DESPITE the doom and gloom in the media about the tough competition for university places, Exeter College has put measures in place to offer its students expert guidance aimed at maximising their chances of success.
Among its provisions for full-time 16- to 19-year-old students hoping to progress to Higher Education, the College – which has handled 1000 UCAS applications to date this year, an increase on last year’s total of 884 – held Higher Education talks for parents and students as part of its Parents’ Evening on the city centre campus this week.
In addition to representatives from Exeter College’s own well-regarded Higher Education faculty, members of staff from the universities of Exeter, Plymouth, Marjon, Bath Spa, Southampton Solent and the University of Wales Institute were also at hand on the night, offering out prospectuses and advice on course options for future applicants.
The College is also offering individual advice to any students during College hours with a view to helping them to focus on making the choices which are right for them at this crucial time during their academic year.
Among those providing support in addition to students’ tutors is Student Progression Officer Jill Ball.
She says: “Applications at Exeter College are up in line with those nationally. This nationwide trend may be for a number of reasons, not least the present economic situation which is meaning that some additional students who may have previously chosen to go straight into employment have decided to go into Higher Education instead.
“There is also the question about what will happen next year with regards to student funding, as the present cap on university fees is due to be lifted in 2011,” she adds. “With an election on the horizon, the future in relation to this is as yet unknown, so this may be another reason there are more students applying nationally for Higher Education this year.”
She continues: “The Government has acknowledged the situation with regards to university places and in its Budget last week announced the provision of extra places as a way of fielding some of them. However, it will not provide all of them, which is all the more reason why offering additional advice to would-be undergraduates is so important this year.”
With the May 5 deadline day for making university choices looming close, Jill says: “As students have to whittle down their five original choices to two, we are trying to encourage them to strategically choose offers which are not too alike; that way, if they find that their results were not as they expected them to be, they should have a second choice to fall back on.”
She adds that support is also being provided to those students who have already made a selection only to realise that the course they’ve chosen was not the right one for them after all.
“In these instances, we can tell them about a second application method known as UCAS Extra, or talk to them about taking a gap year and the various other options available to them.”