How to assist your students
This section provides information to help you to support your students on the first stage of their journey to university. Deciding whether to go to university and what to study is one of the most important decisions they will make about their future and there is a lot to consider.
Head over to our jargon buster to understand our technical language
Visit us
Choosing where to study is a big decision. The university your students attend is the place where they'll begin a life-changing journey.
The best way to get to know us better is to come and meet us. We love sharing our knowledge about York and we're sure you'll go away feeling excited about joining us.
Open Days
Choosing a Course
There are currently over 36,000 courses available at more than 165 universities and 350 higher education institutions in the UK, so there’s a great range to choose from. Whilst some students will know exactly what they want to study, other students may require guidance on how to think through and then shortlist their choices.
A good place to start:
- Would they like to continue studying something related to a subject they already study or trying something completely new?
- If they have a career in mind this may require a specific degree subject or their entry into the career may be enhanced by having studied a particular subject that develops particular skills
- Some degrees are very focussed and cover just one subject (eg History of Art), whereas some cover two subjects either equally or in a major/minor balance (eg English and History/ English with History), or some even offer the opportunity to study three or more subjects (eg PPE)
Perhaps it’s important to stress that it’s really not unusual for students to not yet know what they want to study or ‘to be’. Hopefully once they start researching the path will become clearer and they’ll discover a course that they have a real passion for but maybe didn’t even know existed.
Once students have an idea of the subject areas they are interested in the UCAS course search webpage is very helpful to identify which universities offer these courses.
It is then useful to look at individual university websites to analyse the detail of each of the courses, comparing these carefully as the course modules offered at one university may differ to those at other universities.
Depending on the subject area, it may also be important to consider whether courses have professional body accreditations, such as the range of undergraduate courses here at York that have accreditations attached to the degree.
Student Ambassadors Insight
Current students’ experiences are an excellent way for your students to learn more about the range of subject areas available. Our Student Ambassadors have recorded some short introductions into the course they study and how they came to the decision to study this particular subject area here at York.
Fairs and Exhibitions
Our Student Recruitment Team takes part in higher education fairs up and down the country. It’s a great way for us to meet you and your students, and to share information about our courses and life at York.
Obviously it has not been possible to attend any in person events this year but we are participating in many virtual exhibitions such as those organised by UCAS, UK University Search or the Russell Group and they remain a great way to research options for higher education.
Please visit our website for regularly updated information of forthcoming events
Key Questions
We have put together a list of questions that you may want to suggest your students start thinking about:
- Have you had a browse through university websites to see if there are subject areas that you had never thought of but may be really interesting?
- What do you really enjoy and have a passion or interest for?
- Would you like to study something you already study or have you thought about new subject areas?
- Do you know what kind of career you may want to pursue?
- Have you considered studying abroad as part of your course or a year in industry?
- Would you prefer a campus based university or a non-campus based university?
- Would you like to live at home or move away to study?
- Do you have friends or family already at university who you could speak to about their experiences and recommendations?
Quick Wins
Some students may be very well researched already, others may be less inclined to research their study opportunities further.
We have recorded a selection of our presentations on YouTube that they can watch at their leisure and hopefully this may inspire them (youtube.com)
League Tables
Although we wouldn’t recommend that any students solely base their choice of course or university on league tables or other awards and we encourage them to look in detail at the course content and the university’s fit for their interests and priorities, we are proud to share some of our achievements.
We are proud to have achieved a Gold Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) award in 2023, demonstrating that we deliver consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for our students. Gold is the highest possible rating an institution can achieve.
Out of 130 UK universities, the University of York ranked 17th overall in The Complete University Guide 2025. In total, 14 subjects at York were ranked in the UK top 10: Archaeology (7th), Biological Sciences (7th), Chemistry (7th), Drama, Dance and Cinematics (3rd), English (8th), French (4th), History (9th), History of Art, Architecture and Design (6th), Iberian Languages (Spanish) (6th), Linguistics (10th), Marketing (6th), Philosophy (10th), Psychology (9th) and Social Work (3rd).
Find out more about league tables
Fees and Funding
York's tuition fees for 2021/22 are £9,250 per year for UK (home) students (including Channel Islands and Isle of Man residents). This applies to all undergraduate courses, including the MBBS at the Hull York Medical School.
Students don't have to pay tuition fees upfront - they can apply for a Tuition Fee Loan, as well as a Maintenance Loan to help cover living costs if they wish from the government
The University of York offers a number of scholarships and bursaries for UK students to help with tuition fees and living expenses. Some of these are based on household income information submitted to Student Finance such as the York Bursary, Foundation Year Bursary, York Refugee Bursary or Care Leaver and Estranged Students Bursary. Some are subject specific and relate to the department that a student has chosen to study with.
Scholarships and bursaries are announced throughout the year so it is a good idea to keep checking the webpage at regular intervals.
