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We recognise that university is just one of the choices available after completing school, Sixth Form or Further Education (FE) college. Other options include:

Apprenticeships

Apprentices are paid employees who study while they are working. Most apprenticeships involve on the-job training combined with some classroom-based lessons so that apprentices gain experience and learn the skills they need to work in the industry they have chosen.

Degree apprenticeships

These are apprenticeships which allow people to achieve a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree while gaining work experience. Your young person would be a paid employee while on the programme, but they would spend part of their time at university. This scheme is quite new and becoming more and more popular, so it is likely that the number of vacancies will grow over the next few years. You can find out more about Degree Apprenticeships at LSBU here.

Employment

Some students decide to go straight into employment. This could help build their confidence, develop their CV and provide them with professional and business networking opportunities.

Taking a gap year

Some young people choose to take a break after completing their final year of school or college to travel, work or volunteer. If your student is thinking of doing this, but has plans to go to university eventually, they can still apply in their final year and then delay their start date by a year. This is called deferred entry and you can find out more about it on the UCAS website.

If your young person is interested in going on to university, there are plenty of reasons why it might be a good pathway for them:

University graduates tend to earn higher salaries and have higher status jobs than non-graduates.
A university degree is necessary for certain professional careers, but don’t forget that that 60% of graduate job opportunities are open to graduates from any discipline, which means that you do not need a degree in a specific subject to enter them.
The university experience will help them to become more independent and mature through taking control of their own learning, living and socialising.
The experience is likely to help them make new friends outside their usual circle. This can grow their confidence and expand their social network, which can in turn assist when they are looking at future careers.
They will get an opportunity to explore passions, hobbies and skills outside of the classroom and find new things they enjoy doing.
Finally, university provides a unique opportunity for young people to learn from experts, explore new interests and find out more about themselves and what they are good at and enjoy.

It’s never too early to start exploring the idea of going to university. Chat to your learner about things that they enjoy and how they could explore these subjects further.

Talk to them about all the different jobs that family, friends and neighbours are doing. Speak about people who have been to university – either people that you know or well-known people who are on your learner’s radar e.g. authors that they enjoy, or sports professionals that they follow.

Encourage them to be curious and to research local universities and who are their famous former students – these are called their Alumni. Research universities near your home and pop into an Open Day to have a tour of the sports facilities and specialist facilities. Speak to the Careers Lead at school, or college, about trips that they are planning to visit universities, and when universities are coming to give assemblies.

All of these activities will help your learner feel confident that university is an option open to them and that they are knowledgeable about where university can lead.

We realise that applying to university can be a life-changing step for a person. We also appreciate how overwhelming it can be for them to make the right decisions, and for you to offer advice and support.

LSBU is confident of the excellent support we can offer. Here are some resources which we hope will help answer your questions about studying at LSBU and give you a good idea of what a student can expect should they join us.

If you’re a parent, carer or supporter of someone who’s already been successful in their application and is about to begin their studies at LSBU, please visit our New Students Induction and Enrolment for information on how to help them start out.

If you’re a parent, carer or supporter of someone already studying at LSBU, please visit our page on Student Support for more information about the support available to them. You can also search our MyAccount FAQs if you have any questions about specific issues, including what to do if you’re concerned about them: I am a parent/carer and am worried about my child's wellbeing. They are a student at LSBU. What can I do? - LSBU MyAccount.