• Pros
  graduates have better job prospects
  social life is good
  acquire skills, knowledge and under-standing for progression to a variety of careers
• Cons
  money may be tight - you may have to work part-time to help pay living costs
  you may leave higher education with debts to pay
  you may only be able to offer limited work experience to an employer

The choice of higher education courses has never been greater, so you need to research thoroughly. Most students get it right but a number drop out for various reasons which may be that they chose the wrong subject or that they liked the course but not the institution.

If you have to hurry your decision for any reason, make sure you get some advice.

There is a range of factors to consider:

Entry requirements

• Be realistic about the grades you expect to get. Some courses are harder to get on to than others.
• If the courses that you want to do have high entry requirements, think of applying for some that ask for lower grades as well.
• Some subjects need prior knowledge or qualifications. Check this out so that you don’t waste your application.

Course content

Check the subject content of potential courses carefully. Courses with the same title can cover quite different topics.

Teaching & assessment methods

• These vary widely between courses
• Check how much teaching time in tutorials, seminars and lectures each course includes
• Check how courses are assessed – they vary in the reliance put on termly, yearly and final exams, continuous assessment and course work
• Consider what you’re used to and what works best for you

• Over half of graduate jobs are open to graduates in any subject so your choice of subject may not be crucial as far as future careers are concerned
• However, certain careers require you to take specific vocational courses e.g. architecture, dentistry, medicine, and veterinary science