Find and compare courses/providers
Now you have decided which subject to do (if you haven't looked at 'Decide which course'), you need to find out:
- Which universities or colleges offer your subject?
- What specific course choices are there e.g. sociology on its own or sociology with psychology?
- Which universities or colleges offer the courses you can apply for based on your likely grades?
- Which is the best university/location/type of campus for you?
- How much assessment is by coursework or exam, and which would you prefer?
- How satisfied were previous students with the course?
The university's or college's prospectus, website and open days will help you get this information but there are also websites that will help you find and compare courses/universities.
Careerpilot Degree course search tool
The Careerpilot Degree Course Search tool is a good place to start to look at university courses that you might be interested in. You can save courses of interest in your Career Tools so that they can be viewed again when you next log on. Find out lots of information about each course:
- Entry requirements
- Student Satisfaction
- Average salary of graduates 6 months after graduation
Other useful websites:
UCAS has information about all full-time degrees, Foundation Degrees and HNCs/HNDs. Part-time courses will be found on university's and college's own websites.
For information and entry requirements search on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) website.
You can also chat to a student who is already on the courses through Uni Buddy.
Whatuni? helps students find universities and courses and has a University Comparison Tool.
You can search for:
- Degrees
- Foundation degrees
- HNC/HNDs
- Access and Foundation Years
The Complete University Guide has information about courses, subjects, student satisfaction, etc. The site also shows the top courses for each subject.
Discover Uni is the official government website for comparing UK higher education course data.
This includes student satisfaction scores from the National Student Survey, jobs and salaries after study, and other key information for prospective students. You can make bookmark courses and compare them.
For Open University (OU) courses, contact the OU directly. Full-time OU courses are not offered through UCAS.
Open days, taster sessions and virtual tours
Open days
Attend open days and make the most of them. Opendays.com has all the dates and advice on what to do to get the best out of them or take a look at the link on UCAS. Visiting universities is a costly affair but can be really helpful – you could be spending 3 years of your life there, so you need to make sure you like it!
Virtual tours of Unis
Not everyone can attend an open day, so here's a list of virtual tours and videos from universities and colleges so you can see what it's like on campus and what facilities are available. If the Uni/College you're interested in isn't listed, take a look at their website or YouTube channel instead.
Taster days
Uni Taster Days is a website that advertises university events. There is a search facility for teachers and career advisers interested in booking events for school groups, as well as students and parents looking to book places on events directly. Events include university and college taster days, workshops, residentials and open days.