The Student Room Group

advice on what courses to take at uni??

i applied for uni last for photography but got a foundation degree and didnt want to take it and decided to go to college instead. fast forward a yr and now im ready to apply again for 2016 entry! woo! only problem is im unsure what course i want to take... as far as im aware i have 240 ucas points and i know im limited to which unis i can get into and what courses but i really want to go uni! i was going to apply for photography again but it depends on if i can get my portfolios back from my 6th form. ill list below a little info about me an if you could suggest what course you think i would possibly suit let me know pls also what unis as well thanks!

alevels: english lit and lang, btec photography diploma
AS: health social care lvl 3
gcse: english, maths,, history,business studies, Btec: music,
science, health and social care, childcare
functional skills: maths
(my grades werent very good tbf, but have a reason for it) is there any point me trying?? :frown:
(edited 8 years ago)
Original post by Rated_r
i applied for uni last for photography but got a foundation degree and didnt want to take it and decided to go to college instead. fast forward a yr and now im ready to apply again for 2016 entry! woo! only problem is im unsure what course i want to take... as far as im aware i have 240 ucas points and i know im limited to which unis i can get into and what courses but i really want to go uni! i was going to apply for photography again but it depends on if i can get my portfolios back from my 6th form. ill list below a little info about me an if you could suggest what course you think i would possibly suit let me know pls also what unis as well thanks!

alevels: english lit and lang, btec photography diploma
AS: health social care lvl 3
gcse: english, maths,, history,business studies, Btec: music,
science, health and social care, childcare
functional skills: maths
(my grades werent very good tbf, but have a reason for it) is there any point me trying?? :frown:


Hi there,

Getting 240 points is good for a lot of entries into university!

From looking at your A levels you suit either a photography course or an English course (maybe creative writing or poetry of the arts).

University wise... It depends if you want to move away from home or if it doesn't bother you too much. (Usually students want to move to the other side of the country!) To do English - you have a wide choices of universities you can apply for but for photography you're quite limited.

Solent do photography as well as a range of other arts and creative courses, however usually a portfolio is required and the same with universities such as Falmouth and Portsmouth. (I applied for advertising and both Falmouth and Portsmouth wanted a portfolio when I'd never done advertising before!)

It might be worth phoning around some universities and seeing what their clearing spaces are like this year to see whether you could apply for your dream universities through clearing next year :smile:.

I hope this helps.
- Kath :smile:
Yeah Solent is a great choice I had a great time


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Rated_r
i applied for uni last for photography but got a foundation degree and didnt want to take it and decided to go to college instead. fast forward a yr and now im ready to apply again for 2016 entry! woo! only problem is im unsure what course i want to take... as far as im aware i have 240 ucas points and i know im limited to which unis i can get into and what courses but i really want to go uni! i was going to apply for photography again but it depends on if i can get my portfolios back from my 6th form. ill list below a little info about me an if you could suggest what course you think i would possibly suit let me know pls also what unis as well thanks!

alevels: english lit and lang, btec photography diploma
AS: health social care lvl 3
gcse: english, maths,, history,business studies, Btec: music,
science, health and social care, childcare
functional skills: maths
(my grades werent very good tbf, but have a reason for it) is there any point me trying?? :frown:


Hi,

There's always still point in trying, and 240 UCAS points is enough to get you on to many courses. Why not take a look at what we still have open through clearing, and speak to somebody on our clearing hotline, call 0121 331 6777 9am-5pm and they'll be happy to help and advise you.

If you are still interested in photography, we have a couple photography courses available, either Media Photography or Visual Communication Photography. But check out the full list of courses available to see what interests you the most, whether it is more down the lines of English, or if you enjoy writing and photography, have you thought about journalism or media courses?

These courses are all part of our Faculty of Arts, Design and Media, which I've just graduated from, so if you have any questions about what it's like to study there, ask away!

Hope this is useful- all the best! :smile:

Lydia (BCU Team)
Original post by Rated_r
i applied for uni last for photography but got a foundation degree and didnt want to take it and decided to go to college instead. fast forward a yr and now im ready to apply again for 2016 entry! woo! only problem is im unsure what course i want to take... as far as im aware i have 240 ucas points and i know im limited to which unis i can get into and what courses but i really want to go uni! i was going to apply for photography again but it depends on if i can get my portfolios back from my 6th form. ill list below a little info about me an if you could suggest what course you think i would possibly suit let me know pls also what unis as well thanks!

alevels: english lit and lang, btec photography diploma
AS: health social care lvl 3
gcse: english, maths,, history,business studies, Btec: music,
science, health and social care, childcare
functional skills: maths
(my grades werent very good tbf, but have a reason for it) is there any point me trying?? :frown:


Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on getting your results. You have got some great subjects in there and it definitely sounds like photography is your passion.

The most important thing you can do is make sure that both the university and the course you want to study are a good fit for you. You are spending a lot of time and money to go to university so enjoying the course, campus etc. is important. As for league tables I always found it more useful to look at how good a university was at the subject I wanted to study, which is what makes it more relevant to you.

When were you hoping to start university? If it was this September, I would advise looking at the UCAS course search page. This might help you narrow down some of the courses you might be interested in and it makes it far more logical and far less overwhelming. From there you can start looking at courses in more detail and researching the universities to see if their lifestyle matches what you are looking for. Don't be afraid to get in contact with universities directly and ask questions about the courses. You really want as much information at your disposal so you can make sure you've made the best choice.

We have a few spaces in clearing on our photography courses at the University of Gloucestershire which you might be interested in and I have included links to them below.These are all interview subjects but if you call our clearing line on 03330433414 then you can have a chat through your options and talk to an academic about which course is the best fit for you.

Hope this helps, apologies for the information overload! Let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to help.

Good luck!

