Useful Links for the Local Area
Main college and school websites local to West Dorset and surrounding area
Colleges:
- Beaminster School
- Bicton College – land based college
- Bridgwater and Taunton College
- Exeter College
- Hartpury College (not local) – land based college
- Kingston Maurward College – land based college
- Sparsholt College (not local) – land based college
- Weymouth College
- Yeovil College
Schools with sixth forms (be aware that most colleges offer A levels as well):
- Beaminster School (combined sixth form with Sir John Colfox Academy)
- Budmouth Academy
- Colyton Grammar School
- Exeter Maths School
- Richard Huish Sixth form College
- Sidmouth College (sixth form)
- The Sir John Colfox Academy (combined sixth form with Beaminster School)
- Thomas Hardye School
- Woodroffe School
General career guidance websites (with lots of useful information)
- National Careers Service (refers to England only)
- https://careersmart.org.uk
- www.careerpilot.org.uk
- www.allaboutcareers.com
- www.startprofile.com – registration required
- https://sacu-student.com/ – registration required
Apprenticeships
Looking for an apprenticeship placement? Or looking for employers to contact?Want to find out from people doing the job you like?
- https://icould.com/watch-career-videos (also has Buzz Quiz!)
- www.careersbox.co.uk
Not going to university?
Interested in the media industry (TV and film) and looking for career information and courses at all levels?Not sure about Higher education and what it has to offer?
Open days: For career information related to higher education and lots, lots more! What if you want to know about universities from a student’s point of view? Have a look on these websites:- https://www.ucas.com/chat-to-students
- https://www.ucas.com/chat-to-students (international too)
- www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings
- https://education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide
- www.gov.uk/browse/education/student-finance
- www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-finance-calculator
- If you would like to find out how a student loan affects your wage, go to https://listentotaxman.com/. Don’t forget to enter ‘Plan 2’ under the ‘Repay student loan’ section.
Higher and Degree Apprenticeships:
You can explore vacancies, ideas and options on:- www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeshipsearch
- www.ucas.com
- https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk
General Links
National Careers services
- England: nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk
- Scotland: www.myworldofwork.co.uk and www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk
- Wales: www.careerswales.com
Key higher education websites
- www.prospects.ac.uk: career profiles, course outcomes, postgraduate courses, career information and a lot more…
- www.direct.gov.uk: UK government website full of information on all aspects of society including education, finance and other aspects of officialdom.
- www.disabilityrightsuk.org: lots of information for students with disabilities.
General Career Planning and Career Management
- Times Education Supplement Growing Ambitions: career routes, careers by topic and careers A – Z.
- www.careersbox.co.uk: a website where you can watch clips introducing different careers
- icould.com/watch-career-videos/by-job-type: another good website where you can watch online clips about a range of careers.
- www.push.co.uk: general gateway linked to university choice and student life.
- www.open.edu: Openlearn gives you a free opportunity to try out different course options.
- www.life-pilot.co.uk: website to help adults with a non-traditional educational or professional background explore higher education in the SW of England.
- www.accesstohe.ac.uk: in case you don’t have the required entry qualifications for university, here you will find information on Access to HE courses.
- www.distancelearningcentre.com: similar to the link above, but this time by distance learning.
- www.goinglobal.com: for international careers, placements and internships
National student finance websites
- England: studentfinance and https://studentfinance-yourfuture.direct.gov.uk/
- Scotland: www.saas.gov.uk
- Wales: www.studentfinancewales.co.uk
Student finance (information and other funding options)
- www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/: excellent additional information on student finance and finance in the UK in general. Here you’ll find lots of common sense advice and they have a fantastic student loan calculator as well. You can try out different scenarios to see how it’s all going to work out.
- www.nuffieldfoundation.org: undergraduate research bursaries science.
Applying to university
- www.ucas.com: undergraduate courses and applications
- explanation of UK Tariff system or UCAS points system (for those with UK secondary education qualifications or International Baccalaureate only)
- information on admission tests
- also explore all the other guides on the UCAS website. It’s a mine of information!
