Salad days - guest video

Since there is a salad crisis playing out at the moment thought we would share a video from a friend of Levitate Student - Blogger Gouranga Love!

Abha can knock up a mean and healthy salad and also grows some of her own veg to go into the salads on her allotment. However you don't need to dig and delve to grow your own. She grows salad sprouting seeds on her window sills and re-cycles her Romaine Lettuce, Celery, Chinese Leaves, Pak Choi etc from their salad hearts.

Watch her Salad Days video to see her re-cycled celery and how easy she makes preparing a healthy salad look.

GOURANGA: Gouranga - Salad days: Let me show you how to make a perfect healthy salad with fresh organic and home grown ingredients

Levitate Student: Bank(rupt) of Mum & Dad

I am a parent of two young people born two and a half years apart. That seemed like fairly shrewd family planning at the time. Its seem a common enough set-up looking around, the standard 2 point...whatever kids with about two years recovery time between them. The fact is that back then my spouse and I had not projected our minds forward to the impact that decision would have in their university years.

Our Number One Child started university in September 2013 on a four year degree course and our Number Two Child started in September 2015 on a three year degree. So as a consequence they over-lapped their uni studies by two years. 

I am going to try to list out what it has cost to support our students aspirations to go to university. Something we have done gladly I must say, in spite if the challenges and financial struggles it has brought us.

What I won't include are the general costs we would have incurred anyway such as food and lodging when they come home, taxi-ing costs (including back & forth to uni as we would no doubt have done similar driving about to somewhere anyway) holidays we have paid for, Christmas presents, birthday and other gifts etc.

I will start with their student income though.....

Student finance assessment

Our students could not get income assessed student finance as our joint household income took us just over the threshold that allowed anymore than the basic funding. As a consequence both kids were entitled to the tuition fee loan which is not dependent on household income and the non-income assessed maintenance loan.

In 2016/17 this loan is £3,038

They didn't tick any boxes for any extra help from the universities such as bursaries. However one did need to apply for disabled students allowance which helped with some specialist equipment.

Planning a budget

We would recommend that parents and students sit down and do this together. It's a challenge to know what are appropriate or affordable expenditures. So we agreed to set a a rough budget but discuss their needs and our own money pressures on-going and tweak as needed.

We agreed to send a monthly amount by standing order of £150 to each child (even over the summer). 

So for Child One that's £7,400 over the 4 year course

 & for Child Two that's £5,800 over the 3 year course

The kids have been fairly modest with their spending and have earned some money through working when they could. 

On average they spent somewhere between £200 & £250 per month on out-goings such as food, bills, course costs, travel, socialising (rent excluded).

Looking around the university towns

We visited the potential university towns, some just on the Open Days, but others we made special trips to see. We made a holiday of it on one occasion since the universities of choice were quite away from home. 

We've easily spent over a £1000 on travelling to the university towns and paying for hotel accommodation.

Filling the bottom drawer

It's easy to get carried away in this department. We bought storage boxes, bedding (you don't really want all your home bedding to go with them) towels, cushions, basic crockery, cutlery. pans, tupperware. We had to buy them both a set of suitcases. We even bought small pieces of supplementary furniture such as drawer units, side tables and even collapsible wardrobe from IKEA for example. 

Books were a very expensive outlay and to be honest I am not sure how much use they were. Even though the university sends a reading/purchase list we would say hang fire until the student has a better idea what is really important themselves.

I would say £1000 would probably cover the books and bottom drawer costs for them both.

Stocking the cupboards

We have tended to help them with a "big shop" at the start of every new term, when we take them back after a break. This is to help them on their way, perhaps we are being over generous to pick up the tab but hey ho. 

So £1,500 should account for the big shop for each of them over the years.

Accommodation costs

This really hurts - I mean really!! The cost of accommodation has definitely been the toughest pressure. Paying for weeks where they are not even living in the accommodation is especially aggrieving.

Also there were hassle and concerns over signing as guarantors on their rental contracts. 

Child One lived in hall in first year and went for the catered option - cost £6,082

In second year they lived in private rented but had saved enough from student income and our monthly contribution to pay their own rent. Cost was £90 per week for 52 weeks with bills on top.

Year three coincided with their siblings first year so once again Child One had to pay their own rent. Which was £75 per week for 52 weeks plus bills.

For year four they returned to halls at an annual cost of £4,995, un-catered this time, once again we parents paid.

Child Two lived in private rented in year one with utility bills included and we paid it - cost £4,200.

