About us Contact us
← Older posts
Newer posts →

The #International #Baccalaureate: a good alternative to #A-Levels?

It seems that nowadays a week hardly goes by without a flurry of news reports and some sort of hoo-ha about proposed reforms to the English education system. One week GCSEs are being ditched and replaced with O-Levels only for it to be back to GCSEs the next week; and coursework is in briefly before being axed at the drop of a hat in favour of summertime exams.

Whatever your views on the tinkering or wholesale reforms being carried out by the government at any one time (here at Leaving School we like to keep ourselves above such debates, thank you very much), it seems fair to say that the very act of continually calling into question the validity of qualifications as they currently stand can make students currently or about to sit those exams feel a bit in limbo. Why take a qualification if just a few years later the powers that be declare it to have not been sufficiently rigorous or educational?

It’s partly as a result of this uncertainty that some schools have taken the step of abandoning A Levels all together in favour of another qualification. When they do so, nine times out of ten they will be jumping ship to the International Baccalaureate (IB). Indeed, you may have heard of this qualification, either in the news or when leafing through university prospectuses.

But what is it, and if you’re currently finishing GCSEs would it be a good idea to take the IB Diploma?

The IB Diploma has been operating in some form or another since the 1960s, when it was first devised by a group of Swiss-based educators. The organisation that runs it, known simply as International Baccalaureate, offers its qualifications and curricula all around the world. So one of the first possible plus points of the IB Diploma is that it is a more internationally recognised qualification than the A Level. While British qualifications are taught at some (mainly wealthy) schools across the globe, the IB Diploma truly deserves the word ‘international’ in its title, with universities the world over understanding it as a currency with which to make entrance offers to students.

But the differences with A Levels certainly don’t end there. For one thing, any IB student must study six subjects, rather than the three-A-Levels-plus-an-AS model that most British students in practice end up taking. Of these six, three are studied to a higher level.

Now, if the thought of having to take six subjects sends shivers down your spine, this next part will make even more uncomfortable reading: you don’t actually have full control over which subjects you take. Rather, you have to pick one subject from six different groupings. At present these are ‘Language A1’ (ie. your native language), ‘Second Language’, ‘Individuals and Societies’ (this group covers subjects such as politics), ‘Experimental Sciences’ (Chemistry, Physics etc.), ‘Mathematics and Computer Science’ and ‘Arts’. In some cases students can take two subjects from one group and so only pick from five of them, but that’s about it as far as flexibility goes.

Mind you, some would argue that being able to take six subjects is in itself a much more flexible system than A Levels. Really it all depends on what your priorities are. If you’d hoped and prayed you could leave science behind forever after GCSEs, the IB might not be for you. On the other hand, if you hate the idea of having to restrict your education at the age of sixteen and want to keep your future study options open, the IB is a very enticing prospect indeed.

To return to the issue of the quality of the qualification–because there is obviously no point in studying for something that is regarded as worth less than the paper the results are printed on–the IB stands at least shoulder to shoulder with–and in the view of some is seen as a superior alternative to–Britain’s A Level systems. Certainly in no quarters is it regarded as less worthwhile. In fact, during the later years of Tony Blair’s government there were plans to make funding available to make sure every region of the country had at least one IB centre, but such ideas were then quietly shelved and aren’t likely to return any time soon.

Looking at it on balance, then, while A Levels will certainly get you into UK universities for the foreseeable future–and if that ever changes it’ll be because they are officially replaced with something else–the IB is certainly an attractive option if you are either looking to apply to university abroad or want to take more than four subjects. Sadly, though, in these strained economic times the difficulty can be finding a place that offers the costly IB curriculum in the first place.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , |

Two more great extracurricular activities for #university #students

After our last blog post on Wednesday about exciting and career-enhancing extracurricular activities you can do at university, we had a great response from you, the great studying and working public of this fine nation. In addition to people saying that they hadn’t thought of their university choice in terms of the extras offered beyond the course and the university’s social scene, we had people beseeching us to tell us more about other extracurricular options that university could bring them.

