apply to, and encouraging you to compare the entry requirements to make sure it is the right choice for you.

You can type straight into all of the tables and save your own version, or print it out - whatever you prefer! Just make sure that you use the guide to benefit YOU and adapt and expand it to fit your needs.

Informed Choices

The Russell Group have produced a guide to making decisions about post-16 education. 'Informed Choices' is aimed at all students considering A-level and equivalent qualifications, and is available to download in pdf format at the bottom of this webpage.

Other STEM Higher Education advice

• Choosing a degree - the essential guide, Royal Society of Chemistry
• Higher Education Courses, Institute of Physics
• Higher Education and Beyond, Biochemical Society
• Careers - A Future in Biology, Society of Biology
• Engineering at university, Tomorrows engineers