Their second year coincided with their siblings final year so while we paid for Child One's halls, Child Two picked up the cost their own rent £105 per week with no bills included.

Their final year we will pay again  - the cost for accommodation (no bills) is £4,920

The kids have paid their own deposits and administration fees as these are often taken at the time of finding the new place.

Summary accommodation cost  to bank of Mum and Dad

               Child One        Child Two        Cost to
              Annual Rent   Annual Rent   Mum & Dad

Year 1      6,082                 -                     6,082                

Year 2      4,680                 -

Year 3      3,900              4,200                4,200                     

Year 4      4,995              5,460                4,995                                        

Year 5          -                  4,920                4,920

Total                                                      £20,197

So from the Bank(rupt) of Mum & Dad)

                     Monthly Budget                 £13,200

 Looking at University Towns                 £ 1,000

      Filling the bottom drawer                 £ 1,000

         Stocking the cupboards                 £ 1,500

           Accommodation Costs                 £20,197

Total       £36,897 
         
         Ouch!!

                             

Levitate Student: Bottom fell out of Part-time Study.....but it help with Previous Study rules

When did that happen?......when the government removed the part-time fee grant, small living cost grant, additional fee support scheme and replaced it all with the tuition fee loan, that's when.

The decline was pretty instant but has remained a problem as recent HESA stats show

BBC NEWS - Part-time student numbers at a new low

We advisers saw it coming.....in our experience the clients most benefiting from part-time study were not likely to be interested in the fee loan funding option. We doubt there will be much improvement with the introduction of loans for living costs for part-time higher education either given the likely impact on entitlement to means-tested welfare benefits.

One saving grace when the regulations changed was for those students who wanted to study full-time but had previous study at Higher Education level that meant they might have to self fund part of their course fee.

This was not as big an issue when the tuition fees were around the £1K mark or even £3K but at £9K self-funding even one year is prohibitive for most people. 

The general rule of thumb is an eligible student can receive funding for fees for 

length of course plus one year minus years of previous HE study

The previous study rules are complex and have caveats regarding course type and reasons for not completing  - so it's always a good plan to seek advice if you have previous study issues. 

Consider a student who started in the past, lets say, two years on a previous higher education course, now wants to start a new 3 years HE course 

3+1-2 = 2 this is the Standard entitlement to fee support

The rules require that this 2 years standard entitlement is allocated to the back end of the course first like this, till it is used up.

Year 1 - Self Fund

Year 2 - Standard Entitlement 2

Year 3 - Standard Entitlement 1

Finding the £9K needed for year 1 could be enough to stop any hopeful prospective students in their tracks.

Here though is where part-time study may be an option. The previous study rules are less rigorous for part-time study. One of the main requirements for fee support entitlement is that the student has not already achieved a qualification higher or equivalent in level to the new course. The requirement is that the new course is not an ELQ - an equivalent or lower qualification

A student facing self-funding could check if the same or similar course to the desired full-time option is offered on a part-time basis. If so, then the student could be eligible to have all their tuition fees paid as a part-timer. Part-timers can study at course intensities from 25% to 75% of a full-time equivalent depending on the programme on offer.

Of course there is currently no living cost provision, but the student is free to work. 

When the government introduces the part-time study living cost loans (proposed for 2018/19) we wonder if they will tweak these previous study rules......

Check out our Previous Study Rules Big Picture

Free Money MOOCs from Future Learn

So we are simply going to big up Future Learn in this quick post.

We love all things free but especially when it's high quality and that is our experience of the Future Learn courses. 

Here are some titles starting soon on money matters that you might like to check out.

Starting 9th Jan 

 Finance Fundamentals: Financial Planning & Budgeting
 Managing My Money

Starting 23rd Jan
Preparing for University

There are plenty more courses so do check their website for details.

Levitate Student : Supporting Moor End Academy Careers Fair

First of all a big thank you for the opportunity to attend the Moor End Academy Year 10 and 11 Careers Fair on 9th December.

It was a real privileged to meet the students  who were very courteous and full of energy even though they had had a busy break down day. The all told us that they had enjoyed the day. It was great to hear their aspirations as they look ahead towards sixth form college and beyond. In Huddersfield students are fortunate to have the excellent Greenhead College and New College as options for Further Education.

We were chatting with the students about their planned journey beyond Further Education into work, apprenticeships or Higher Education. We focused of course on the option of Higher Education and chatted about the money issues. 