Never wanting to disappoint you guys, today we’d like to present you with another two extracurricular activities you can get involved with at university that will help you develop a satisfying social life, supplement your skills and kick-start your future career.

#1 The Officers’ Training Corps

This one is a great option for those of you who like the idea of excitement, adventure and the camaraderie that comes from gruelling military training. In other words, skip past this one if your idea of a good time is not crawling through the countryside at 4 am.

But for those of you who are curious about military life or think it’d be a great way to become a real leader of men and women, read on.

Although one of the ideas behind the Officers’ Training Corps is to create future military officers out of the brightest and best of Britain’s young people, in reality the majority of people who get involved with it at university do not go on to a career in the armed forces. Nevertheless, the three years of training they put into the OTC is definitely time well spent. For in addition to learning the key skills of life in the field and testing the limits of their physical capabilities, people in the OTC develop some really important professional skills (we won’t be including how to kill a man in this category, though you never know when it could come in useful…).

For example, leading teams of people and working under intense pressure are at the heart of the officer’s job. And if you can develop these skills through combat training, you’ll definitely be capable of using them in the workplace. Think of it as another example of Dodgeball‘s Patches O’Houlihan’s maxim that “If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.”

#2 Charity work

Volunteering is quite possibly something you’ve been doing already for the last couple of years, either because you’re a nice person or because it’s a way of making your UCAS application look good (we’re not here to judge your motives).

But charity work at university takes place on a completely different level. Rather than being just a foot soldier on the front line of volunteering, at university you have a real chance to oversee some really important charitable projects. Almost every university has a RAG week of fundraising, in which students come up with all sorts of novel ways to raise oodles of cash for good causes.

And outside of RAG week there are chances to be in charge of spectacular fundraising initiatives, whether in the form of packing out a club with a night of top DJs or organising a mass sponsored hitch-hike across Europe. If you think you might be interested in a career in project management (and why wouldn’t you, given the pay packet you’d be rewarded with?) or with an NGO or charity, these sorts of activities are perfect for you.

But it’s not just about fundraising. Students also volunteer for all sorts of other things and apply their considerable skills to helping others. If you’re a law student, for example, there are opportunities to get involved with legal advice clinics; and linguists can get a taste of life as an interpreter by volunteering with refugee charities and helping people who speak no English.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , |

Three great extracurricular activities for #university #students

Okay, pipe down. When we say ‘extracurricular activities’ it’s not a euphemism for the sorts of hijinks that students get up to at university.

No, these are extracurricular activities in the more traditional sense of things you can do that help you to become a well-rounded, capable person, and also give you some really good stuff to put on your CV.

You see, the job market is as competitive for graduates as it is for school-leavers. Just having a degree simply doesn’t cut it any more. Even if you studied at the most ivory of the UK’s ivory towers and got a first with lots of gold stars plastered all over it, you’re not guaranteed a job just on the strength of that academic performance.

There’s a simple reason for this. Although being intelligent and having the skills required to get great university grades are very important, they’re not the only qualities that employers are looking for. They’re also looking for people that have skills that library time and essay writing don’t necessarily bring, such as organisation, people skills and leadership. The sorts of things people who run companies need to use every day to motivate their people and make sure things get done on time.

But that doesn’t mean that you can’t develop these skills while at university. As pretty much any undergraduate will tell you, there’s much more to university life than studying. And by that we don’t just mean the nights spent on the Student Union dancefloor.

Wherever you study, university life will offer you bags of opportunities to get involved with groups, initiatives and organisations that will help you to become the sort of super-capable professional that your future employers want you to be.

And you know what? Getting involved in uni life through these opportunities won’t just look good on your CV; it’ll probably also be great fun and an opportunity to get involved in some of those ‘extracurricular activities’ you thought we were talking about when you started reading this.

So if you’re still weighing up your UCAS offers against one another, perhaps it’s time to factor in what extracurricular opportunities your top contenders could offer you.

Without further ado, then, here are three of our favourite things you can do at uni to have a great time and strengthen your CV and employability into the bargain.

#1: Running or setting up a society

Any old student can, of course, join a society; and in Fresher’s weeks the length and breadth of this isle thousands join a variety of serious, wacky, intellectual or sporty clubs and societies that let them indulge in or pick up a new hobby or interest.

