Bath University Higher Education Convention

There will be thousands of people on the move today. Not only those leaving the site of the Glastonbury Festival, but rather the thousands of prospective students heading to Bath University to attend the UCAS HE Convention, which now has over 140 Higher Education providers attending plus various speakers on topics such as "Student Life" and "HE Choices". It is open from 9.30am to 3.00pm today and tomorrow. No booking needed so just turn up. You can download a copy of the programme here: http://www.ucasevents.com/UCAS/media/uploaded/EVUCAS/event_213/Bath_ConventionGuide.pdf

Drop-out students get help to finish their degrees at home

There can be many reasons why students might not complete their studies, indeed about 20% of all potential graduates leave before they have finished studying. If this happens it can sometimes be difficult to get back into HE, and you can feel wary of signing up for another 3 years. However one of the best kept secrets is how you can use your previous studies, if you finished a year or more, as advanced standing with the Open Univerisity, allowing you to complete that degree you always wanted whilst staying in Somerset. It seems other people also agree as Gordon Brown PM today announced an £12 million plan to help some of the 35,000 students who drop out each year from their studies finish their degree with the OU. Along with some other advisers I have a meeting with the local Open University regional office a week Monday and I'll see what else I can find out about this initiative. Press report here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/24/drop-out-open-university-fund

Studying at University if you are under 18

Often people are good at thinking that something is stopping them going to University, when it actually doesn't. One such example is that you have to be a certain age to go to University, this is often given as 18, or you can be too old to go to University. Like many things this one is a mixture of history and people having discussions about a friend who knows someone who said.. In actualy fact with the new Age Discrimination legislation we have in this country all age restrictions no longer apply, unless you can demonstrate the need for them. As the 18 year old example given is one of them it is worth pointing out that all Universities now have Admission procedures for people younger than 18 applying to them. Of course this also applies to distance learning institutions such as the Open University who have students studying with them aged from 90+ to those who are under 16 years of age. Although going below 15 years of age might be less common, there are currently over 8,000 students under 18 currently at Universities in Britain, so if you are considering this you would not be the only one. If this might be you, or someone you know, contact your chosen University and ask them for details. You'll find they will be able to answer any questions you may have, especially if it concerns such areas as access to medical and social care courses. Click on the title of this post to find out more about this issue. Full details can be found here: http://www.ecu.ac.uk/publications/files/age-briefing.pdf/at_download/file

Which is the best University to study History in ?

If you are an adviser this is often the sort of question you get which can trigger a long and involved discussion. Whilst valuing the need to talk it might be useful to use some impartial source to get some ideas and facts first. In an ideal world what would we want ? Well somebody such as UCAS, which covers all applications to undergraduate study in the UK and another group such as the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) would be a good pairing. If they could show the information on a website that you could look at yourself it would be great. Well now you can. Click on www.unistats.com and you will be able to compare student satisfaction, job prospects, Degree class and progression and what students were doing 6 months after graduation plus even more info. Interesting reading and you can still ask the original question anyway, but it might provoke an even more interesting discussion !

Why study Higher Education in Somerset?

This is a good question, and obviously it is not for everyone. Some courses are not available here, we haven’t yet got a Taunton School of Dentistry or the Yeovil Veterinary College. But I thought that the following summary from Bridgwater College was quite appropriate. They use the SMART initials, which are normally about Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic and Time Bound targets to aim for in business but in a different way.

Bridgwater College used the initials to summarise the 5 major reasons why you should consider HE in Somerset and in particular at their college.

1. Save money from lower fees and accommodation costs
2. More personal attention from experienced tutors teaching smaller groups
3. Achieve a qualification from one of our five university partners
4. Receive more work experience, careers advice and personal support
5. Take a course full or part-time to suit you

Now whilst every FE college in Somerset cannot offer five university partners, the other points are worth considering. The link has more info http://www.bridgwater.ac.uk/news.php?fid=18

International computer giant and Somerset College to address skills gap in industry.

Increasingly students, and parents, are asking what happens after someone has studied a higher education course. Will it help secure a good job? Indeed does it help at all? Current emphasis in Somerset is in developing a HE course to meet clear needs, ideally alongside an employer who has a defined area of experience and can ensure that the qualification is focused, valued and has currency in the current job market. In one example Somerset College has partnered with Hewlett Packard alongside Thames Valley University to offer a FdSc Computer Systems Management (with HP Certified Professional). This Foundation Degree is the type of course that will provide graduates whose skill set is in demand. More info on the degree can be found here: http://www.ifoundhp.com with specific Somerset College info here http://www.somerset.ac.uk/index.php?view=course&c_id=356