We were very impressed with just how knowledgeable the young people already are about the money matters that might impact this option. Some very interesting points were raised and together we created a Student Money Wordcloud where students wrote down the words that spring to mind when they think of student money. The original is in the picture here. We have created a computer version below which generates the more frequently written words in larger text.

Unsurprisingly this included words like loan, debt, money and budgeting. There was a mixture of views as to whether the thought of Student Money was a worrying thing - many pupils said it wasn't. Pupils suggested that family would help out, or that managing financially would be a team effort with help from the government, family, friends and the students own efforts through working and saving. This is very commonly the case....if you want to think about Budgeting as a Higher Education student we recommend you look at the Student Calculator powered by Brightside and the useful Case Studies

We promised to address some of the important matters raised by the pupils at the Careers Fair in our blog so here goes.....

University is Scary - one pupil said she didn't think university was for her - that even the word university was scary. We know what she means - but really universities are not scary places. 

It's okay to decide that Higher Education is not for you, and it's okay to decide that you want to wait - students start university at all ages not just 18. 

If the reason you might not consider uni is because it seems like a scary option then we would recommend that you visit a few universities to look around and meet people. Universities have Open Days a few times a year and you can usually book on through the websites. You don't have to wait till Year 13 to look around - so visit and we are sure you will get a friendly welcome.

It's a Rip-Off  - one pupil said he thought student finance is a rip-off . When we asked why he felt that he made an excellent point about the concern that the financial investment a student makes sometimes not being worth it if it doesn't lead to a good job. This is such an important issue and Employability and the destinations of students leaving higher education are central to the quality measures of how universities are performing. 

The expectation that those with a degree will achieve significantly higher wages than those without a degree is known as the Graduate Premium. Here are a few recent news articles which discuss this matter.....

The Financial Times

The BBC

The Guardian

We would recommend you look at UNISTATS a website which lets you compare important key performance information like this that universities provide.

Haram or حرام - this is an Arabic word that means forbidden. One student raised his concerns about the interest which is applied to the student loans. Under Islamic law, money must not be allowed to create more money, so for Muslim students, loans can be problematic. 

Before 2012 the interest applied to student loans was set at the Retail Price Index only. The Muslim Council of Britain guided that as the loans increased only with the cost of living that they were not necessarily problematic. However the way interest is applied changed in 2012 meaning that they were more likely to be non-compliant with Islamic Law.

The Government understand this concern and in 2014 consulted the public and higher Education sector on the option for Sharia-compliant Student Finance . The outcome was the government expressed it's support for the introduction of a Sharia-compliant Takaful alternative finance product, available to everyone, and intends to work on its development. 

Debt - if you are worried about the debt the we recommend you read Student Loans Myth Busting on www.MoneySavingExpert.com for guidance.

Levitate Student: Council Tax & Time out

Guest Blog post 

                           from LGFA92   www.lgfa92.co.uk

Council Tax disregards for full-time university students can sometimes be open to dispute, especially when there has been a period of intercalation.

We shall look at how a period of intercalation appears to affect entitlement to a Council Tax disregard for a full-time university student.

Undertaking a university course – Am I a full-time student ?

The council Tax (Discount Disregards) Order 1992 (as amended) sets out the requirements needed to be regarded as a full-time student for Council Tax purposes. It provides that:

4.—(1) A full-time course of education is, subject to subparagraphs (2) and (3), one—

(a)which subsists for at least one academic year of the educational establishment concerned or, in the case of an educational establishment which does not have academic years, for at least one calendar year;
(b)which persons undertaking it are normally required by the educational establishment concerned to undertake periods of study, tuition or work experience (whether at premises of the establishment or otherwise)—
(i)of at least 24 weeks in each academic or calendar year (as the case may be) during which it subsists, and
(ii)which taken together amount in each such academic or calendar year to an average of at least 21 hours a week.

(Parts 2 & 3 cover work experience and is not relevant here)

Regulation 9 additionally clarifies that,

9.  In this Schedule, the relevant period for a course or programme means the period beginning with the day on which a person begins that course or programme and ending with the day (“the last day”) on which he completes it, abandons it or is dismissed from it (which period includes any periods of vacation between terms and before the last day).

In basic terms – you are normally required to undertake a course of 21 hours per week or more (on average), for 24 weeks or more to be a full-time student for Council Tax purposes.

What about intercalation ?

