Parents and Carers
Information, advice and guidance for parents and carers to those currently studying at College or Sixth Form
We've pulled together information to help you understand the process of supporting your young person as they research, plan and apply to universities and degree providers like us.
On this page you'll find:
- How to help your young person choose a degree
- Dealing with university worries
- What your young person should be doing throughout the year to prepare for uni
How to help your young person choose a degree
Helping your young person choose the right degree and find the right provider might feel daunting especially if it’s not something you’ve done in a while or ever before.
When choosing a degree there are a lot of things to consider. We recommend working through this process with your young person.
Identify a career or field of interest
From here you can work backwards, looking at what degree or qualification they need to achieve this goal. Looking at this might start raising important questions like how long it’d take to get into this career, what steps they need to take, and what subject or grades they'll need to get onto this pathway.
Shortlist qualifications
Before you look things like location or student experience, start with a list of who teaches this qualification, keeping in mind important things like the modules that are taught as part of it and the entry requirements as these may differ.
Look at Location and Experience
Once your young person has a plan on the degree that they want to study, start looking at Location and Student Experience. You might want to ask them questions like: do you want to live at uni or at home? How often do you think you’ll visit home and are there affordable ways to do this as often as you think you’d like to? Do you want a teaching approach more like school with smaller classes or are you self-directed enough to benefit from lecture style teaching? What does the student support package look like?
Visit open days and get in touch
The best way to take your shortlist from a list to a plan is to get in touch. Whether it’s encouraging your young person to attend an open day with you, or reaching out yourself to help them gather important information, speaking to the uni or degree provider will give you a much better impression of what things will be like for your young person, as well as what support is in place.
Dealing with university worries
Starting something new can be exciting and worrying in equal measure, especially when everything feels new.
The academic step-up can demand a lot more independence that not everyone is prepared for. In this video our team share some useful tips to help you deal with these challenging situations.
