Five steps to making your five uni choices

Getting five university offers – including one from your top choice – is totally achievable if you take the time to carefully research and plan your application.

Let's take a look at five key things to do.

This is a big deciding factor for any university applicant. Do you want to live at home or do you want to move away? If your answer is 'move away', how far do you want to go?

Once you've decided this, you can start drawing up a list of unis that fit the bill.

This focuses your choice of universities straight away. It means you've already narrowed your search which will make your research and shortlisting a lot easier.

You can find any uni prospectus online (we've got links to lots of them over on The Uni Guide). If you like what you see, you can order a free physical copy from the university.

Once you get the prospectus, read through it and get a feel for the university.

After that, dig deeper into their website, check out their socials and visit their forum on The Student Room or check those guides on The Uni Guide. All of this will help you with the background info on what each uni is like.

Read the course descriptions carefully. No two university courses are exactly the same, even for the same subject. Remember to look at other courses on offer that might appeal to you – especially anything with an unfamiliar title.

Also consider whether you're interested in a course with a year abroad or a year in industry. These can provide really valuable experience – both on a personal level and when it comes to filling out a CV after you've graduated.

While you're researching courses, make sure you check the entry requirements carefully. You'll want to make sure your predicted grades are in line with the overall requirements, but check the specifics too.

If the uni is asking for a specific subject at A-level or a specific grade at GCSE, do you have that? If you don't, it's probably best to look elsewhere. 

Open days are invaluable. For any uni that's a serious contender for your top five, spend some time working out if you can get along to an open day.

Once you're there, you can get a feel for the facilities on offer, meet the staff, get a peek at the accommodation and a quick glimpse of the surrounding area. Ask yourself: can I see myself living here?

Of course, it's not cheap to travel around the country to open days, but there are ways to cut into the cost a little. A 16-25 Railcard is an up-front expense, but once you've bought one it saves you a third on all rail travel.

Booking travel in advance can also be cheaper. Or, there might be other people from your school or college going on the same day - a lift share could then be an option.

If you can't get along to an open day in person, you should be able to find a virtual open day to go to instead – you'll be able to tour key facilities and should be able to get questions answered too.

Armed with all that knowledge, you're now ready to consider your shortlist. Variety is the watchword here. Keep in mind the entry requirements and try to avoid having five choices where those requirements are the same (or very close). 

If you do this, you'll end up needing similar grades for both your firm and insurance choices - which doesn't give you much room for manouevre if your exam results slip a bit. 

Make sure all the universities you choose have courses you actually want to study and are in an area where you'd actually like to live. There's no point adding a university just to fill up a choice - you don't need to make five choices if you only like four universities.

And with that, you're all set. Your carefully planned shortlist is decided and you're ready to complete a university application that will give you every chance of receiving five offers.