Category: University Events

I hope you are keeping well and enjoying getting ‘stuck in’ to your modules. We’re now at the halfway point of the term, so you should be well on your way.

I am writing to let you know about three upcoming events with our partner universities which will help you to find out more and make informed decisions in your applications.

1. University of York Webinar – Wednesday 26^th October

Next Wednesday, we have a webinar presentation run by our partners at the University of York. This is for everybody and will take the place of your Academic Cultures class next week. Attendance will be taken.

The University of York is a member of the elite Russell Group of the top research-focused universities in the UK. Located on the outskirts of one of the UK’s most beautiful and historic cities, York has been a popular destination for many of our students over the years, and where our students have gone on to be very successful. With a strong academic reputation across the board, York has been especially popular with students in Business, the Humanities and Social Sciences, although it is also good for the Sciences.

The session will run online on my Zoom address and will appear on your timetable.

2. Explore Birmingham Event – Wednesday 9^th November

On Wednesday 9^th November, we will be taking our Science and Social Science students to attend our first on-campus event of the year at the University of Birmingham. The Explore event has been a highlight of the year for many years, in which a number of schools are invited to attend a day of demo lectures, subject fairs and campus tours at one of our most popular partner universities.

The University of Birmingham is also a member of the Russell Group, and has a beautiful campus on the edge of the second largest city in the UK. In the last few years, Birmingham has regularly been one of the top 2 destinations for our students, especially in Science and Technology, for which it has an especially strong international reputation, although it also has an excellent reputation across the board (e.g. it has one of the top Linguistics departments in the country).

I will send more details about this event to the students for whom it is relevant nearer the time.

3. EF Higher Education Fair – Wednesday 16^th November

The biggest university event of the year will take place in the Oxford school on Wednesday 16^th November. We will have representatives from some of our closest partner universities, representing a wide range of university styles, locations and entrance requirements. This is your opportunity to speak to different university representatives one-to-one, to find out more about entrance requirements and university life, and to ask any individual questions you have.

I will once again send more details about this event nearer the time, including a list of which universities will be attending.

I look forward to seeing you at these events. Please make sure that you come attentive and prepared to show yourself at your best. Remember that this is just as much an opportunity for you to sell yourself to the universities as for them to sell themselves to you.

If you have any questions about these events or about your course or application, as always, do not hesitate to contact me.

I hope you are keeping well and enjoying your first week of the Winter Term.

Please see below more details about our trip to the University of Birmingham campus next Thursday 16th December.

As I’ve said before, this will be our first university campus visit since February 2020, so I’m really looking forward to it and hope you are too. Birmingham is a particularly exciting destination for our first trip because is one of our most popular partner universities and a member of the elite Russell Group of top research institutions. It also has one of the most beautiful university campuses in England.

To make sure that everyone gets the full benefit of this fantastic opportunity, everyone is expected to attend and there will be no classes running on this day. Instead, you will be able to enjoy presentations from world-leading experts at the university, as well as getting an insight into university life in the UK. Even if you are not planning to apply to this particular university, Birmingham is an excellent representative of the university environment in the UK, so will give you a good impression of what it is like to study here. I will try to organize another visit to a newer university with a less traditionally ‘academic’ focus later in the year so that you have the chance to sample both styles.

The cost of the trip is included in your course fee (you don’t have to pay extra), but you will need to pay for your own lunch at the university.

Please meet at the end of Pullens Lane at 08:30 on Thursday. If you are late, we will have to leave without you and you will lose a full day’s attendance.

You will be able to see on your timetable on the app whether you are to travel in Bus1 (with me) or Bus2 (with David). Please keep to the correct bus so that we can make sure we don’t lose you.

The schedule for the day will be:

Time	Activity
08:30	Depart EF Oxford from the end of Pullens Lane
10:30	Arrive University of Birmingham Met by student ambassadors and Mary Elliston (Student Recruitment Officer, UoB)
10:45-11.45	Introduce Birmingham Mary Elliston to introduce University of Birmingham and the plan for the day
11:45	Lunch and Campus Tour Students to separate in UG and PG to take campus tours and lunch. This will be an extended campus tour to include the library and sporting facilities. Groups will be spread among the many different cafes. You will need to pay for your own lunch. Places to go for lunch:  Costa, Burrito bar, Wok and Go, Salads, Spar, University Centre
13:30	Undergraduate Students: Academic Sessions – Social Sciences – Focus on Film (College of Arts and Law) – Engineering and Physical Sciences Postgraduate Students: Ambassador leads Student Life session (30 minutes approximately) and answers questions on their student experience
14:30	Depart University of Birmingham
16:30	Arrive EF Oxford

As always, let me know if you have any questions about the day.

