Which course will be most suitable for your son or daughter?

Once your son or daughter has chosen one or more subjects, the next step is to choose a course that draws on these subject(s). This stage of the process can be exciting, because there is a lot more choice for higher education students than just core subjects: they may discover courses they never knew existed that would be perfect for them!

Translating subjects into courses

When studying post-16 level qualifications (A levels and BTEC Nationals, for example), students will study core subjects, such as mathematics, English, chemistry, art and design. At higher education level, these core subjects branch out into more creative and varied courses. For example, if your son or daughter enjoys chemistry at A level, they may want to look into studying a wider choice of related subjects, such as chemical engineering, environmental chemistry, forensic science. If they prefer English, they could study English literature, journalism, creative writing, primary teaching - the list goes on!

Qualifications

When people consider higher education, they tend to think of degree courses. There are, however, several other qualifications that can be gained at university or college. The main courses offered are:

  • Certificate of higher education: the first year of a degree course
  • Diploma in health: a three-year course specialising in health-related courses, for example, midwifery and nursing
  • Higher National Diploma (HND): a two-year course, which, if completed with high grades, can lead to the third year of a degree
  • Foundation degree: the equivalent of the first two years of an Honours degree, may be studied full- or part-time, and consist of academic study integrated with relevant work-based learning undertaken with an employer. It may be studied as a stand-alone qualification, or upon completion, students may progress to the final year of an Honours degree
  • Degree: a three- or four-year course where graduates obtain a bachelor's degree. There are different titles and levels of degree, such as:
    BA - Bachelor of Arts
    BSc - Bachelor of Science
    BEd - Bachelor of Education
    BEng - Bachelor of Engineering
    Ordinary/Honours - this can vary between universities and colleges, although generally an 'Ordinary' or 'unclassified' degree may be awarded if a student has completed a full degree course but hasn't obtained the total required passes sufficient to merit a third-class Honours degree. In Scotland, an 'Ordinary' degree is usually a three-year full-time course, whereas an 'Honours' degree is usually a four-year full-time course.
  • Postgraduate: courses for graduates, which involve one or two years' additional work after a degree and lead to a master's degree. A longer period of postgraduate study is required for specialist degrees, for example, graduate entry to medicine.

UCAS Tariff

The UCAS Tariff is a points system used to report achievement for entry to higher education in a numerical format. It establishes agreed comparability between different types of qualifications and provides comparisons between applicants with different types and volumes of achievement.

View more information about the Tariff and the qualifications included.

Subject combinations

If your son or daughter wishes to study more than one subject - for example, German and accountancy - they may be able to combine the subjects into one qualification. Some universities and colleges are more flexible about subject combinations than others and so a lot depends on where they choose to study.

The length of time spent on each subject can often be chosen by the student:

Joint: the two subjects are studied equally, ie 50/50
Major/Minor: the time spent is usually 75%/25%

Sandwich courses

Certain vocational courses require the student to spend a year in industry, working that year as part of the course. This will usually be for the third year of a degree course or the second year of an HND and, depending on the employer, may be full-time paid employment. The purpose of this is to introduce students to the world of work, whilst gaining valuable experience in a profession they might consider after completing their higher education course.

Languages

With some four-year language courses, students study abroad in their third year. The focus of the year abroad is to learn the language of another country while living in that country, which will improve their understanding. They would probably work within a school, teaching English. They would be assigned to a teacher who would help them throughout the year. Not only does this strengthen their language skills, it can also improve their confidence and independence. Those studying two languages may be able to spend time in each of two different countries where the languages are spoken.

Search for courses on our website

A list of available courses is on the Course Search section of this website: your son or daughter can choose to search by subject, qualification, location, institution, course code and other specific options. This search tool provides Entry Profiles for some courses, which include general information about the course (including grades and Tariff points required) and institution, with links to the institution's website.