But being a bog-standard member of a society is not the same as running one or setting one up. Doing that takes up many hours of your time, and also requires you to do things like organise meetings, plan and run events, market the society and handle its finances and budget. In other words, you’ll need to do the sorts of things you could well be asked to do in a proper job.

#2: Getting involved in student media

Pretty much any Student Union will have its own newspaper. And the bigger SUs nowadays seem to have their own media empires that extend from traditional print journalism to radio, the web and even TV channels.

All of which means that there are numerous ways you can get involved with your SU’s media output. You could try your hand at writing articles; you could get trained up to do the graphic-design side of things; you could present your own radio show; or you could help out with the admin work that ensures deadlines are met and advertising revenues are collected.

So whether you dream of a life as a hotshot reporter, developing a good eye for aesthetics or life in the world of media sales, getting involved in student media presents a wealth of great opportunities.

#3: Becoming a Student Union representative

Newspapers and radio stations are just two of the many services that Student Unions offer. In the majority of cases they are at the very core of student life, providing entertainment and other fun stuff as well as guidance services covering a range of areas, from counselling to finance. And they are also the body that represents the views of students within the university, ensuring that their interests are taken into account when big decisions are made by the powers that be.

It should come as no surprise that an institution with such a wide range of functions that represents thousands of people doesn’t just magically run itself. However, some people are surprised to learn that it is in fact the students themselves who run the union, rather than simply a group of employees. In fact, the majority of student unions are run by a team of elected representatives drawn from the student population. Having stood for election to fill a particular post, such as entertainment, sport, finance, welfare or even overall leadership of the Union, they then take responsibility for the Union’s handling of that area.

Needless to say, this is a big responsibility. So big, in fact, that at some universities it constitutes a full-time position, with students either taking a sabbatical from their studies or occupying their post after graduating. And positions that require big responsibility also require big skills. So a term as SU president or one of the other positions is sure to represent a huge plus point on your CV when it comes to applying for graduate jobs.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , |

Suggestions for the #summer

Although by this point in February the several months of cold, rain, snow and darkness we have endured makes it tempting to believe that winter will never end, that whole business of how the earth revolves around the sun makes it inevitable that at some point winter will turn into spring. And as we all know, after spring must come summer. Unless the sun goes out, of course. But let’s try not to think about that eventuality.

Anyway, summer isn’t just great because it means there will be at least a couple of days of sunshine and warmth. It also means that school’s out (someone should really write a song celebrating the coincidence of those two events…). Yes, with the summer months comes an endless expanse of free weeks and a break from the academic year’s grind of classes, assignments and exams. What better way to spend that precious time away from the stresses of study than by doing absolutely nothing?

Well, we can think of at least a couple. While it is tempting to see summer approaching and look forward to lots of lie-ins, is that really the best use of your time? But, ah, you say, don’t I deserve to have some fun? Haven’t I earned a holiday? Can’t I just chill out for a bit before I decide what to do with my vacation time?

Well yes, you probably have, and yes you probably can. But the problem is that time–and especially the summertime–is precious, and very easy to throw away. At the start of the summer holidays, many people have grand ideas of things that they’ll do, once they’ve given themselves a week or two of R & R. But then those one or two weeks become a month, and then two months, and then before they know it September has rolled around again. September’s a bit of a stealthy ninja like that, always catching you out.

The best way to prevent this sorry scenario from happening is definitely to plan ahead for the summer. You don’t need to get anything set in stone right now, but you should definitely start setting the wheels in motion for arranging something interesting and worthwhile to do over the summer. And if you’re stuck for ideas, here are some suggestions from the leavingschool.co.uk team that are yours to keep for free.

#1 Do some travelling

By this we don’t mean travelling to Tenerife for two weeks of partying, though of course you are more than welcome to do that as well if you please. No, we’re talking about visiting some new and exciting countries and expanding your cultural horizons.

Obviously this option is dependent on two things: your age and your bank balance. If you’re too young to go off travelling on your own, or if you’re not awash with cash right now, then jetting off to Thailand for some backpacking probably isn’t going to be an option.