I will email you again shortly with details of your university application tutorial with me, which will take place online in the next couple of weeks.

Happy Thursday: the ends of the week and then of the term are in sight!

Thank you if you’ve been attending our series of University Talks over the last few weeks. I’m writing to let you know about the climax of our university insight programme: the Higher Education (HE) Fair.

We will have representatives from 13 of our closest partner universities, representing a wide range of university styles, locations and entrance requirements. This is your opportunity to speak to university representatives one-to-one, to find out more about entrance requirements and university life, and to ask any individual questions you have. You will be able to meet representatives from universities that you may already be thinking about seriously as well as some that you might not have considered yet.

The Fair will take place next Thursday 25^th November in the Lecture Room. It will run 12:30-14:00, so you will be able to drop in at a time convenient to you. However, it is both essential and mandatory that you attend at some point during this period.

Representatives from the following universities have confirmed that they will be at the Fair:

1. Brighton
2. Birmingham
3. Coventry
4. Exeter
5. Hult International Business School
6. Keele
7. Lancaster
8. Leeds
9. Oxford Brookes
10. Surrey
11. Sussex
12. UWE Bristol
13. Westminster

Not only is this an opportunity for you to learn more about these universities, it is an opportunity for you to make a good impression on them. Please treat this event as you would an interview for the universities or for a job. To help you, here are some top tips for impressing universities:

1. Do your research. Look at the university websites in advance (links above) so that you can ask good questions and don’t waste time with information already easily available to you.
2. Dress smartly. There’s no need for a suit but try to look professional and presentable.
3. Allow plenty of time. Don’t try to rush round in 5 minutes: make sure that you can have a proper conversation with at least most of the universities.
4. Ask questions. The more you show an interest and some background knowledge of your subject and your university options, the more you will appear as an enthusiastic and diligent candidate.
5. Speak to a range of universities. Even if you hadn’t planned to apply there. This will give you more information about the range of options available to you, including some unexpected gems, as well as better contextual knowledge to assess the universities higher up your list of interest.
6. Take every university seriously. They all have some great things to offer and any of these institutions could play a valuable role in your application, so look at them in the best light and they can see you in your best light.

Let me know if you have any questions ahead of this event. I look forward to seeing you there.

I hope you are keeping well and enjoying your classes as we enter the final stretch of your first term. As the saying goes, this is not the beginning of the end, but it is the end of the beginning.

Our series of University Talks continues next week with the University of Leeds at 12:00 next Tuesday 16^th November in the Lecture Room. This will, as usual, appear on your timetable.

Leeds is consistently one of the most popular destinations for our students every year. A member of the elite Russell Group (the top research universities in the UK), it is a brilliant university with an excellent reputation across all subjects, consistently appearing in the top 20 nationally. In particular, it has an excellent Business School and very strong programmes in biological and health sciences. It is also in a great location, within walking distance of the centre of one of the main cities of the north of England, with great entertainment and cultural opportunities both in the city and on campus. I could rave about Leeds much longer, but I must admit a bias as it’s where I studied for my (first) Master’s.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any more information.

Happy Monday! I hope you are keeping well and enjoying getting ‘stuck in’ to your modules. We’re now at the halfway point of the term, so you should be well on your way.

I hope that you enjoyed our presentation from the University of Lancaster last week. This Friday 29^th October we have the University of Bradford coming to speak to us at 10:30, once again in the Lecture Room.

The University of Bradford is a successful modern university in the North of England, noted particularly for its links to leading companies and industries. It is ranked 2nd in the UK for work experience and 3rd for careers and employability services. As well as having a world-class, Triple Crown accredited Business School, it is ranked in the top 10 in the UK for Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy and for Chemical and Civil Engineering.

I look forward to seeing you at the presentation and hope you will come ready to ask good questions.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any more information.