- This HEPI blog was kindly authored by Sarra Jenkins, Director of Future Pathways at Loughborough Grammar School.
- HEPI will host a webinar in conversation with Jo Saxton, Chief Executive of UCAS, at 10am on Tuesday 13 August: you can sign up here.
The UCAS process in the UK has many benefits compared to its global counterparts. Its relative simplicity is likely welcomed by anyone who has ever attempted a US university application! The downside of the relative ease of process-driven system is that it belies the realities of a transition from sixth form to HE. This may be exacerbated by a generation of adults who are trying to support young people in making this move with all the best of intentions, yet sometimes unintentionally setting them up with a more nostalgic view of the university experience than the 21st-century reality.
Preparing the logistics
Preparing students for the transition to HE is of course more than ensuring they have completed their paperwork, bought new pots and bed sheets, and set up a student bank account – although these things are also important! A student would be well-advised to register for a university doctor upon arrival, although perhaps better advised not to move their dentist if they have a place with an NHS dentist at home given the current paucity of dental places. Students need to register to vote and recognise that where they choose to vote can have a huge impact.
Many universities are actively engaged with this sort of transition. For example, Loughborough University runs the Ready Set Loughborough transition programme. Furthermore, post-Covid, the University of Birmingham has recognised the importance of making these transition programmes relationship-based; given the prevalence of loneliness experienced by students, this is undoubtedly a crucial aspect of the transition.
Preparing the experience
The experience students expect to have at university may be shaped through different mediums than twenty years ago, such as social media, but it also continues to be shaped by those around them. According to AGCAS, parents exert the most influence on university choice for students. However, as LSE points out, this can lead to misconceptions from “parents’ own experience of going away to university, not least because new technologies – particularly mobile telephones – now enable easy contact between parents and student children”, which affects the necessary independence of students.
This perhaps explains Public First’s research that “44% of students were less engaged with extracurricular activities than they were expecting to be, and a quarter (25%) had never engaged at all”. This in turn may be linked to the necessity of part-time work for many students to be able to afford university, which affects the ‘university experience’ that they will be able to have.
Understanding this means students can prepare better in advance. ‘Budgeting’ is often a key part of sixth-form PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education), albeit not an overly exciting one. However, encouraging students to explore extra-curricular clubs they may be interested in before Freshers’ Week, can help them include this in budgeting. Teaching them a few basic meals to cook can help too – and as I type this, I am remembering a story told by a parent of a student phoning home for instructions on how to cook a microwave lasagne!
Students also need to be prepared to learn differently. Student attendance at lectures has made headlines recently, and yet this is a key part of being an independent learner. Courses like ‘Getting Ready for Success at Uni’ from the University of Hull, or ‘Preparing to Learn Online at University’ from the University of Leeds can help prepare students. Of course, getting students to engage in the necessity for such understanding can be a challenge, but an important one to face.
Preparing the mind
Public First’s research also found that 44% of students said they experienced loneliness at university with 27% saying they’d also feel uncomfortable seeking mental health support from their university. However, statistics like those about loneliness have a clear link to a lack of engagement with extra-curricular opportunities and lecture attendance – if students aren’t meeting people, it is difficult to make friends!
Students also need to be prepared for a different academic experience and outcome. A number of years ago, I was privileged to hear Dr Dominique Thompson speak about her experiences as a university GP, and the perils of perfectionism. This TED talk is now one that I annually include in my newsletters to parents, and discuss with my own students. Some of the best students we send to university are used to success; and whilst we try to develop resilience and an ability to fail, often university might be the first time they’ve done it without the well-known safety net of school, family and friends beneath them.
Part of the way we try to get students prepared for this is by bringing back recent alumni for a ‘what I wish I knew’ session followed by Q&A from Year 13 students. Every year, without fail, I have been struck by the extensive and varied questions students have for current university students…even when I know we have covered it, it means more coming from students currently living it! And every year this session has overrun because the students have so many questions.
Preparing the future
As ever with educational steps, we have seldom begun one step before we think about the next – whether thinking about what A Levels particular GCSEs will support, which degrees need you to choose specific A Levels, and now thinking about where university might take a student before they’ve even begun. But that’s not really what students need preparing for – after all, their own ambition may change during the course of their degree. This is especially true given the substantial changes likely to the job market in the next ten years.
Rather we want to try and ensure that they are grasping opportunities throughout their degree to put them in the best possible position at the end of it. For us, this means encouraging students to engage fully with university careers services from the outset of their degree, not just in their final year. We utilise university outreach services to speak to students about employability. Having been fortunate enough to hear a keynote from ‘Squiggly Careers’, we advocate that our students focus on the opportunities over a specific goal – internships, research, modularity in their degree, and so on. This is all baked in to the advice we give students when they are considering their options.
There is of course more than a short blog allows when considering how best to support young people through the transition to university. However, even with a growing focus on this area, the statistics suggests we have all yet to get it ‘right’. As it develops, I hope we may see a greater integration between school and university processes to help aid transition for the benefit of all stakeholders.
And, of course, the very best of luck to students about to go through this process in 2024 – with a little preparation, hopefully you will have a great university experience.