Higher Education

What is Higher Education?

Higher education (HE) applies to any form of education that results in a level 4+ qualification. This includes HND, foundation degree, university degree or degree apprenticeship.

Who offers Higher Education:

It is commonly thought that Higher Education is only offered by Universities but this is not the case.  Higher Education can be accessed at local Further Education colleges or online with The Open University offering 200 courses and 400 learning modules.

What are the benefits of Higher Education?

The benefits of Higher Education include on average a higher paid career, according to the latest official statistics, graduates last year earned a median salary of £34,000, while non-graduates earned only £24,000 (Guardian 2019).  Graduates are offered a wider range of career choice and for certain careers a Degree is essential.  Gaining a Degree can offer a wide range of both employability and life skills.

But isn’t going to University expensive?

Whilst at University there are two main costs – tuition fees and living costs and you can apply for student finance to help with both.  All eligible students get a loan from the Government to cover the full cost of the fees charged by their university or college, at present this is up to £9,535 per annum (2025).   Students can also apply for a Maintenance loan to cover living costs, the basic amount of money that you receive for this Maintenance loan is dependent upon your family income.   Any loans have to be paid back but only after the course has finished and a repayment threshold has been met repayment threshold

Grants are available for students who have a disability, including a long-term health condition, mental health condition, or specific learning difficulty, or students who have children or an adult dependant who depends on them financially. These don’t usually have to be paid back.

Universities may also offer bursaries and scholarships for students and its worth contacting them to find out what is available and how to apply.

Introducing Higher Education in school

Starting from Year 7 pupils will during Tutor time and Super Learning Days be offered the opportunity to find out more about Higher Education. In Year 8 previous trips have included a languages trip to Leicester University.  Year 8 pupils have also participated in workshops fronted by Leicester University during Super Learning Days.  Other trips have included visits by Year 9 and 10 to Bath Spa University and Year 10 to Lincoln University for the NHS careers day.  In Year 9 pupils take part in the First Steps Programme with Lincoln Bishop University.  From Year 10 pupils start to work with LincHigher who are part of the Office for Students Uni Connect Project. LincHigher organise workshops in school to highlight the benefits of Higher Education.  Our LincHigher contact is Emily Lombardi.

Where can I find out more?

Parents’ Guide LincHigher Parental Guide (Parental guide for higher education)

Course Information

Complete University Guide (Help to choose courses)

UCAS (Search for courses and impartial information for all institutions offering Higher Education courses)

The Uni Guide (Information about choosing courses from GCSE onwards. Degree finder, course information and student feedback)

Whatuni guide (Course finder which enables you to search for foundation degrees, post graduate degrees & diplomas)

Studential   (General advice on applications and a really good section on personal statements including real examples on dozens of subjects)

Finance

Parents/carers guide for student finance (Parents/carers guide)

Student finance  (Where you apply for student finance)

This Money/student finance  (Some good advice and articles about finance and debt)

Scholarship search (Search for scholarships for your university/subject etc.)

Studying Abroad

Fulbright Commission (Information on studying in the USA)

Study Abroad  (Information about studying out of the UK)

Gap Year

Year out (Find out how to plan a Year Out and choose a programme which best suits your needs and aspirations. Hot links to 35 of the main gap year organisations)

Admission Tests

University Clinical Aptitude Test   (Admissions test for Medicine Degrees)

National Admissions Test for Law  (Admissions test for Law Degrees)

Other Websites

Prospects (The official graduate careers website. To see what kinds of careers particular degree subjects lead to, follow links to ‘careers advice’ and ‘options with your subject’)

Russell Group (Useful info provided by the ‘Russell Group’ of 24 universities. The downloadable ‘Informed Choices’ booklet is very good for Y11 students making post 16 choices)

LincHigher (Guides for HE)