Hello

My niece's step-daughter wants to study English Literature and Creative Writing and has conditional offers of places at five universities. She has so far visited Aberystwyth and Worcester and is going to Gloucester this weekend. I don't know what the other two are but her favourite so far is Aberystwyth. Would this be a good choice? Any advice on which are the best for these subjects? Many thanks.

Hello Tatterdemalion - Abersystwyth has a very good rep in general, and for Creative writing - a friend did a CW PhD and really enjoyed it. Don't know about the others - they are new universities, whereas Aber is v well-established.

Thanks for your reply, EmmaD, that underlines her feeling about Aberystwyth. Very useful advice, thank you.

www.whichuniversity.co.uk is very useful for comparing uni courses and sums up how previous students rated it, how competitive it is, course structure and lots more. I advise students on applying to uni for a living and I use this site the most - although there are loads of others.

Also, maybe she should make a list of what is important to her in a Creative Writing course and check which courses match this. There are a lot of myths and rumours and people being hung up on 'reputation' when it comes to universities, but it's important to find out facts.

Catherine

First of all well done to your niece's step daughter for obtaining five offers, she must be very pleased. I would agree with Catherine's advice above about the which university website. It's packed full of useful information. I assume it is a question of her deciding which out of the five she would prefer to study at. If so, visiting each is a good step. Researching the course and deciding whether it covers subjects/topics of interest is important. What connections have been fostered between the course/department and the various industries students may wish to enter? I would also suggest she find out what kinds of career areas former students of that course went into. Universities tend to be much more upfront nowadays about where former students have ended up. There should be a section on the different university websites.

I notice that Aberystwyth has a Year in Employment scheme - this is a plus point in today's competitive market. She should check what the others she is considering offer in the way of employability schemes and what is involved.

I also advise young people on higher education choices.

Thank you both so much. I have sent all the info on to my niece. Her step-daughter will be the best-informed student on campus!