Fear not, however. For there are a couple of other ways you can enjoy a spell overseas this summer without needing to be swimming in money.

#2 Work, volunteer or study abroad

If you’re over eighteen and a student, there are various countries, for example Canada, Australia or New Zealand, that’d love to have you pop over for a few months to do some casual work. Nothing too fancy, probably just waiting tables or serving drinks; but the point is you’ll be young and free in an exciting, vibrant city on the other side of the world. All you need to do to make it happen is apply through BUNAC for a student work visa–but do get your act together with this, as they’re limited in number.

There are also other overseas work options. Working in a hotel or some other part of the tourist sector is also a popular choice, as is working at summer camps, whether they be the classic American camps out in the woods or language-learning camps in the European Union. The beauty of these positions is that you arrange the employment before you go, so there won’t be any uncertainty as to whether you’ll find work or not. And you’ll probably even get free accommodation into the bargain.

For those who are under eighteen, your best bet is probably to look at participating in some sort of summer language school or exchange, where your folks will be able to sleep soundly knowing that you’re being looked after by either the language school or a host family. Just make sure you don’t tell them about any late-night sneaking out that you do…

#3 Take a summer course and learn something

Further study might be the last thing on your mind over the summer. But then again, what if there’s some sort of skill that you’ve been itching to learn but as of yet haven’t had the chance to? Something a little bit different from what you study at school or university, such as photography or acting?

Summer’s a great time to take courses like this, as you won’t need to balance doing them with your standard school workload. So check out what your local FE college has to offer and get yourself enrolled!

#4 Get an internship or work experience

For the more career-minded, the summer can be spent getting work experience that relates directly to your future professional or study hopes. This is probably the least relaxing of the options we’re offering up here today, but if you’re prepared to put in the sacrifice of spending a summer in a busy office or an A & E department, that investment of your time could play a decisive role in getting you a future job or a place on your top-choice university course.

More so with travelling or studying, finding an internship or work placement, even if it’s an unpaid one, requires forward planning and applying. You can’t just rock up at your local hospital and expect them to let you start looking after the patients. So start researching where you’d like to work, polish up that CV and get drafting that cover letter!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , |

Ever thought about being your own boss?

Okay, okay, we know what you’re thinking. You’ve read the title of this blog post and your first reaction was “Has the Leaving School blog become one of those dodgy get-rich-quick scheme sites?” It’s not like that. Though what we’re about to tell you about could turn out to be a great opportunity for you…

Whether they’re school leavers or graduates, young people haven’t had it so tough in the job market for many a generation. Whereas in decades gone by there were often jobs aplenty for people in their late teens or early twenties in a huge range of sectors and catering to a diverse range of skills, this big ol’ recession that we’re fighting our way through has put the kibosh on that.

Instead of walking into a job, many young people who are leaving education are instead walking through the doors of their local temp agency or job centre, scratching around to find what work they can. There are certainly still great employment opportunities out there for school leavers and graduates alike, but they’re more limited in number than before.

So what can you do if you find yourself in this unfortunate position of being unable to secure a steady job? Leaving aside the temptation to just shrug your shoulders and give up, the most common response to this situation, and certainly an admirable one, is to doggedly keep sending out CVs and putting in applications. Even if it takes several months and hundreds of cover letters, you will eventually find something.

The problem with sitting around and waiting to hear from prospective employers is that you’re not necessarily developing your skills or adding anything impressive to your CV while you’re job hunting. If you’re not working at all, then you’re just creating a gap. And gaps on CVs look bad. If you’re working a menial part-time or temporary job, meanwhile, it could be that you’re doing something that isn’t really adding anything relevant or impressive to your CV that will help persuade employers from a sector you really want to work in that you’ve got the skills, drive and knowledge that they’re looking for.

This is where our crackpot scheme to look towards self-employment comes in. By taking matters a bit more into your own hands and becoming your own boss you’ll be committing yourself to doing something that shows real initiative and moreover allows you to demonstrate that you’ve used your skills in the world of work. Sounds better than another afternoon of watching repeats of Come Dine With Me, doesn’t it?

