UCAS - Hints and tips: Choosing a course

Hints and tips: Choosing a course

Choosing a course will be straightforward for many university applicants. There will be plenty of young people who know exactly which subject they want to do, and the only question that remains is which institution to go for.

But many other young people wanting to start university next year may not yet have such a clear idea. Even if you have a notion of your future career, picking the right course can be tricky. For anyone who has no idea of their job plans, it is perhaps even harder.

Thankfully, there are loads of resources available, from online guides and websites to careers advisors and university staff, all of whom can help you to pick the course that suits you best.

Careers and Connexions advisers will also be able to help you match up your aspirations with a course.

Unistats is a useful tool. This website lets you compare subjects, universities and colleges, look at student satisfaction ratings and explore the figures about getting a graduate job after completing a course.

Once you have an idea about the subject you want to do, you will need to start researching different courses. University courses cover much more than just than the core subjects you will have studied at school or college. If history is your thing, for example, you could do anything from straight history, ancient history or even history of art.

It's also worth noting that similar sounding courses may in fact be very different. You can make use of the Entry Profiles section on the UCAS website to find out more.

Universities' own websites and prospectuses will give a very good idea of course content. You can also find out what types of jobs people who study a particular subject go on to do.

It is important to remember, however, that you may need to have entrance qualifications in certain subjects for some courses. Use the Course Search tool and university prospectuses to find out exactly what subjects have these requirements.

As such, picking a course is often bound up tightly with your choice of institution. If you have your heart set on a particular university and it does not offer the course you want to do, you will have to think about which one is more important.

University league tables may also be a deciding factor when picking a course. Several different ones are produced every year. It's important to look beyond the headline figures and what you already think you know about a university and consider which institution will serve your needs best. For example, University A may sit much higher than University B in the overall standings, but University B could well be placed higher than University A for a particular course.

Another way to find out information is to speak to current students. The Student Room, which can be accessed via the UCAS Connect Platform, is an online community of graduates and undergraduates who will be able to give you another perspective on a particular course.

Whatever course you decide to study in the end, there is no shortage of help and support for you to make what will be a life-altering decision.

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