
How to support your students to make option choices with university in mind
As students progress through Key Stage
3 and Key Stage 4, they will be exploring
lots of different opportunities in the wider
world. Through their exposure to colleges,
higher education institutions, apprenticeship
providers, employers and other opportunities,
they will have a myriad of choices to navigate.
As teachers and advisors, you will have
signposted them to potential futures, whilst
as part of your programmes (and through the
Gatsby Benchmarks) they will have had their
eyes opened to them. It is important that we
are guiding students through the process,
making sure they have an ambitious but also a
realistic vision for the future.
GCSE pre-requisites
English Language and Mathematics at GCSE
are imperative for students who are looking to
progress to higher education. It is important
that you reinforce the significance in achieving
a Grade 4 or above for them to progress onto
both Level 3 and higher education provision.
For some courses GCSE Science will also be
very important, particularly if your student is
thinking of studying courses such as Science
(including Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Psychology and Veterinary Science).
Level 3 course selection
When students are investigating their Level 3
post-16 courses, I would recommend that they always
have one eye on their next steps and to make
sure that the courses they are selecting are
going to enable them to progress to it.
Some students will have ideas that are
potentially going to prove challenging for them
in terms of their academic abilities and you
will no doubt have to spend time steering them
towards appropriate opportunities.
It is important that whilst a student may not be
able to progress towards a Medicine degree,
there may be other opportunities within the
NHS or healthcare sector that they could
explore. It may be that you show the different
pathways to both the students and their
families, in order to demonstrate that you are
suggesting good alternatives looking ahead to
their future.
Entry requirements
It is important that throughout the process
your students are guided to review entry
requirements for both their Level 3 and higher
education options. I would recommend
they take time to review sixth form/college
prospectuses to find out what would be
required to move onto their chosen Level 3
courses.
Alongside this, it is also important for them
to closely look at university prospectuses
and websites to ensure they are considering
making the right option choices for the higher
education course they may wish to pursue in
the future. Certain university courses will need
students to have completed particular post-
16 subjects, and it is important students are
aware of this.
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