Now, your immediate reaction to this may be that while it all sounds good in theory, surely in practice becoming self-employed–even if it is just for a short period–will require far too much in the way of expenses, paperwork and connections to be a viable plan.

But you’d be surprised. Bear in mind here we’re not suggesting you set up a multinational firm or a hi-tech manufacturing plant; this is just about you putting yourself out there, performing jobs in an area that interests you or that you have the skills for. Depending on what you choose to do, the costs involved could be no more than a couple of quid.

Let’s give you some examples to show you what we mean. If you’re confident in or passionate about a subject you studied in the past, then becoming a tutor in it requires no more than putting some adverts on some tutoring websites and in local shops. If you’ve built websites in the past then some sort of simple web design service for local businesses is within your reach. If you’re a fitness buff then getting personal training or group fitness sessions in the local park are just a matter of doing a little bit of local and online marketing.

And the tax end of all this is pretty simple as well. It’s just a matter of visiting the Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs website, following their self-employment guide and filling in an online form to register as self-employed. Just don’t forget to keep a record of all the money that customers pay you!

The key thing to remember with all this is that you don’t have to–and you shouldn’t expect to–become an overnight success story. Any self-employment venture takes time to get off the ground. But even if you get just a couple of clients, it’s something you can put on your CV that’ll set you apart from the other young jobseekers. And who knows, if you play your cards right you might find you’ve become a successful local businessman who rather than being a job seeker is looking for his own employees.

Tagged , , , , , |

The merits of non-vocational degrees

University courses come in thousands of different shapes and sizes. In some cases, the outcome of studying a course is clear: it will equip you with the specialised knowledge and skills required to perform a particular job.

This applies not just to the more modern range of explicitly vocational degree courses, such as tourism management or product design, nor old favourites such as nursing or architecture, but also subjects that are directly relevant–and often necessary–for a particular career path. In this category we’d put many of the most popular university courses that students study today, such as chemistry, biomedical sciences or psychology.

It’s fair to say that a large proportion of the people that do all these courses study them because they are interested in following a career related to that subject area. They might have to go onto some further type of training after university, but a pre-requisite for that is the course that they have chosen to study.

In many ways, people who are drawn to these courses are lucky. In an age of economic uncertainty, their career path is being cleared and paved right in front of them, and all they need to do is walk down it without falling over (metaphor hint: this means not failing their exams).

But what happens if your talents and interests lie in subjects that have no obvious link to the real world? Studying philosophy is all well and good, but go down to the swankiest restaurant where you live and it’s more than likely it’ll be the accountants, lawyers and engineers dining out there; if you see any professional philosophers there at all it’ll probably be out by the bins, scavenging for scraps.

So, to ask a very blunt question, what’s the point of studying courses like philosophy if they don’t clearly prepare you for any particular career? Some people–and especially those who are proud to call the University of Life their alma mater–would say that there is none. People who do vocational degrees might be tempted to say the same.

However, if your heart has been captured by one of these subjects but you are unsure it’ll be worth your while studying it at university, think again. For while the subject matter of these courses might not cover things that people need to know about in their jobs, they offer a wealth of skills that employers crave.

Top among these are critical thinking and written communication. If you can get to grips with the finer points of the causes of the Cold War or the subtexts of twentieth-century German playwrights with only a gentle amount of input from the experts and then turn your research into the subject into a lean, concise and insightful essay, then you have developed a skill that is in demand for many, many walks of life. It’s not the subject matter itself that’s important, but rather the fact that mastering it was difficult and prompted you to look at things in an original way, appraise vast amounts of information and put it into highly readable English. Those skills used to dissect Stalinism or Brecht are exactly the same as the ones required to deliver a report into emerging markets in Latin America or anti-poverty initiatives.

Engaging in productive discussions in which you put across your opinions and try to reconcile them with those of others is also a skill that the non-vocational skill courses excel in teaching. Anyone who completes a philosophy degree should by the end be able to not just talk confidently and lucidly about even the most complex of subjects, but also take on board the nuances of other people’s own views. If you’ve ever been in a meeting with someone who doesn’t listen to you, can’t understand your point or is incapable of expressing their own thoughts you’ll realise just how important a skill this is in the real world.

