Course and University Choice Year 13 General Studies PowerPoint 7 rhscareers

Find a course which matches your interests, career aspirations and talents. Which subjects are you interested in? What are your talents? What sort of job would you like to do after leaving uni? What academic skills would you like to improve? Check carefully if a particular degree is required for a future career choice Explore the subjects you are interested in to discover a wide variety of courses. Consider combination courses if you would like to study more than 1 subject. Study one of your A level subjects Start new subject out of curiosity or interest which may or may not lead to a specific career Which Subject?

Quiz Consider the following factors and match them with the % of respondents who considered them as “very important” when choosing their future career - Factor Challenging workJob securityWork-life balance LocationAcademic ReputationTraining opportunities Career development opportunities Environmental issues taken seriously Global development issues taken seriously SalaryCulture 12% 20% 21% 35% 45% 45% 49% 52% 54% 62%

Factor % respondents thought “very important” Challenging work35% Environmental issues taken seriously20% Job security45% Work-life balance62% Global development issues taken seriously12% Location30% Academic Reputation45% Salary54% Culture21% Training opportunities49% Career development opportunities62%

Use to research courses. Turn to page 15 in the Careers Booklet and list FE or HE courses that you are considering. Then, research and note 3 or 4 career destinations associated with each of your current AS subjects. (Use Career Ideas Generator) Read through the lists of Familiar, New Non- Vocational and Vocational courses on page 16 and add at least 2 additional courses of your choice to each list. (Use A-Z list of courses)

Spend further time researching courses: (1)

(2)

Vocational or not? Read through the first half of page 17 How many pupils would like to study a vocational course? How many would like to study a non-vocational course? Ask pupils to explain why they have selected vocational / non-vocational options? In groups discuss the advantages/disadvantages of each. Complete the exercise at the bottom of page 17 (Use the Career Ideas Generator and A-Z list of courses) Advantages of Vocational CoursesAdvantages of Non-Vocational Courses Develop practical and academic skillsKeeps career options open Increased change of a jobDevelops transferrable skills Focus on what is needed for jobStudy subject in depth

Which Uni / College? Consider issues such as- 1.Location – Fees? Campus? Living away from home? Guaranteed accommodation? Cost of accommodation? 2.Course content – not all history degrees are the same! How is the degree assessed? Are there any work placements? 3.Predicted grades – trust your teachers! Select at least 3 courses which have entry requirements equal to or below your predicted grades. 4.Reputation – check the Times and Guardian league tables which are released each year. Pay close attention to graduate employment rates.

Home or Away? In small groups, try and think of 4 advantages and disadvantages of staying at home (Bel Met, SERC, QUB or UU) and 4 advantages and disadvantages of going away (GB, Europe, USA etc). Record these on page 18 of your Careers Booklet. Did you include any of these? - Advantages of staying at homeDisadvantages of staying at home Lower tuition fees (£3500/yr)Lack of Independence Cheaper to liveMainly NI students Part-time jobLimited experiences Family reasonsReduced opportunities

Homework – Use the website above to find 5 universities in GB which you are interested in researching further. Locate your selected unis / colleges on the map at the bottom of page 18. Advantages of going awayDisadvantages of going away independenceTuition Fees (£9000/year) Grow as individualAccommodation costs Broaden horizonsReduced family support Top uni for courseExam stress

Quiz Consider the following factors and match them with the % of respondents who considered them as “very important” when choosing which university / college to apply to - Factor Course position in league tables Uni/college position in league tables Proximity of uni / college to home nightlifeTeaching methodsEntry requirements Reputation of uni / college Environmental issues taken seriously Global development issues taken seriously Reputation of courselocationQuality of teaching 5% 8% 23% 25% 29% 35% 37% 40% 48% 54% 58% 59%

Factor % respondents thought “very important” Teaching methods35% Environmental issues taken seriously5% Course position in league tables23% Uni / college position in league tables40% Graduate employment rates58% Proximity to home37% Entry requirements29% location25% nightlife8% Reputation of course48% Reputation of uni / college59%

Complete ‘Choose your Top University Questionnaire’ on pages 19 to 29. When finished, look over your answers and record all of the things you ticked ‘die for’ on page 30. Next select your top 10 things to ‘die for’ and record these in the table in the middle of page 30. When researching which uni or college to apply for, it is important that you consider this list of things which are important to you.

Researching Course and Uni Options It is now essential that you spend time fully researching course and university choices. Use - as a suitable website for researching and storing all of your information. This research will take many hours so don’t get fed up - take breaks, spread research over a number of weeks and talk to parents / guardians about your findings.

Using -

SACU can be used as a means of recording all of your research regarding skills, courses, unis/colleges and careers as well as the progress of your UCAS application next year.

Record your SACU progress on page 31. When you have narrowed down your course options to 4 or 5, complete the table on page 32. Think carefully about why you have selected each course. When you have narrowed your universities / colleges down to 4, record these at the top of page 33. Make sure you can answer the questions regarding fees, position in league tables, student satisfaction and graduate employment rates in the table on page 33. Have your top 4 unis changed? If so, why?