more university preparation courses for Yr12

For potential engineers visit http://www.etrust.org.uk/headstart.cfm

For medicine, veterinary, law, psychology, journalism, forensics and physics visit http://www.workshop-uk.net/

Engineering courses

the organisation http://www.smallpeicetrust.org.uk/ has a host of engineering residential courses during Easter and Summer holidays for pupils aged year 9 to year 12.  Some are even free and all provide valuable exerience to support your application to university or for a job.

college of law open days

Details can be found on www.college-of-law.co.uk/lawdegree2

Sardines

Thanks to Gordon Collins for this snippet that may help you to chose where to study.
At the University of Lincoln, 150 students are sleeping in portable cabins in a temporary 'student village' and 50 are being housed in a local hotel. At Edge Hill University, 270 students are staying at a nearby Pontins holiday camp, 25 minutes from campus. The university has 25,000 students ,but only provides campus accommodation for about 1,000. Aberystwyth University has introduced shared rooms with bunk beds for the first time, whilst at Trinity St David's College; living areas have been converted into bedrooms to make room for extra students.

best course 4me

I came across this website that helps with university research called http://www.bestcourse4me.com/

It claims to :

bC4me is independent, free and shows the link between what you study, what you earn and the jobs you can get

Economics at LSE

LSE like other top universities prefer Maths at HL or A level.  They wrote back to a query saying that Maths SL is not at a high enough level for application here.  They went as far to say they prefere Further maths as well

Accountancy school leavers scheme

Lots of opportunities exist.  Some of the larger firms offer superb packages with training and university bursaries.  Try looking at http://www.kpmgcareers.co.uk/SchoolLeavers'Programme/default.aspx?pg=1603 and http://www.deloitte.co.uk/scholars/scheme-details.cfm

TSA

Anyone wanting to sit BMAT, ELAT or any of the TSAs should register with http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/ and also sit the practice papers.

veterinary and medical courses

If you are seriously considering a career in either medicine or veterinary then you should attend one of these conferences.  Hosted at Nottingham University there is a Vet-Medlink course  from 2-5 April 2012 and  medlink courses 17-20 & 20-23 december 2011.  See MJF for details or http://www.medlink-uk.org/ or http://www.workshop-uk.net/

Oxford Open Days

www.admissions.ox.ac.uk/opendays has information on open days happening on July 6th, July 7th and 16th September.

Work experience at Venue Cymru

Whilst looking for something else, I came across this from Venue Cymru who will offer a weeks work experience for one student per school.  The link is http://www.venuecymru.co.uk/home.php?/Education

social networking from UCAS

A number of sites run by UCAS help you to get in touch or find out more, which supplement the ucas.com main site.  The sites are

http://www.facebook.com/ucasonline   http://twitter.com/#!/ucas_online   https://yougo.co.uk/login.aspx and http://ucas.tv/ 

Oxbridge and Medical tests

This site contains the information you need plus practice questions
http://www.admissionstests.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/adt/

Law taster

Lancaster university are running a Law taster day on Saturday July 2nd.  Tours, lectures and a moot trial are on offer.  If anyone is interested please speak to me.

free stuff

One website recommended in a mailing received from UCAS recently is http://www.studentbeans.com/ As well as some "fun" stuff, if you sign up you can receive discounts including 2for1 vouchers for Cineworld

Bangor University Open day

There is to be an open day on July 2nd.  As this is so close, day pupils and boarders can get here easily.  Booking via http://www.bangor.ac.uk/courses/visit.php

university fees from 2012

this report in the Guardian newspaper sets out what most universities intend to charge from 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/mar/25/higher-education-universityfunding?&EMCEDUEML1658

Open Days

For information on forthcoming open days visit http://www.opendays.com/

NHS reforms for medics

Applicants for medical courses may like to read this summary of NHS reforms http://www.oxbridgeapplications.com/newsroom/our-newsletter/the-nhs-reforms-explained/index.aspx?utm_campaign=April%2BNewsletter%2BTeachers%2B6&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_medium=email

useful video links

Although this link takes you to a very useful video produced about the UCAS process and is now out of date, concerning choices and cost, the site does link to other useful sources
http://www.videojug.com/interview/the-university-application

oxbridge news online

If any student is thinking of applying to Oxford or Cambridge, they should register with this online site, so that they can receive help and updates.

http://www.oxbridgeapplications.com/newsroom/our-newsletter/ is the link to find newsletters

You can also follow the site on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oxbridge-Applications/104220701723

new website to use

To supplement your use of http://www.ucas.com/ students are also recommended to refer to http://www.whatuni.com/ for additional information about courses, universities and the application process

Studying in Europe

A question to former Chief Inspector of schools Chris Woodhead in the Sunday Times 23/4/11 about where to find information about applying to European Universities solicited this response 

The most reliable tables of world university rankings are produced by QS (topuniversities.com). Study Link (studylink.com) gives information, including start dates, costs and visa requirements, on courses available at universities across Europe. The European Youth Portal (tinyurl.com/3rawaox) and Study Europe (www.study-europe.co.uk) are also worth a look.

Third of applicants to be rejected

A story in The Times 26/4/11 reports that a third of applicants this year are to be rejected.  Many more are applying due to next years fee increases to £9000 at most Universities.  However, as applications are only 2% up on last year, a bigger reason would seem to be the reduction in courses available due to funding cuts.  The Times states that over 200 000 will be rejected.  A likely consequence of so many applying for so few places is likely to be inflation of grades needed to secure entry.