While facts can be crammed and memorised, developing intellectual skills such as these is a much more difficult process that most employers simply don’t have the time or resources to nurture in their new recruits. They’d rather it be that you provide these skills and they’ll bring the knowledge. You’ll even find that many top employers are just as happy to take on graduates from subjects that having nothing to do with what they do as they are people with relevant degree subjects. Accountancy and law are just two very long-standing examples of this.

So if you’re currently trying to work out whether the subject you applied to study at university is really worth the financial commitment because it has no pre-set career outcome, rest assured that it’ll probably open plenty of doors for you.

Plus you’ll be able to recite Shakespeare or know loads of stuff about Vikings. And who doesn’t love Vikings?

Posted in university, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , |

Check out our newest articles!

Here at Leaving School we’re always looking to beef up our resources so that you, dear student/young person/individual thinking of returning to education/revision monkey (delete as applicable and feel free to add another category if you don’t fit into one of these), have access to the most up-to-date, interesting and insightful guides to studying, education, careers and a whole lot more.

These last few months we haven’t just been sitting here, twiddling our thumbs and watching the world go by. Oh no. Instead, we’ve been grafting, our noses to the grindstone and our fingers to the keyboard, producing some superb guides to a whole range of subjects that could quite possibly help you decide what to do with your life.

And since we’ve been working so hard to enlighten and inform you, it’d be a crying shame if our work was all in vain simply because you didn’t know about it. So we thought today, on this rainy/cloudy/sunny/snowy/post-apocalyptic (delete based on what you can see out of your window) early-February Monday morning, we’d give you a heads-up as to our latest articles.

If we had to recommend just one of our new crop of half a dozen or so to you based on what’s relevant right now, it’d be our very helpful guide to what to do if you want to go to university this coming September but have missed UCAS’s pesky 15th January deadline. People often think that if they haven’t got their application in by this point then the jig is up and they’ll have to just wait until September 2014 before they’ll be able to go to university. But we’ve got news for you: you might not have to, so long as you play your cards right.

Very closely related to our missed deadline guide is our examination of UCAS Extra for the benefit of those of you who haven’t been made any offers or have ended up turning them all down and still fancy a stab at freshers’ week eight months from now. As you’ll discover if you read the article there’s still plenty of time and opportunities to find a place at a great uni in your chosen subject.

Our wildcard pick for you is our guide to your options when it comes to applying to universities overseas. Whether you’re looking to avoid the tuition-fee hike or turn your university experience into a cultural and personal journey–or even if you just like the idea of studying somewhere a bit less rainy–then this could well be the guide that gives you the info you need to make it happen.

Another of our guides looks a bit further down the UCAS track, as far as Clearing. In it we take issue with the idea that Clearing amounts to a big, panicky scramble for university places and set the record straight about how it’s simply another phase of the university admissions process, and moreover one that in the majority of cases ends with students ending up on courses that are just the right fit for them.

So whether you’re still yet to apply to university, need advice on your next step in the great dance they call UCAS, or are looking to head off abroad to study, there’s something at leavingschool.co.uk for everyone to get their teeth into. Happy reading and happy applying!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , |

National Apprenticeship Week

One of the most ancient–not to mention effective–ways of learning something complex is through an apprenticeship. Before universities were even a glimmer in some long-bearded intellectual’s eye, people across the known world were learning by being apprenticed to a master, who taught them the secrets of their trade and put them through a rigorous, long-term period of preparation to stand on their own two feet as a master practitioner of their trade.

Even in the face of the development of schools, universities and huge technological changes that have made many old crafts and skills a thing of the past, apprenticeships continue to flourish to this very day. And it’s little wonder, given how they are one of the best–and sometimes the only–way to pursue a wide range of specialist careers. If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. And there’s no better way to learn how to do it right than through an apprenticeship.

To make sure the current young generation follows in the footsteps of countless ones before them, the government is eager to promote apprenticeships. In that spirit, it launched National Apprenticeship Week, which will celebrate its fifth year between 11th and 15th March this year.

