Check out your course

Have you got a list of the courses you’re interested in?

For full-time courses, go to the University & Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website at www.ucas.com to search for the courses you’re considering.

For part-time courses, contact the individual institution directly for details, or look at their website. Your local library may also have leaflets about local courses.

Work through the following sections to find out as much as you can about the courses you like.

check out: entry requirements You can check out what you need to get onto the course you want to study at www.ucas.com

At www.aimhigher.ac.uk - courses section, there’s also information about vocational routes into HE, as well as guidance for those people wanting to get back into education.

It might be worth phoning the places you’re interested in to find out what they’ll accept. This could be useful if you’re entering higher education with relevant work experience instead of exams, or if you don’t have – or think you might not reach – the required grades.

Check out: course content
Find out which places run your preferred course, then look at each institution’s website or get hold of their prospectus for further details about what the course involves. A prospectus is a book of information about what an institution offers (course, accommodation, activities) produced by the institution to market itself to potential students. Order prospectuses from www.aimhigher.ac.uk or look through them at your nearest Connexions office.

For more detailed information on course content, you should call the institution direct.

Check out: course quality
Think about how your course might compare against other courses. Use the internet to do some research. This will help you make an informed decision, rather than relying on gut instinct or the word of someone you know.

Go to the Teaching Quality Information (TQI) website at www.tqi.ac.uk. This site is being fully launched in 2005, but some useful information will be available from August 2004. It includes statistical data, by institution and by broad subject area (for example, Engineering or Creative Arts & Design), as follows:

• entry profiles (ie the mix of students on a course)
• completion rates (ie how many students finish a course)
• achievement rates (ie what classes of degree students achieve)

The site will expand over the next year to include data about how many students got jobs six months after graduation, the most common types of job they entered, external examiners’ findings for most subjects and the results of a new National Student Survey.

Also, check out the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) at www.qaa.ac.uk. They publish a range of independent review reports and guidelines, including:

• reviews of higher education institutions across the UK
• reviews of higher education courses in further education colleges
• an archive of reviews of subjects in HE, current reviews on health practitioner areas
and from 2005, reviews on foundation degrees
• information about Access to Higher Education courses

You can search reports by institution or subject. The QAA also have guidelines on national standards for HE in a range of areas to help you judge the quality of the institution, course and qualification you’re interested in. Visit www.qaa.ac.uk/students

Check out: course accreditation
Some professions approve related courses. If you’re looking to pursue a career in a particular area, check your course is one of those approved by the relevant professional body. Every institution should be able to give you this information.

Have you…

• visited www.ucas.com for full-time courses?
• phoned institutions direct about part-time courses?
ordered some prospectuses?
• found out what your course covers and how it’s assessed?
• visited www.tqi.ac.uk or www.qaa.ac.uk to compare courses?
• checked whether your course is professionally accredited?
• found out what you need to get on it?
• made a shortlist?

Find out more:
If you haven’t been there already, visit www.ucas.com, www.tqi.ac.uk and www.qaa.com