Smashing!!! university guidance, advice and help
Worksheets
Questionnaire to get students' goals and intentions AS version (2 pages)
Questionnaire to get students' goals and intentions A2 version (2 pages)
Researching university courses, entrance requirements and career worksheets (6 pages)
Reading list for science news (including a list of science-related podcasts), and general science books (mainly Chemistry, but also Biology) (5 pages)
Printable worksheet to both guide students in their extracurricular choices (for AS students), as well as allow students to describe and explain their activities and interests to help whoever writes their reference (for A2 students) have all of the necessary information in a single place to write the best possible reference (8 pages)
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(This is being updated November 2023)
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The main government websites for UK career guidance, university comparison and university course information are below. Also extremely useful is the individual university's Wikipedia page, which will also include ranking information.
For the UCAS Course Search site click here
For a trailer to a fascinating, but flawed, documentary about US universities watch the 2014 film Ivory Tower (produced in part by CNN), trailer on YouTube is available here
Choosing the right Post-16 subjects and qualifications
The best advice available comes from the Russel Group of universities (top 24 universities in the UK) which have created this website, click here, that explains which subjects and what syllabus is preferred by them.
​An older version that is a printable booklet from 2013, and no longer available through their website, can be downloaded by clicking here.
Smashing !!! Career advice
For a list of 505 different careers that have been ranked according to criteria like job satisfaction, sense of meaning and their average salary for workers in the US, click here. This list only covers the main fields but can help you when you are thinking about what you want from your lifetime of work.
For really general advice, you could go to a country's government-run careers service:
Click here for a list of the best companies to work for operating in the US. What kinds of qualifications do they look for in their recruits? At the bottom of this page is a selection of other multinational companies that employ people from a wide range of backgrounds.
For a list of 505 different jobs in a spreadsheet with their US salaries, average job satisfaction and average sense of meaning to the work that is being done, click here
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Writing an Oxbridge ready Personal Statement
Thousands of personal statements and the courses and universities they got accepted to can be found at the Studential site.
For students applying in 2024 onwards (so students starting in 2025) there will be a new 6-question structure to the personal statement.
University rankings
Times Higher Education - Maybe the most famous of the lists, and, to my knowledge the most reputable.​
Centre for World University Rankings - Started in Saudi Arabia (what does that mean?).
For an American perspective (from the magazine Forbes) click here
Rankings based on presence on the world wide web - Fascinating way to rank universities
​Stuff you could look into for general graduate careers:
https://www.theguardian.com/careers/stand-out-careers-group-london-graduate-recruitment-fair
Generally, what some people do is get a degree and then find a job that fits their qualifications. With just a little planning before you start university though, you can make sure your degree fits the options you are interested in!
Here's a list of employers that hire graduates from a variety of disciplines:
Top 100 employers: https://www.greatplacetowork.com/best-workplaces/100-best/2019
OneNote University Notes from some universities from around the world click here (you will need a Microsoft account, as easy to create as a Google account and as useful)
Mr Paddy's Uni Notes (static, so doesn't update like my OneNote notes).pdf
For a range of university resources including Oxbridge interview questions click here
Useful articles and websites about the application process
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For a student-based ranking of US universities click here (Parchment Student Choice)
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For a recent overview article from the Economist useful for a newcomer to the adventure click here
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Information about the Russel Group (a group of about 20 of the UK's best universities)
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Choosing the right degree, university and career
1. Planning for your Future.docx
2 Choosing the right University Course.docx
3 Career Profile for Choosing the Right Uni.docx
General help on admissions testing and university interview technique
For Cambridge Assessment International Education CAIE (formally CIE) informational videos about university entrance exams, including Oxbridge and BMAT (and others like IMAT) click here
For the website which may also be useful, which is also from CAIE, click here
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Applying for medical school in the UK
Acceptance rates in the UK (including the proportion of EU and non-EU acceptances and applications) click here
There are 2 main tests for UK medicine courses, the UKCAT which most use and the BMAT which some of the older universities use, but the BMAT is being changed in the 2024 application cycle. For the US system, I'm not sure, but I have heard that it is hyper-competitive for foreign students to access (possibly impossible, in fact).

UKCAT
UK Clinical Aptitude Test brief overview: "The UKCAT does not contain any curriculum or science content. It focuses on exploring the cognitive powers of candidates and other attributes considered to be valuable for health care professionals. It is delivered on computer[s] worldwide." From their website, click here to access it.
For advice on multiple-choice questions in general, though they are a for-profit enterprise, so their end goals might not be aligned with yours
BMAT - This is being scrapped for 2024 applicants starting in 2025
BoMedical Aptitude Test brief overview: This is a test for Oxbridge, Imperial and UCL and a few others (less than about 10 in total). The test is divided into 3 parts: 1. Aptitude and skills, 2. Scientific knowledge, 3. Writing task. It looks a bit like psychometric testing, also a bit like the US SAT in parts. Like all tests though there are patterns in the thinking behind it, so an ocean of revision can overcome it.
When? Registration for a test for admission the following year (i.e. in your final year of A-levels/IB) starts in September, the test is around the 4th of November
All of the following were taken from the BMAT website in April 2015, for the most recent versions of all click here for their homepage
For universities requiring it click here
report_career_satisfaction_meaning_and_salary.xlsx
For more information on jobs that exist (updated in 2017)
http://www.londongradfair.co.uk/what-happened/exhibitor-list-october-2016/
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/careers/jobsearch
https://home.kpmg.com/xx/en/home/careers/graduates.html
http://vagas.michelin.com.br/eng
http://www.shell.com/careers.html
https://www.careers.brookfieldmultiplex.com/jobtools/JnCustomLogin.Login?in_organid=16948 (need to sign up, but interesting breadth)
Finally, this list, of the 100 best graduate employers might also be helpful:
http://www.milkround.com/staticpages/12680/the-times-top-100-graduate-employers/
uni_russell_group_info_about_a-levels_informed_choices.pdf
report_career_satisfaction_meaning_and_salary.xlsx
Applying for medical school in English-speaking countries like Australia, Canada and Ireland
For a good discussion about the differences between Australia, