Pathways 2 – Session 2 Types of Degrees, Taster Days, Summer Schools, FE Options
• There are thousands of different courses and combinations
• 300+ different unis/colleges / HE and FE providers
Different Types of Degrees
YOUR FUTURE CAREER MAY NOT BE INVENTED YET …
A real example - Helena gained a First in History at Royal Holloway, University of London…
…then stayed on for a Masters in
Holocaust Studies…
… she is now
Social Media Manager for innocent smoothies
She manages their social media content - one of her tweets made
number 1 trend in UK on 2015 Election Day (#DogsAtPollingStations)
But when Helena started at uni, Facebook & Twitter didn’t even exist in UK, so her future career hadn’t been invented
1. Professional courses - where in effect you’re applying for the profession as well as the degree
2. Vocational courses - which may lead on to professional accreditation, but may not
3. Non-vocational courses - which can still keep many options open provided you develop your employability skills alongside
• Combine 2 subjects Examples: History and Spanish or Physics and Music Performance
• Combine 3 subjects Example: PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics)
• Take a major/minor course Example: Maths with Management
• Or a multidisciplinary course Examples: Natural Sciences or Liberal Arts or Arts & Sciences
Degrees with a professional year/sandwich placement
Placement year is usually paid (e.g. Sussex average = £16 - £25K)
Tuition fee for placement reduced to £1,800 (UK/EU)
Unis like Aston, Bath, Brunel, Loughborough, Surrey offer it across a wide range of subjects
Sussex offers it through Sussex Choice
Royal Navy & Royal Marines, RAF, The Army: any academic discipline
BP: £5,000 for Year 1 of STEM degrees @ Bath, Birmingham, Cambridge, Durham, Imperial, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Strathclyde
Balfour Beatty: Construction, Civil Engineering or Quantity Surveying @ Loughborough, Salford, Nottingham, Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, Surrey, Durham, Northumbria, Nottingham Trent, Liverpool John Moores
Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme (DTUS): similar scheme @ Aston, Loughborough, Newcastle, Northumbria or Southampton
Sports or Music Scholarships: at numerous unis
NHS Bursaries for many healthcare degrees
Social Work Bursaries for degrees in Social Work
Choose what you enjoy
Think outside the box
Seek out hidden gems
Be aware of skills shortages
… for which STEM subjects confer an advantage
But equally, be aware that 50-60% of graduate jobs are open to graduates of any discipline
Cost differentials now less prohibitive; partial scholarships or tuition fee loans up to £6Kpa available in most cases; all are in UCAS;
University of Law (Birmingham/Bristol/Chester/Guildford/London/Manchester/York)
UCFB (Wembley Stadium/Burnley) - Degrees for the football & sports Industries
BIMM (Brighton/Bristol /Dublin) / Institute of Contemporary Music (London)
Pearson College - career-focused degrees in Business, Law, Media (London)
Norland College - BA Early Childhood Studies (Bath)
Edge Hotel School (2-year degree at country house hotel on Essex University campus)
Examples (not in UCAS):
CAE Oxford Aviation Academy
£80,000 for 16 month course
Tante Marie Culinary Academy (Woking) / Cordon Bleu School (London)
£20,000+ for up to 1 year
Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design, London
£20,000 for 1 year Vogue Fashion Foundation Diploma
Executive PA Diploma
£9,775 for 1 year course e.g. at Oxford Media & Business School;
similar courses at Pitman's, Quest, Lucie Clayton
Most are paid/salaried + some pay all university fees as well as a salary. Examples:
Airbus @ Bristol UWE (Engineering) £13K pa
Barclays @ Anglia Ruskin/Nottingham Trent (Retail Banking) £16K pa
Environment Agency @ Bristol UWE (River & Coastal Engineering)
Experian @ Nottingham Trent (Management & Leadership)
George at Asda @ Manchester Metropolitan/Leicester HQ (The George Degree, Retail)
Harrods @ Anglia Ruskin (Retail School Leaver programme, London)
KPMG @ Birmingham/Durham (6 year Audit prog) £21K pa + fees/benefits
Merchant Navy Cadets @ Warsash/Fleetwood/S.Tyneside (£120pw sea/£175pw college)
National Grid @ Aston (Electrical Power Engineering) £24K + car!
PwC @ Reading/Newcastle/Nottingham (Acc’ting/Business) £20K offsets tuition fees
Examples (with grades & approx. starting salary - need to check for 2017 if known):
BDO: Audit/Tax/Advisory; locations include Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Epsom, Gatwick, Hatfield, London, Reading, Southampton; ABB
Deloitte: 5-year BrightStart scheme, Audit/Tax/Corporate Finance; ABB
KPMG: 360degree programme (Audit, Tax & Advisory); 6 locations; BCC £15-18K
Marks & Spencer: Trainee Management Scheme, nationwide; CCC £18K
National Audit Office: 5 year Accountancy programme, London; £21K
RSM Tenon: Accounts/Outsourcing/Tax/Forensic Accounting; BCC
Tesco: Trainee Management programme nationwide; BCC £18K
UHY Hacker Young: 2-year Audit programme, London; AAB £17K
Willis: Insurance/Risk Advisers, London/Ipswich/Bristol/Birmingham; BBC
Average salary = £16K + all uni costs paid for
Apply direct to employer, not UCAS
Entry requirements CCC or upwards including a STEM subject
Employers: Accenture, BT, Capgemini, Ford, Fujitsu, GSK, HMRC, HP, IBM, John Lewis, Lloyds Banking Group, Network Rail, Tata
Universities: Aston, Exeter, Greenwich, Loughborough, Manchester Metropolitan, UCL, UWE Bristol, Winchester
Accredited & salaried work-based programmes with p/t university level study - examples:
BBC: Leadership & Management; London; study at Pearson College £11K Boots: 2-year Future Leaders programme; Nottingham; £15K/BBB Civil Service Fast Track: Business Admin/IT/Finance; London/20 other locations; £19K+ GCHQ/MI5/MI6: Intelligence HA’s; Cheltenham/London; CCC incl 2 STEM subjs IBM: Business/IT; Winchester/Farnboro/Manchester/Portsmouth/London/Warwick; £15K/160pts M&G Investments: Finance & Investment Operations; London/Essex; £19K/ BBB PwC: Assurance/Consulting/Tax; numerous locations; £16K min + benefits/BBB Rolls-Royce: Engineering/Supply Chain/Project Management; £11K Transport for London: Finance; £16K TUI: Tour Operations; based at Luton head office; £15K/280pts Vauxhall Motors: Accountancy; Luton/Wirral Virgin Media: IT/Telecomms; nationwide; up to £18K/2 A-levels
So many options it is hard to choose but it is important that you know what is out there so you can make informed choices.
A great way to decide is to take advantage of the number of summer schools and taster days on offer from universities and colleges.
In addition don’t forget you have another free year of education after BHASVIC.
Explore these options if you need a complete change of path.
Or you need additional qualifications for a degree you want to apply for.
For September 2017 we have had 72 BHASVIC students applying for art foundation courses
This is common if you are applying for creative arts degrees and is a one year course aimed at stretching you artistically and building a wider portfolio.