- www.ucas.com/conservatoires: applications for conservatoire (music) courses
- www.open.ac.uk: applications for Open University courses
And the other way round… how to search for and apply for degree studies in Europe
Not strictly part of the remit of this website, but useful nonetheless…- www.eunicas.ie: and Irish website for study in different countries in Europe; will work just as well for UK students
Course searching for Postgraduate applicants
University guides and league tables
- https://education.guardian.co.uk/universityguide: university league tables with a range of extra information on course outcomes and universities.
- https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings: university league tables by subject area.
- www.russellgroup.ac.uk: website for the Russell group of universities. You can download a handy guide to decision making and applying.
- www.opendays.com : search this website for university open days.
If you decide not to go to university:
- www.notgoingtouni.co.uk
- www.distance-learning-centre.co.uk: Provision of a wide range of courses and modules in a similar manner to the Open University
For studentships:
- Jobs.ac.uk: THE jobsite for both jobs and studentships with UK universities nationwide.
- The Open University: also publicses studentships on its own website, just like all other universities.
- Postgraduate Studentships: where studentships and funding meet according to the website… they may be right.
- Findaphd: another part of the same website on Masters courses above.
For internships, work experience and placement opportunities
- www.studentjob.co.uk: internships in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Austria.
- www.milkround.com: internships, jobs and much more…
- www.etrust.org.uk: a year in industry opportunities and vacancies; post 18
- www.goinglobal.com: for international careers, placements and internships
International
English language tests:
Other:
- www.naric.org.uk: website for providing official comparison of international courses with UK equivalents. Important if you need to prove what your course studied abroad is worth.
Career Gateways (career search, course search etc…)
- www.prospects.ac.uk: Excellent website linked to everything careers and higher education. Postgraduate as well as undergraduate.
- www.careers-gateway.co.uk: general careers gateway with information on a large range of career options.
- www.ucas.com: the website for searching for undergraduate courses and for applying for undergraduate degrees.
- coursefindr.co.uk/: course search and course matching website from Morrisby.
- www.biosciencecareers.org: career information for biosciences.
Career Profiling sites
- https://www.morrisby.com/pricing: Morrisby profile – excellent tool and very different to the two above. Highly recommended for a more in depth view but has to be paid for.
Labour market information
- www.prospects.ac.uk: . You can also find a series of tools and information here.
- https://luminate.prospects.ac.uk/: containing information on the labour market, what to graduates do and other publications.
- most university websites and university career services will have a section on labour market information. These may offer more local labour market information for the area the university is located in, as well as national and international labour market information.
- www.nomisweb.co.uk: labour market informatioin from a range of official sources.
- www.vitae.ac.uk: labour market and career information for researchers.
Jobsearching
- www.studentjob.co.uk: opportunities in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Austria.
- : search engine indexing over 800000 jobs in United Kingdom and other countries
- https://ec.europa.eu: for work in Europe, including labour market information
- www.milkround.com: internships, jobs and much more…
- www.cv-library.co.uk: vacancy search and a prime site if you would like to make your CV available to employers
- jobs.thirdsector.co.uk/: vacancy search for charity jobs
- www.careerjet.co.uk: vacancy search per industry sector
- www.monster.co.uk: vacancy search
- www.totaljobs.com: vacancy search
- www.nhscareers.com: NHS careers
- www.fish4.co.uk: vacancy search
- www.jobsite.co.uk: vacancy search
- Times Educational Supplement: Jobs in education
- Reed: vacancy search
- Jobs.ac.uk: Jobs in higher education and at universities, including studentships
- Indeed: vacancy search
- The Guardian: jobsearch
Search for employers
- www.yell.com: employers nationally and locally with handy interactive map
- www.192.com: find employer nationally and locally
Travelling within the UK
- www.thetrainline.com – travel by train
- www.nationalexpress.com – travel by coach (often a lot cheaper but takes you longer)
Living costs
- www.trolley.co.uk/
- www.tvlicensing.co.uk: TV licence
- www.accommodationforstudents.com
- www.rightmove.co.uk: excellent property website; sales as well as to let
- www.nhs.uk: website for the National Health Service