Intercalation is where a student takes a leave of absence from a degree often, but not always, for medical reasons. Over time various government departments responsible for Council tax have issued guidance notes. Letter No 5 of 1996 included guidance on the of intercalation of students. This note advises that

In  our  view  a  period of intercalation  will  remain  within  the  period  of  a  course  (the  amendment  in Statutory  Instrument  1996/636  described  above  helps  to  clarify  this)  and  therefore, provided that the person remains enrolled at the educational establishment, they will continue  to  fall  within  the  definition  of  a  full-time  student.

Statutory Instrument 1996/636 allows that

and a person is to be regarded as ceasing to undertake a course of education for the purpose of this paragraph if he has completed it, abandoned it or is no longer permitted by the educational establishment to attend it.

Valuation Tribunal decisions regarding Intercalation

There is very little in the way of Valuation Tribunal decisions to clarify the statement made in guidance letter No 5 of 1996.

Tribunal Decision 1765M88934/176C , although not specifically about it, does appear to indicate that intercalation, in the view of the Valuation Tribunal, did not affect entitlement provided that the main requirements for classification as a full-time student were met. This would be in agreement with the practice note.

Am I still a student ?

It would appear under Council Tax legislation that providing the University still continues to regard you as a full-time student ( i.e you would normally be required to undertake 21 hours per week (on average) for 24 weeks or more) then you should still be entitled to a disregard as a full-time student for Council Tax purposes.

Student Certificates are not required to get a discount

Whilst a student is undertaking a course of full-time education a university must issue a student certificate on request. Paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 states:

(1)An institution shall, on request, supply a certificate under this paragraph to any person who is following or, subject to sub-paragraph (3) below, has followed a course of education at that institution as a student or student nurse.
(2)A certificate under this paragraph shall contain such information about the person to whom it refers as may be prescribed by order made by the Secretary of State.
(3)An institution may refuse to comply with a request made more than one year after the person making it has ceased to follow a course of education at that institution.

There is no sanction specified in legislation if they do not issue the certificate but neither is there anything in Council Tax legislation which states a certificate must be supplied before a full-time student can be disregarded.

Regulation 15 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 ensures that a local authority shall grant a Council Tax discount where they believe one applies –  this means you can satisfy entitlement other than by providing a student certificate (the acceptance of alternative proof however is at the local authority’s discretion – any dispute would need to be settled via a Valuation Tribunal).

Need expert help or advice ?

This article is solely the view of LGFA92 based on our interpretation of legislation. Your local authority is free to dispute this view. A binding decision may require the intervention of a valuation tribunal.

From Levitate Student - Intercalation is sometimes referred to as 

• Taking Time Out 
• Suspending Studies 
• Temporary Withdrawal

What ever the reason for the time out, the key to intercalation is your intention to return to your course. During a period of intercalation full-time students remain registered with their uni/college and have not withdrawn from the course.

If you are having problems with your council tax exemption seek advice from your university/student union money advice team in the first instance.

Levitate Student: Job & Study Balance

Guest Blog Interview with Oliver Bell (final year student at Heriot Watt University)

Oliver Bell (22), 2017 graduate of Heriot Watt University, talks to Levitate Student about his experience of working alongside his course.

Levitator - What are your thoughts on the importance of working alongside your course?

Oliver - Whether you have had a job prior to university or not it is of vital importance to continue or start working while at university. As well as building lots of transferable skills that your future employers will look for once you complete your degree. Also it is a great way to meet new people, especially if you are living away from home.

Ideally it is best to find a job that suits your schedule, having a job at university that takes up too much of your time will hinder both your social and academic components of your time at university. It is good to look at what the university has to offer internally. Jobs such as being a student ambassador rarely require any prior work experience and usually pay above minimum wage level. Shifts will not be regular but it’s a good way to fund some of those nights’ outs during term time.  

Levitator - Did the tutors guide against working? Or did they make suggestions about a max number of hours? In my experience tutor recommend no more than 16 hours per week - what do you think to those guidelines?

Oliver - I think it is advised at Heriot Watt, as it is more of a modern institution, that it is best to have a balanced university lifestyle. It does not have to be paid work as there are roles in societies

Levitator - Did you find work yourself or did you get help from others, did the university offer a jobs service to help students find work - did you or anyone you know use it?

Oliver - Yes they do. They have their own jobsite search area and a careers service which I have attended but I did not find any jobs I was interested in that way, I found my own opportunities.

Levitator - Are there any opportunities, that you were aware of, to work for the university - as a student ambassador for example?

Oliver - Yes there is, there are student ambassadors and everyone gets an email in their class school about the opportunities. There are also class reps. Also within societies as a coordinator this is also a paid opportunity.

