Choosing a university or college

The UKPASS Course Search provides data on over 58,000 taught and research programmes available in the UK and Ireland.

The first point to note is that there is vast number to choose from, so you need to narrow down the possibilities. Here are some questions you may like to ask yourself:postgraduate student

  • Might you want to remain at your undergraduate institution or do you want to choose somewhere new? At the previous institution you are familiar with how things work and how to live there, but you may be ready for a change or your present university or college may not offer the opportunities you are seeking.
  • Some considerations are the same as choosing where to study as an undergraduate. For instance, do you prefer a lively town or city or quieter location to focus on study?
  • What is the size of the intake for postgraduate study in your field? Too many and you may lose individual attention from staff; too few and you might lack peer company and stimulation.
  • Are the lecturers practitioners of what they are teaching and is their knowledge in your proposed specialism fully up to date?

A lot of the information generally available concentrates on comparing performance of institutions in the undergraduate market, but this information can still give you a good indication of postgraduate activity and performance.

Three links to external websites are given below, all of which open in new windows.

Lots of information can be obtained from the postgraduate page of the Direct.gov website.

Another useful place to look at is the unistats website which can help you make an informed choice about which university to go to and what subject to study at postgraduate level.

A number of helpful publications are available from the UCAS online bookshop. The content of each publication varies, but you should be able to locate rankings and statistics on UK universities plus other useful information on accommodation, living costs and even the cheapest place to buy a pint!