How to choose a university course

Start with the subject

Most UK degrees are specialised from the start: a History student studies history for three years, not a general programme with history on top. That makes the subject itself the most important decision. The best test is whether you would enjoy studying it in depth, week after week, including the parts you haven't met at school.

Careers are a reasonable consideration, but less decisive than many applicants assume. Many graduate employers accept any degree subject. The exceptions are professional routes such as medicine, dentistry, veterinary science, nursing and architecture, where the degree is the entry to the profession, and courses whose accreditation matters for a particular career.

Courses with the same name can be very different

Two courses called Economics, or Psychology, or Computer Science can differ more than their titles suggest. Before you shortlist a course, find its full list of modules on the university's website and compare:

• What is compulsory and what is optional, year by year. The first year is often broad; the later years show what the degree really is.
• How mathematical it is. This varies enormously in subjects such as Economics, Psychology and the sciences.
• How it is taught and assessed: lectures, seminars or small-group teaching, and exams or coursework.
• Length and extras: integrated master's degrees (such as MEng, MMath or MSci) usually take four years, and some courses include a placement year or a year abroad.
• Accreditation, where it matters for your intended career, for example by a professional engineering institution or, for psychology, by the British Psychological Society.

Check subject requirements early

Many courses require particular A levels (or equivalents), and some strongly recommend others. Mathematics is required for many Economics, Computer Science, Engineering and science courses, and Further Mathematics is often recommended for the most mathematical of them. Some courses also set GCSE requirements, typically in English and Mathematics.

These requirements are fixed by the subjects you choose at 16, so the time to check is before you choose them, or at the latest early in Year 12. Treat "recommended" subjects seriously at competitive universities, where most successful applicants will have taken them.

Single honours, joint honours and flexible degrees

A single honours degree studies one subject. A joint honours degree splits your time between two, such as French and Philosophy, sometimes equally and sometimes as a major and a minor. Joint degrees suit genuine interest in both subjects, but they carry more compulsory content in total and can leave less room for options.

Some universities offer broader degrees, such as natural sciences, liberal arts or courses that let you choose a specialism after the first year. Degrees in Scotland usually last four years and often allow more breadth early on.

How your course choice shapes the application

• Your personal statement goes to all five choices, so they need to be close enough in subject for one statement to support them all. See the personal statement explained.
• Admissions tests depend on the course. The same subject may need a test at one university and not at another. See UK university admissions tests.
• Interviews, portfolios and auditions are part of the process for some courses, including medicine, many creative subjects, and most courses at Oxford and Cambridge.
• Deadlines can differ: medicine, dentistry and veterinary courses, and all Oxford and Cambridge courses, close on 15 October.

Where to find reliable information

• University course pages: the authority on modules, entry requirements and any tests, for the year you are applying.
• [Discover Uni](https://discoveruni.gov.uk/): official data on each course, including student satisfaction, continuation rates and graduate outcomes.
• The UCAS course search, to see which universities offer a subject and at what entry requirements.
• Open days and current students, who can tell you what the course is like in practice.

Once you have a subject, the next step is choosing where to study it: see how to choose universities and your five choices. If you are considering Oxford or Cambridge, note that each offers courses the other doesn't; see Oxford vs Cambridge.