Levitator - Did you work in holidays or alongside your course or both? Were your hours fixed or was it flexible.

Oliver - I have done all of them, and a mixture of the two. My hours have been flexible for many student ambassador roles. But had a fixed role working weekends in one of my semesters

Levitator - Did you feel you had to work in order to afford to be a student or chose to in order to make it more manageable or to simply build up your funds?

Oliver - I think it is important to manage your funds which puts less pressure on having to work. But it is good to have a break from studying and actually be in a workplace....even if it is just a café. Plus, adding to your funds is always a bonus!

Levitator - Did you choose to work to build up experience for your CV?

Oliver - The student ambassador roles were more to build up experience on my CV displaying more of an individual role, where many of the ideas are my own and building a team that I would work alongside. But as well as this working in café’s and other high street and more ‘typical’ student jobs are just as important in terms of the transferable skills that you can develop.

Levitator - what were the advantages/disadvantages of working alongside your studies?

Oliver - When working weekends, I found that there was pressure to do a lot of my studying and coursework during the week, as after getting in from an 8-hour shift there just is not the motivation left to then sit down and do some studying.

It is good for the networking side and meeting more people, and developing different circles of friends.

As long as you use a diary it should be good to plan a Zero-Hour Contract around your social and study activities. Just be organised and plan ahead

Levitator - Did you have any problems with understanding your tax/payslip - did you get any help with these matters if so who?

Oliver - Nope it was all fine, but I did ask my parents advice on a few matters (cannot remember them at the moment) But maybe that is just me. I’m sure your bank or student services at the university would be able to help with this.

Oliver concludes - My advice to all students no matter what year, it is really important to be proactive outside of your studies. University is an experience not just an education. Join societies do things that you are interested in and do not be afraid to do something different. But also remember it is usually never too late to participate in a lot different things. For example, missing football trials, contact someone at the club and see if you can attend training or a 7-a-side session. If you do not like it then that is perfectly normal - go and try something else!

There are so many opportunities that university life brings so do not miss out.

Levitate Student: Freshers - Not settling in? Want to Leave?

Moving to university is a big step and the transition is not likely to be completely without problems.

The vast majority of Higher Education students are school or college leavers many leaving home for the first time. However many students are from Overseas arriving in the UK for the first time. Other people are leaving or reducing paid employment to start or return to studying. Some are making a transition from welfare benefits as a main income source to student finance.

Whatever the changes of circumstance may be chances are things will eventually settle and your old routine will be comfortably replaced by the new.

But.....what if you just don't like it? Not a wobble from the transition but a genuine acknowledgment that the course, the university, the people or the town are not for you. You have changed your mind and want to leave or as it is commonly referred to in the Higher Education sector - withdraw.

If you have taken student loans to pay for the course then it is likely you have a very narrow window of opportunity to withdraw without paying the first quarter tuition fees.You may also be tied into the accomodation contract.

The university will cover your rights on withdrawing in their Student and General Regulations. These are equivalent to your university's Terms and Conditions - you should always know where to find these on your institutions webpages. 

Here are a couple of examples

University of Nottingham  - the window of opportunity for a new, home undergraduate to withdraw without first quarter fee payment is 3 weeks according to the Fee Regulations

Teeside University  - the window of opportunity for a new, home undergraduate to withdraw without first quarter fee payment is 2 weeks according to the Fee and Charges Regulations

So as you see the rules are not the same from institution to institution.

The rules may differ for Overseas students, self funding students, postgraduate students, part-time students. Accommodation contracts will vary depending on your provider.

So Be Wise

Check your university regulations and accommodation contracts to understand your consumer rights. 

Seek advice especially if the matter is complex or seems unfair.

Know where to find your university's complaints procedure.

Levitate Student: How I made my Uni Choices

Guest blog by Connor Brown Year 13 student

Connor

I personally started researching Unis earlier than most of my friends, perhaps around the start of year 11. At this stage I was just using University league tables like the Complete University Guide to get a list of the sort of Unis I might want to look up. For this I looked at how high Unis ranked in the subjects of German and French as luckily I knew this would be what I would want to study, but you can use these guides to look at student life, accommodation or a host of other criteria. Next came visiting the Universities' actual websites to look up the course content (for me this became the main way that I managed to narrow down my list, with Universities like Oxbridge and Exeter offering very traditional, literary-heavy courses that I really didn't fancy).

