Parents and supporters

Supporting your student

The ‘Supporting your student’ articles below are packed  full of brilliant advice and tips.

News feature

University terminology explained

Universities use a lot of words that you might not be familiar with. To help you transition to university, we have compiled a list of higher education and university terminology and their meanings.

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News feature

Supporting your student: the perfect personal statement

Chris Mullen is our Education Liaison Manager and along with managing the Education Liaison team, provides higher education advice and guidance to students in schools and colleges across the UK.

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News feature

Supporting your student: first generation students

In this article, Steph shares her journey to university with parents who didn’t attend university themselves. She highlights some of the ways you can support your student if you are in a similar position.

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News feature

Supporting your student: budgeting and independent study skills

The skills that students require in order to have the best experience both at university and in their future careers, can often seem like an endless list. This article provides information on how to help your student develop two of the most important; budgeting and independent study skills.

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Understanding funding and finance

EU Students

Changes to the eligibility of EU students for home fee status and financial support from Student Finance England took effect from academic year 2021/22 entry. Exemptions apply to those who have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, as well as Irish nationals.

How can I help?

What else can I do?

It’s worth encouraging the student to regularly check their ‘To Do’ list on their online Student Finance account to ensure they’ve completed everything. Any delays in providing documents or evidence to Student Finance could result in the student not getting their first instalment of maintenance loan at the start of term.

Payments will only be made once the application is approved in full, the declaration form has been signed, and the student is fully enrolled with their university.

The application timeline

How we make our offers

Going to university is an exciting opportunity. Making a decision on which university to attend is important, as it will determine where your student will spend the next three years of their life.

We believe, as do most schools and colleges, that the decision should be based on the university and the course the student thinks is right for them. At Edge Hill, we prefer not to make Unconditional Offers to applicants who are sitting their A Level, BTEC or equivalent qualifications. Instead, we set challenging entry requirements and we encourage applicants to work hard to achieve the very best grades that they can.

We have strong academic standards and we want students who are passionate about their subject and who want to be part of an exciting and dynamic community of lecturers and like-minded students. We also want students who are committed to their own success. Exam grades are not just about getting into university. They will be included in future job applications and many employers could be influenced by the results they have achieved.

Guide to clearing

If the outcome on Results Day is not what your student was hoping for, Clearing is the process that applicants go through to secure a place at university. Our guide below can help you and your student through the process.

• Explore your course options: If clearing looks like a possibility, try and find out about course options at Edge Hill before results day. Available places can be found via UCAS and on our website.
• Results day: UCAS opens at approximately 8:30am on Thursday 15 August 2024. Help your student stay positive. Reassure them that there will be a wide choice of exciting and interesting courses available through Clearing.
• Contacting the University: Universities really want to talk to the applicant themselves to understand their qualifications and hear first-hand why they want a place on a particular course. Also, for data protection reasons, universities can only speak to students about their own applications.
• Ask questions: Make sure when discussing courses and potential offers, your student asks other important questions. Suggestions include programme assessment methods, finding accommodation and availability of bursaries or scholarships.
• Visit if possible: If you can, visit the university before they accept their offer. Look at facilities, take a trip into the local town, check out the Students’ Union and find out about accommodation.
• Accepting an offer: Once the informal offers have been made over the phone, the final step in the process is to add the one they want to accept as a Clearing choice via UCAS.

Starting University: how can you help?

Seeing your student go off to university is an important step for you, as well as them. Many people describe mixed emotions and report that it can take time to adjust to the change. Students can experience similar feelings, but on top of this they’ll be dealing with a new way of life.

Sometimes students find themselves feeling unhappy and may even think about dropping out. This is not unusual and its important for them to understand that they’re not on their own.

We offer support for anyone feeling this way. As well as speaking to their Personal Tutor, students can access support from Student Services by emailing [email protected] or by visiting the Catalyst Helpdesk to speak to an adviser.

The adviser will provide an overview of the options available, as well as signposting to the support available. That way, they can decide what the best course of action is and feel secure that they are fully informed of their options.

Below are our top tips on how you can help your student have a positive first month at university:

• Advise them to get involved in as much as possible. The Students’ Union is a good place to start.
• If your student experiences homesickness, reassure them that this is perfectly normal, lots of others feel the same way, and that it probably won’t last.
• If they experience any problems settling into their on-campus accommodation, the Student Life team can help.
• Suggest that they take part in things they enjoy and stay active, for example, joining a sports team or going to a yoga class where possible.
• Undertaking voluntary work or fundraising can be a positive thing to be involved with, as the student can gain essential skills and make friends along the way.