In addition to generally promoting and raising awareness of apprenticeships, this year National Apprenticeship Week is based around the theme “Apprenticeships Deliver” as part of the National Apprenticeship’s Service’s wider “New Era for Apprenticeships” campaign, which aims to bring apprenticeships bang up to date with the demands of the twenty-first century.

The “Apprenticeships Deliver” theme of this year’s National Apprenticeship Week has a clear goal: making young people see the many different ways they can develop as people by completing an apprenticeship.

Foremost among these are the opportunities for career progression that apprenticeships can offer. With apprenticeship schemes for 1,400 different types of job in over 250 different sectors of the economy, apprenticeships are a great foot in the door for young people. And because they always lead to qualifications and certifications, they offer a real chance to become a leader in whichever field you choose to go into.

And there are personal opportunities in the short-term as well. While students at universities and colleges are living off loans and racking up massive tuition fees, not only do apprentices not have to pay for their training, they also get paid from the earliest months of their apprenticeship.

Businesses of all sizes are always eager to get their hands on talented young folks and shape them into experts in their sector. And as a result, they’ll be keen to get involved in National Apprenticeship Week. So when March comes round don’t be surprised to see all sorts of activities organised by companies up and down the country aimed at showing you why an apprenticeship could just be the making of you.

So if you’re weighing up your options for your future career and having read our excellent university guides still aren’t sure higher education would be the right choice for you, keep your eyes open for National Apprenticeship Week events near you.

Tagged , , , |

The Erasmus Programme

Two things that really get us at Leaving School excited are great study opportunities and learning new skills. Hey, we never claimed we were cool.

But we most certainly are always on the lookout for schemes that will let you experience these two things. And in that spirit we’d like to tell you about the Erasmus Programme, a study-abroad initiative for undergraduate students that lets you experience life in a university or workplace at one of a huge range of exotic and intriguing destinations across the European Union.

Now, you may be reading this as an undergraduate, in which case this information is of prime relevance to you. However, you may also not yet be at university, and so wondering why you should be interested in thinking about things that you won’t get to do until you’re twenty or twenty-one years old.

Well, secondary-level naysayers, the answer is simple: because different UK universities have different levels of involvement in the Erasmus Programme, meaning that your choice of UK university could have a big effect on whether you could enjoy the scheme.

And were you to participate in it, enjoy it you would; the Erasmus Programme is legendary among Europe’s young folk for the excitement, adventures and experiences it offers. Oh, and did we also mention that not only is it free, and not only does the EU provide you with a grant to spend as you please, but you also don’t have to pay UK university tuition fees while you’re on the scheme.

So, more interested in the whole thing now? Of course you are. So let’s tell you all about it.

First started in 1987, the Erasmus Programme has seen literally hundreds of thousands of students from all across the EU spend time either studying in a university in another EU country or taking up a work placement there. Although it’s named after the sixteenth-century philosopher Desiderius Erasmus (known as Des to his pals), the name also stands for EuRopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students, which nicely summarises what the scheme is all about: letting students experience life in other places in the EU.

The majority of Erasmus students go and study at another university, though there are also possibilities for completing a work placement instead. You can go away for anywhere between three months and a full academic year.

Now, you may think that this all sounds like fun–and believe us it is–but are also discounting getting involved because you don’t speak any foreign languages. Well, guess what: you don’t have to! Well, not yet at least. Because picking up a new language while you’re away is what the scheme is all about, with Erasmus students being given free language classes at their chosen university in addition to taking courses in their chosen subject. And English being the dominant tongue that it is has also led to many European universities offering many of their courses in English, so for some destinations there’s even less of a language barrier.

The life of Erasmus students is famously shall we say “relaxed,” with the emphasis being on cultural experience rather than frantically studying. As a result Erasmus students tend to spend much of their time hanging out with fellow Erasmus students from other EU countries, converging in an enormous polyglot friendship group of partygoers and travellers.

But the fact that an Erasmus exchange is a lot of fun certainly doesn’t mean it’s not useful. Far from it. Future employers will look on your bold decision to study abroad as a sign of ambition and drive, and those language skills you picked up while there will also be viewed as a clear plus point.