By the start of year 12 I had visited my first Uni outside of an Open Day when me and Mum went for an informal look around UCL. This sort of visit was enough for me to get a feel for the Uni but in truth I wouldn't recommend it as you don't get to find out much more about the course/accommodation without Open Day staff being there to talk to you. Nevertheless I knew after this visit that I could rule out UCL; for me it felt too small to offer what other Unis could.

By the middle of year 12 I had only four Unis that, based on League Tables and course content, I felt I wanted to see on an Open Day. All of my Open Days fell at the end of June/early July so as I had finished my AS exams by this point I had no trouble getting the time out of lesson. Where I was focusing on course and just the general 'vibes' I got from a place, my Mum was much more interested in accommodation, something I personally found difficult to judge having never lived away from home for any extended period of time.

Before I went on the Open Days my preference had changed quite a lot: UCL had been my favourite before I went to visit, and then Durham had been top for a long time until I received my prospectus and realised that the focus was yet again on literature. Here it's worth noting that you should order your prospectuses as early as possible as they do provide more information than you can find on the website (I personally felt a lot of the websites needed quite a lot of work doing to them). Also make sure you book your Open Days early as certain talks run out of places quickly, though on the day it's always worth turning up even if you couldn't book onto a talk/tour as they're often happy to let you in. 

By the time I visited Sheffield (my first Open Day) Newcastle had become a very strong contender. For me Sheffield ranked particularly highly for student life, having the best ranked Students' Union in the country, and the course was very flexible which was just what I was after, however the accommodation seemed pretty standard to me, with a strong emphasis on 'communal living' (a term which was to me oddly presented as a positive). However after my visit I could certainly see myself living there for 3 years of my life.

The next stop was Newcastle and as the Open Day was on a weekend I had enough time to explore the city. Newcastle seemed to combine the security and community of a campus with the diversity of a city, being a good next step between the town where I grew up and the big bad world. Newcastle ranked highly across the board but had particularly  special language facilities including a whole language library building offering language learning in 150 languages (including Klingon!). From this point I had decided that Newcastle would be tricky to beat, and the next day when we traveled the short distance to Durham I was in a way relieved that I found the course and the collegiate system a bit too traditional for it to challenge Newcastle (I actually walked out of a college tour when our guide started talking about the odd blindfolded dinner on offer), although it couldn't be denied that there were less concrete monstrosities on Durham's campus compared to Newcastle.

By the final Open Day which happened to be Lancaster Uni I was convinced I had my firm and insurance Unis settled. Lancaster did have a modern beauty about it which surprised me - the architecture fit perfectly with its rural surroundings (Mum thought it looked like Center Parcs) - however I felt I would miss having a city on my doorstep and I might feel quite isolated. Then, however, I went to speak to the languages teachers. The languages talk had been interesting but had told me little new, so I would always recommend actually speaking to the teachers and coming prepared with a few questions. My main question was unsurprisingly about literature, and I was delighted to hear that if I took a third language I could miss it out almost completely.

On to the accommodation tour and it was clear that Lancaster had had a revamp, although I'm looking forward to hopefully going back again on a post-offer day to try to find some of the older rooms to see if they're just as nice. By the end of the day (and of my Open Days as a whole) I had my top 2: Newcastle and Lancaster. Although Newcastle stayed my top, this was still quite a departure from UCL and Durham which had been my favourites in year 11. The fact that I had changed my mind so much proves the importance of Open Days. My parents' top choice? Me and Dad were in harmony but Mum thought Lancaster would at least offer her peace of mind, with me being secure in a campus where compared to Newcastle I wouldn't even have to cook for the first year if I didn't want to.

Shortly after my Open Days the arduous process of UCAS began. Regardless of the amount of money they put into the site it remains confusing (I had to watch some of their videos describing what you have to do on each page), with the section adding all your qualifications being particularly time-consuming. The personal statement that goes along with UCAS will take hours to complete and several redrafts, having to fit why you would be the perfect student, what you 

love about your chosen subject and why you want to go to Uni in the first place into only 4000 character (with spaces) seems impossible at the beginning, but keep calm and eventually you'll manage it. Just remember that it's not the be all and end all, your grades are still what count.

Now I'm at the stage where, as long as I get the offers, I have made my University choices, and that is a huge relief! You get to choose 5 Unis to put down at the first stage (for this part there is nothing wrong with putting down Unis that you haven't visited), and then by March you have to decide on your firm and insurance choice, the insurance usually asking for a least one grade lower. Almost everyone changes their mind along the way which can be pretty stressful but is also really exciting, and having had a look around 3 Unis which I could happily go to I can't wait for this next stage in my life.