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WHEN DECIDING where to go and what to study, you should remember that universities and colleges of higher education have different strengths and weaknesses.
To work out which institution and which course is best for you, you need to refer to multiple sources of information, evidence and official data about teaching and research
Material to help you make up your mind can be found on the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS), Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and Unistats websites.
Individual universities and colleges provide the most up-to-date information about courses, through their prospectuses and other publications.
Also, visit universities and colleges on open days or if you are an overseas student, go to a British Council seminar.
If you can't go to an open day or get to a seminar look for information on the web or telephone the university or college and ask to speak to someone about the course you're interested in to find out more.
Above all, think carefully and logically about the pros and cons of each course choice.
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"How do I find the 'best course' at the 'best university or college' " is a question asked by thousands of potential university and college students every year... yet it's a question with no easy answer!
As you would expect, there are a lot of factors you might want to take into consideration.
Is the "best course"...
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... one that suits your needs?
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Everyone is different. That's why no one course can be seen as "the best". While one course might suit a student's needs perfectly, for a student with different needs it will inevitably fall short.
Thankfully, the UK's higher education system is incredibly diverse - with universities and colleges offering a wide variety of courses to meet the needs of many different types of student - so there should be a course and an institution that suits you perfectly.
In fact, it's exactly this diversity means that the UK has a well-deserved worldwide reputation for the high level of academic quality and standards.
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... one that asks for the highest entry grades?
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It is tempting to think that the best courses will be the ones that ask for the highest entry grades. However, while they will certainly attract the most highly qualified students it doesn't necessarily guarantee that they are offering "the best course".
They might require high entrance grades because the institution has a high public regard or a reputation for a fantastic student social life and is wildly oversubscribed. In the latter case, high entrance grades are purely in response to demand in order to limit eligibility to entry.
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.... one that is well-structured, with excellent lecturers?
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Even if a course is regarded by students, professionals or academics as "the best", perhaps the actual content or the way it is studied at a particular institution wouldn't suit you or the way you work best.
Perhaps a course in the same subject at a less prestigious university or college of higher education has livelier lecturers and is more interesting?
All of that said, certain universities and colleges do get good reputations for good reason for certain subjects (although this can change as academics move on).
Your subject teacher or careers advisor (if you are still in tertiary education) may be able to help you here, although some teachers are better than others at keeping up to date with where the centres of excellence in their subject are.
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| Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) |
| www.qaa.ac.uk |
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We welcome your comments and feedback on this article.
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