Junior Sixth parents and pupils joined the Future Guidance team and admissions specialists from four of the UK’s top universities, Bath, Cambridge, Durham and Exeter for our Higher Education Information Evening.
Following our UCAS launch to Lower Sixth Form pupils in November, this was a chance for our pupils and their parents to learn more about the application process, how to choose courses and universities, and how to make strong applications.
Following an introduction from the Head and Director of Future Guidance, Mrs Chambers; Miss Tooze, Head of Universities Guidance, presented on the UCAS application process, including what universities are looking for in applications, how to identify the most competitive courses and what pupils should be doing now to be ready for starting their applications in the Summer Term. All three speakers stressed the importance of making choices that reflect what is important to the individual, quality research, using data and information to support decision-making, and exploring a breadth of options.
These same messages were reiterated by our experts on the Admissions panel. Our panellists for the Q&A session all have many years of top level experience within admissions and recruitment, and were able to give very interesting insight into questions most frequently asked by pupils and parents, but to which it can be difficult to find the answers. These questions covered:
- Choosing a university and course, including important criteria to consider and current trends in subject popularity and competitiveness; all four universities have seen exponential growth in Computer Science and all four agreed that Economics remained extremely competitive.
- An insight into how Admissions team make offer decisions, including differences in selection and assessment criteria such as GCSEs or personal statements. Practices differ greatly between universities, and research into individual institutions is crucial.
- Whether timing of application makes a difference to outcomes, with all of our experts confirming that it does not, provided applications are in by the January deadline.
- Deferrals and gap years, including whether they add or detract from an application, and how to apply if you are planning a gap year.
This was a chance for our pupils and their parents to learn more about the application process, how to choose courses and universities, and how to make strong applications.
The evening was rounded off with a hugely entertaining and informative presentation by Dr Richard Partington of St Johns College, Cambridge, who spoke candidly about life as a student at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and the realities of the admissions processes. Richard opened the floor to questions, and received some very eloquent and perceptive questions from our Junior Sixth Form pupils.
We are very grateful to our speakers:
Dr Katherine Lloyd Clark, Assistant Director of Student Access, Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Exeter
Dr Richard Partington, Admissions tutor at St John’s College, Cambridge
David Howells, Head of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Bath
Frankie Barton, Recruitment and Admissions Manager at Durham University
