- Adviser guide
- Preparing your students
- Important dates
- Post-16 data collection
- Curriculum and qualifications
- Benefits and opportunities
- Apply
- After applying
- Non-UK advisers
- Open days
- Conventions and exhibitions
- Conferences
- News
Research and advice can help your students to make the right decision
Choosing the right course and place of study is a difficult decision. Your students will appreciate all of the help and support you can give them. As well as talking to you about their options, we also recommend that they do a little research.
Prospectuses, open days and taster courses
Universities and colleges offer many ways to find out more about the courses they offer and student life. Your students should get hold of prospectuses and find out about open days and taster courses.
If your students have any questions or concerns, they can make enquiries to the university or college. However, the best way to get the full picture is to meet people face-to-face. Most universities and colleges hold open days. Your students can take a look around different areas of the institution and meet tutors. This allows them to decide if they like the feel of the place.
A number of universities and colleges around the UK offer short 'taster' courses. These give your students the chance to experience academic and social life in a higher education environment. Most of these courses are free, and last from one day to a full week. There are also a few summer courses available. Taster courses are incredibly popular so encourage your students to book early if they want to reserve a place.
You can find out more by reading our Open Days booklet, which also has details of taster courses and education conventions. Your school or college should already have a copy, but if required, you can buy copies from www.ucasbooks.com or through our Publication Services team by phoning 01242 544610 (or +44 1242 544610 from outside the UK ) or emailing publicationservices@ucas.ac.uk.
Student advice and tools on our website
This website is a great place to start. They can take the Stamford Test, a free tool which asks the student a series of questions and then recommends subjects that would suit the student's interests and abilities.
Many universities and colleges make changes, such as adding, changing or withdrawing courses after their prospectuses are printed. Our website is regularly updated so that it provides the most up-to-date source of course information. Course Search is a comprehensive online database that includes over 50,000 courses. For each course, we include information on fees, bursaries and financial support and many also have supplementary details, such as course content, entry requirements and potential career paths.
All the information has been added directly by the universities and colleges.
Useful guidebooks and publications 
We have two publications that may be very useful to your students: the Big Guide and the Scottish Guide, which can be ordered from www.ucasbooks.com.
The Big Guide is also known as the Official Universities and Colleges Entrance Guide. It is published every year and provides comprehensive course details, including entry requirements. It also provides helpful information on each individual institution, such as student mix and numbers; accommodation costs; interviewing policy; campus locations.
The Scottish Guide is similar to the Big Guide but specialises in Scottish institutions. It also has information about student support in Scotland and details of Scottish and GCE/VCE entry requirements.
UCAS exhibitions
We organise a number of exhibitions and conventions around the UK which are designed to help students to progress to higher education. They bring together representatives from UCAS and universities and colleges to give advice in person. We also host educational seminars to help students to understand their choices and how to make a successful application.
Our exhibitions and conventions start at the beginning of March and finish in early July throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, they are mainly from August to October.