Guiding university choice

Session one: Reading one

How did you get on? Don’t worry if you did not get them all right!

The course you are about to follow will introduce you to some of the issues you will need to consider when planning your journey into university and aims to help you to start answering some of the questions you will be asking yourself. Questions you’ll be thinking about include: What subject do I want to study? How do I want to study the subject? What university would I want to attend and how will a degree help me with my future career plans?

As you have seen from the introduction everybody will have their own reasons for studying at university but in general terms you can approach this from different angles such as:

Academic – it will provide you with the opportunity to study a subject that you really like in more depth or pick up a new subject that really interests you.

Career – for some careers a degree (e.g. Law, Medicine) is essential in order to follow that particular path.

Developing skills – you are already using skills in your current studies that are in high demand by employers (e.g. research, communication, evaluation, problem-solving). These will be developed to a really high level by studying for a degree.

Future employment – gaining a degree will certainly open up new and wider career opportunities for you.

Personal development – university offers you independence, the opportunity to meet new people and to study and to socialise in a diverse environment.

Now you are going to hear from our students again about how they approached choosing the degree course they are studying.