Providing university information to parents and carers: Our Top Tips

As part of your school or college higher education and employment preparation programmes, one key area involves working with families, parents and carers – in order to raise awareness and understanding - essentially you will be informing the influencer!

The recent Quality in Careers Standard (QCS, October 2017), the national quality award for careers education, makes specific reference to involving and supporting families and carers in careers education, information, advice and guidance provision (B1.6). It is therefore useful to be aware of what universities can offer to support you in this important area of your work.

Presentations at school or college parents’ events and evenings

Presentation topics include the UCAS process, understanding student finance and study skills. Presentations often feature as part of an Options Evening, or might be offered as a stand alone presentation.

Information stands at school or college Options Evening

Such events are a great opportunity for parents to chat to university staff about entry requirements, routes into specific careers as well as seeking advice about suitable GCSE and Level 3 options for Higher Education entry. Many universities will also produce printed guides specifically targeted at parents.

Parents are integral to the decisions making process and are actively encouraged by universities to attend open days and applicant days. As well as finding out about courses, parents often want to find out about specific admissions processes, student accommodation, finance and student support services.

In addition to the core activities above, universities may offer bespoke parents events on campus or out in the community. For example, the University of Huddersfield runs an annual Parents’ Information Evening, offering information stands on careers and courses as well as a programme of presentations covering why go to university, a parent’s guide to higher education and student fees and financial support.

As many of you will be aware from your own prior experience, it can sometimes prove challenging to engage parents in school events.

Here are five useful tips to help encourage parental participation:

1. Think about the timings of events from a parents’ perspective – for some parents evenings are best, whilst others prefer daytime events. Many schools try to span their events from the afternoon to early evening to meet the needs of as many parents as possible.

2. Send out dates and other information as early as possible as parents may have other commitments. Also send reminders to make sure they don’t forget!

3. Think about why it is important they attend, and highlight the benefits of attending in your invitation. For example for Year 8 and 11 pupils the focus is on making informed GCSE and Level 3 course choices. For Year 12 and 13 parents it’s about being involved in and understanding the application process, which as we all know, has changed considerably over the years.

4. Involve employers as well as universities to appeal to the broadest possible range of parents as possible. For example, rather than hosting a Higher Education event consider something broader such as a ‘next steps’ event.

5. If you are worried about turn-out at your event, consider organising joint events with other local schools. Joint events can also spread the burden of organisation and with an increased number of potential attendees you may be able to encourage more universities and other contributors from further afield to participate.

In the first instance, you can search events or request events using UniTasterDays or by contacting the university Education/Schools Liaison Team directly if you have a specific university in mind. In most cases, details of the programme of activity for schools and colleges, including how to book, should be available on university websites.