The Erasmus Programme is structured in the form of exchanges between different universities. So if University A in Country X sends fifty students to University B in Country Y, then University B sends the same number of its own to University A.

And this is something that is worth bearing in mind if you think you’d be interested in the scheme but aren’t yet at university. Each university on your shortlist will have different exchange agreements, meaning that each one will offer a different range of options for where you can go, which are also conditioned by the course you are studying.

So, for example, if you are going to do Business Studies, the Erasmus links that the University of Manpool has will be totally different to those of Glasburgh University, with one offering only options to go to Italy, France and Germany and the other offering Poland, Czech Republic and Portugal. (Note: do not apply to either of these universities. They are made up.) Some universities have loads of exchanges set up, whereas others have very few.

Therefore if you want to do the scheme and are still thinking about which university to go to, go and have a look at their website (you’ll be able to find the links to it from our university guides section), which should give you more information about where they would be able to send you on the Erasmus Programme.

Posted in university, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , |

Preparing for the next revision session

Late January: for most students, it’s that blissful time of the year when the next set of exams seems to be a long way away. A time to put their feet up and congratulate themselves on all the hard work they put into revising for the last bout of test papers and assessments.

More revision is the last thing on their mind. And who can blame them? Surely revision is now off the menu until the spring? Well, in some ways yes. But on the other hand…

…what if there was something to be said for at least thinking about the next revision period already?

This is an idea that will probably fill most students with horror. How could you possibly propose such a thing?

Well, hear us out for a moment. We’re not suggesting that you immediately hit the books again. It’s more a question of putting in a little light prep work that might actually make your revision for your summer exams go more smoothly. And if revision goes smoothly, generally that also means that exams go better and you get higher marks.

So, put your scepticism on hold for just a second while we try to convince you that there’s certainly some revision tasks you could feasibly do over the next few months, and that doing them will in fact make your life easier when it comes to exam crunch time.

Learn from past mistakes and areas for improvement

You’d think it was fairly obvious that the things you did worst on in the last exams are the ones you should spend a bit more time on next time round, but many people amazingly don’t do this and instead devote the same amount of time to their proven strong areas as their weakest ones. In fact, some people even fall into the trap of revising what they’re good at more, perhaps because these subject areas are safe and comforting to them.

By carefully looking at where you went wrong last time you can make sure your future revision efforts are put to much better use. Aced one paper? Okay, great. It’ll be more a question of brushing up on it next time round. Did unexpectedly badly on another one? That’s where you need to be putting in the effort next time.

Hunt out new revision resources and organise your materials

Another really helpful bit of prep work you can do is have a think about which revision materials worked well for you last time, and which just didn’t help you get your head round the subject. Once you’ve identified the dud books and websites, banish them from your revision routine and then scope out newer, better ones to replace them with. Have a look online and in bookstores. Ask your friends. Try out our excellent revision section. Just don’t keep using that hand-me-down revision guide that’s ten years old and is a real chore to read.

And once you’ve identified your materials gather them together. Buy any books now, and bookmark new websites in your browser. That way when you come to start revising you’ll have everything to hand and be able to get stuck in from day one.

Start using revision techniques when doing your homework

There are all sorts of really great revision techniques out there to help you stay motivated, memorise more easily and maintain your concentration span. We’ll be covering some of them on our blog over the next few months.

However, many people have a problem with revision techniques. They hear about one, think it sounds great, but then never quite get round to using it, or use it once and then forget about it.

This happens because using revision techniques is a habit that you need to work into your routine, just like many other things you do in your life. So you need to make sure they’re established habits by the time it comes to revising.

The best way to do this is to consciously and deliberately adopt them when doing your homework. If you can remember a day of revision that went really well because you had a good rhythm of bursts of revision followed by a break or a treat then great, keep using that over the next few months. By the time you really need it for exams it’ll be almost like a reflex reaction to doing work.

Tagged |
← Older posts
Newer posts →

Blog

ADVERTISEMENTS

ADVERTISEMENTS