Maria at The University of Gloucestershire
Reply 5
Original post by Birmingham City University
Hi,

There's always still point in trying, and 240 UCAS points is enough to get you on to many courses. Why not take a look at what we still have open through clearing, and speak to somebody on our clearing hotline, call 0121 331 6777 9am-5pm and they'll be happy to help and advise you.

If you are still interested in photography, we have a couple photography courses available, either Media Photography or Visual Communication Photography. But check out the full list of courses available to see what interests you the most, whether it is more down the lines of English, or if you enjoy writing and photography, have you thought about journalism or media courses?

These courses are all part of our Faculty of Arts, Design and Media, which I've just graduated from, so if you have any questions about what it's like to study there, ask away!

Hope this is useful- all the best! :smile:

Lydia (BCU Team)


hi thanks for this info very useful, i wanted to apply this year but i think its too late (even though i still have my application log in details from last year and old personal statement) so i was just going to wait till next year... i would apply for photography but my 6th form cant find my books and i would apply for english but i dont do well in exam conditions and ended up with a C in course work and U in exam = E grade :frown:
Reply 6
Original post by University of Gloucestershire
Hi there,

First of all, congratulations on getting your results. You have got some great subjects in there and it definitely sounds like photography is your passion.

The most important thing you can do is make sure that both the university and the course you want to study are a good fit for you. You are spending a lot of time and money to go to university so enjoying the course, campus etc. is important. As for league tables I always found it more useful to look at how good a university was at the subject I wanted to study, which is what makes it more relevant to you.

When were you hoping to start university? If it was this September, I would advise looking at the UCAS course search page. This might help you narrow down some of the courses you might be interested in and it makes it far more logical and far less overwhelming. From there you can start looking at courses in more detail and researching the universities to see if their lifestyle matches what you are looking for. Don't be afraid to get in contact with universities directly and ask questions about the courses. You really want as much information at your disposal so you can make sure you've made the best choice.

We have a few spaces in clearing on our photography courses at the University of Gloucestershire which you might be interested in and I have included links to them below.These are all interview subjects but if you call our clearing line on 03330433414 then you can have a chat through your options and talk to an academic about which course is the best fit for you.

Hope this helps, apologies for the information overload! Let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to help.

Good luck!

Maria at The University of Gloucestershire


thank you for the info unfortunately i don't know if i can apply for photography as my 6th form are not actively looking for my books ive been asking them for over a year and no one can give me a straight answer :frown:
Original post by Rated_r
thank you for the info unfortunately i don't know if i can apply for photography as my 6th form are not actively looking for my books ive been asking them for over a year and no one can give me a straight answer :frown:


No problem at all. I would give our clearing line a call on 03330 433414 and they will be able to tell you what you need to supply portfolio-wise,give you a bit more information about the course and see if you are eligible for an offer.

Maria at the University of Gloucestershire
Reply 8
Original post by University of Gloucestershire
No problem at all. I would give our clearing line a call on 03330 433414 and they will be able to tell you what you need to supply portfolio-wise,give you a bit more information about the course and see if you are eligible for an offer.

Maria at the University of Gloucestershire


but its too late to apply now isnt it?? i have a ucas log in from last year though and my old personal statement
Original post by Rated_r
but its too late to apply now isnt it?? i have a ucas log in from last year though and my old personal statement


Hi, you can still apply through clearing and UCAS have provided some more information here. It is worth calling the universities you are interested in as most can see whether you are eligible for an offer before you spend money registering with UCAS to apply.

Hope this helps!
Original post by Rated_r
i applied for uni last for photography but got a foundation degree and didnt want to take it and decided to go to college instead. fast forward a yr and now im ready to apply again for 2016 entry! woo! only problem is im unsure what course i want to take... as far as im aware i have 240 ucas points and i know im limited to which unis i can get into and what courses but i really want to go uni! i was going to apply for photography again but it depends on if i can get my portfolios back from my 6th form. ill list below a little info about me an if you could suggest what course you think i would possibly suit let me know pls also what unis as well thanks!

alevels: english lit and lang, btec photography diploma
AS: health social care lvl 3
gcse: english, maths,, history,business studies, Btec: music,
science, health and social care, childcare
functional skills: maths
(my grades werent very good tbf, but have a reason for it) is there any point me trying?? :frown:


Hey Rated_R!

It looks like you have a range of interests...

Do you want to go down the creative route, health focused or more academic route?

The advice I can give you is for Photography as we are a Digital media institution, with photography your portfolio is important; they'd like to see the work you've done not only inside school but outside school showing a range of things. I do hope you're able to get your work from Sixth form!

Have you thought about maybe marketing or advertising? I believe you may be able to use a lot of your skills in advertising if you're looking for something more creative. Maybe look into some universities websites and see if it's for you?

We do both Digital Advertising and Photography, which are both very hands on courses. Feel free to check out our website and see if it sounds like something you'd be interested in.

Let us know if you have any questions,

Bee :h:
Original post by Rated_r
hi thanks for this info very useful, i wanted to apply this year but i think its too late (even though i still have my application log in details from last year and old personal statement) so i was just going to wait till next year... i would apply for photography but my 6th form cant find my books and i would apply for english but i dont do well in exam conditions and ended up with a C in course work and U in exam = E grade :frown:


You're very welcome. That's a shame about your books, do have any sort of online portfolio?

If you did still want to start this September, there's still time through the clearing process, but if you'd rather wait until 2016 entry why not start forming a new portfolio if it's Photography you're passionate about.

If English does still interest you, but it's exams you're worried about (because a C is still good in coursework!) then the majority of our English courses are around 85% coursework, or Media if you like writing but is still very practical and could incorporate your photography.

All the best with your decisions!

Lydia :smile:
(BCU Team)

Quick Reply