Researching your options

Deciding to go to university is an exciting prospect. It's an opportunity to live and learn in a whole new way, bringing people and possibilities together. But how do you decide what and where you want to study?

Choosing your course

You don't have to know what exactly you want to do in the future. Just knowing what you enjoy is enough. Start by asking yourself:

• Which subjects do I enjoy studying?
• Are there any subjects I'm particularly good at?
• What do I see myself doing after university?
• And what are the most employable degrees?

When you know which course you're interested in. It's time to see what's out there. Think about:

• Entry requirements
• Are you likely to be offered a place on your course based on your predicted grades?
• Module content
• Make sure the course matches your interests and relates your career plans
• Will to keep you interested for the next three years or more?
• Work experience - hands-on, work focused experience makes all the difference to a degree
• What placement opportunities are there on your course?
• Course accreditation - is the course recognized by relevant professional bodies? If a course is accredited, it shows that it covers everything you need to know for a career in the relevant industry.
• Facilities - will you be learning in the best possible environment?

How do I choose the right university for me?

A lot of people default to choosing universities they've heard of or follow their friends without doing proper research. Some features of universities that you may want to investigate are:

• Teaching quality
• Student satisfaction surveys
• Graduate employments rates
• University league tables
• Student reviews.

There are questions to consider. Ask yourself:

• Which features of a university are important to you?
• Location. Where is the university situated?
• Do you want to be close to home or further afield?
• Student life - does the university offer societies or clubs that you're interested in?
• Support - can the university help you to feel empowered and as comfortable as possible?

Open days

One of the best ways of picking a university is by seeing it for yourself. There are so many factors to consider, and visiting universities in person could completely change your mind. Sometimes one university will just feel right.

Attending open days in advance is the perfect way to see for yourself what makes life and learning here at Nottingham Trent University so special.

All our undergraduate course applications are managed through UCAS. You can apply directly through the UCAS homepage or by clicking the "Apply" button on the top right of the relevant course page on our website.

You can apply to up to five universities through UCAS.

Our UCAS institution code is N91. When you complete your registration, UCAS will generate your username. You will need your username and password to log back in and access your application, so keep them safe.

If you’d like to apply for a part-time undergraduate course, you’ll need to apply directly to the University via the relevant course page.

Add @ntu.ac.uk and @ucas.com to your email safe senders list and check your emails regularly as we’ll be sending you important information throughout the application process via email and text message.

Make sure all your details are up to date on UCAS so that everything reaches you.

Check the status of your university application on UCAS,

We normally process applications in around 14 working days. This can vary in cases where we need to consider academic consultation, an interview outcome, or special circumstances.

Once we have assessed your application, we hope to be able to make you one of the following offers:

• Unconditional Offer – an offer where you have already satisfied the entry criteria and can have a place on the course.
• Conditional Offer – an offer whereby you must fulfil certain criteria (e.g. grades) before you can be accepted on the course.
• Alternative Offer – you don’t meet the entry requirements for your chosen course, so we have made you an offer for an alternative course.

When you’ve received decisions for all of your university applications, you’ll see an alert on your UCAS page, advising you to reply to your offers.

• Unconditional – If you accept this as your firm (first) choice then your place is confirmed.
• Conditional – You can choose one course as your firm choice and one as your insurance (second) choice. Make sure the offer you accept as insurance has lower offer conditions than your firm. This way, if you don’t get the grades you were expecting for your firm choice, you are likely to meet the conditions of your insurance choice.

You’ll need to decline any other offers you’ve received.

In accepting the offer of a place at the University you are also accepting our Terms and Conditions and agreeing to comply with the University’s Regulations, Rules, Codes, Policies and Procedures (the Regulations) that apply to enrolled students.

If you accept the University’s offer of a place on a course, we strongly recommend that you download and save these documents for future reference as they form your contract with the University.

A-level results will be published on Thursday 17 August 2023. You can check if you’ve been accepted onto your course on UCAS.

If you don’t meet the requirements for either your firm or insurance choice, you may still be eligible for your course or be made an alternative offer. If that’s not the case, you will be eligible to enter Clearing, which is your chance to apply for university courses after you've received your exam results, or if you haven't already applied through UCAS.