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Find a university or college course

When choosing a course, think about which subjects interest you, the type of qualification you want and which style of studying suits you best. You can search for many courses online.

Search for a course online

You can find out which universities and colleges offer the course you want online:

  • for full-time courses and all Foundation Degree courses, search on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website
  • for part-time courses (other than Foundation Degrees), either contact the institution directly or search for courses on nidirect

UCAS entry profiles and university prospectuses

The UCAS course search facility gives you the opportunity to check out what is called the ‘entry profile’ for a course. As well as the qualifications and grades you’ll need, these may cover detailed information on the subject and course structure and more. University prospectuses and open days are another useful source of information. But there are a huge range of courses on offer and plenty to consider before you make your choice.

Choosing a subject

it's important to look beyond the course title  

Far more subjects are available in higher education than at school. Many are vocational and work-related, and lead straight into a career, such as nursing or accountancy. Others are academic and range from subjects you may have studied before such as French or Geography, to less familiar ones like Social Policy.

You’ll need to look beyond the course title because courses with exactly the same name may differ enormously. Look carefully at the differences between courses within your subject before deciding which to apply for. For example, if you’re interested in construction but wish to use your creative skills, you may be better suited to a Building Design Management course than a Building Project Management course.

Higher education courses are put together by individual universities and colleges, so what's included (and how they are delivered) will vary enormously as they draw on the strengths of the staff and facilities on hand.

Choosing a course to suit you

There's lots to think about when looking for the course that suits best you.

Higher education qualifications

Many people take degrees like a bachelor of science (BSc) or bachelor of arts (BA) qualification. Other options include studying for a Foundation Degree, a Higher National Certificate (HNC), Higher National Diploma (HND) or higher education diploma.

How do you like to study?

Think about the style of learning that best suits you and your commitments as there are quite a few options which include:

  • learning full-time
  • learning part-time
  • flexible learning routes like e-learning or distance learning courses

Course components and options

See what kind of course combinations are on offer. ‘Joint honours’ courses combine different subject areas so you could study English with History for example. Many courses are 'modular', which means they are made up of different subject blocks which deal with particular areas of interest.

Modules may be delivered using a range of lectures, seminars and/or workshops and you may have some say over some, or all, of the modules you study. Some courses include placements, ‘sandwich’ years or even years abroad studying or gaining work experience. Foundation Degrees include work-based learning. Options like these may be of interest to you, or to future employers. If so, seek out courses that offer these opportunities.

Higher education and your career

While it’s important to study a subject you enjoy, it’s worth thinking about what type of career you want when you’ve finished your course. If you're there’s a subject that you particularly enjoy, but you want to follow a career in a different area, you may want to look at doing a combined course. These allow you to study two (or more) subjects.

Not sure what type of course would suit you?

Online tools like the Stamford Test can help match your interests and abilities to possible higher education courses. They can give a very useful insight into which ones might suit you best.

Finding out more about courses, colleges and universities

Once you’ve got a shortlist of courses that appeal to you, it’s worth looking at some of the other sources of information about them like independent reports that give information on:

  • completion rates
  • student satisfaction and more

It’s also worth remembering that getting the most out of higher education isn’t just about getting on the right course it's also about finding the right place to study that course.

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