1. Thinking Ahead Choosing your options

2. Activity - brainstorm  Can you think of any potential career paths you would like to take?  Use the pen and paper to complete a mind map!  Things to include:  What do you think you might need to study at GCSE to help you with this career?  What do you think you need to study at A Level to help you with this career?  What sort of university course would you take with this career?

3. UNIVERSITY

4. Russell Group Universities  24 universities in the group  High levels of academic excellence  Research intensive  Outstanding teaching  Offer a wide range of courses

5. The 24 ‘Russell Group’ Universities University of BirminghamUniversity of Birmingham University of BristolUniversity of Bristol University of CambridgeUniversity of Cambridge Cardiff UniversityCardiff University Durham UniversityUniversity of Edinburgh University of ExeterUniversity of Glasgow Imperial College LondonKing's College London University of LeedsUniversity of Liverpool London School of Economics & Political ScienceUniversity of Manchester Newcastle UniversityUniversity of Nottingham University of OxfordQueen Mary University of London Queen's University BelfastUniversity of Sheffield University of SouthamptonUniversity College London University of WarwickUniversity of York

6. Oxbridge  University of Oxford and University of Cambridge  Part of the Russell Group  The two oldest and most prestigious universities in the UK  Leading academic centres  Known worldwide for the intellectual achievement of its students  Close support and teaching for students

7. Remember – not all good universities are Russell Group  Out of the top 15 universities (according to university guide) only 10 are Russell Group  Russell Groups are usually large and research intensive, this doesn't mean others aren’t as good

8. Faculties and Schools  Universities are split into faculties  Like departments at school  They organise research, courses and teaching into subject groups  For example, the faculties of English and Philosophy would be in the school of Humanities

9. Looking for a course  Visit a university website  Choose the ‘undergraduate’ option  Look at the school or faculty that interests you  Choose a course  The Cambridge university website http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/?ucam -ref=global-header

10. Choosing a course  What A Level grades do you need?  Are any specific A Levels required?  What do you study in the course?  What are the career opportunities?

11. Activity – find a course  Use the laptops to do a research task  Look back at your potential careers mind map  Can you find a university course relevant to that career?  What courses can you find?  Which university is it at?  What grades do you need?

12. What if I don’t know what I want to do at University?  http://www.ukcoursefinder.com/ http://www.ukcoursefinder.com/  Helps you find a suitable course, based on your interest  Has a Russell Group option!

13. Grades  Most universities don’t require any specific grade or subject at GCSE (apart from Maths and English)  However some Medicine courses require specific options and grades at GCSE  Check individual course requirements  Grades at A Level are important – Russell Group expect top end grades AAB – A*A*A*A*

14. Options  If you don’t know what you want to study, choose a range of options  Choose a language, sciences, a humanity, perhaps something creative  At A Level choose a facilitating subject such as; Maths, Sciences, History, Geography, Modern Languages, English Literature

15. Options  If you know what course you want to do, go to the UCAS website to search for universities  Although you don’t need to know what university you’re definitely going to go to, different universities offer different things within the course.

16. Options  Leicester (History Year 1)

17.  Southampton (History Year 1)

18. Any Questions?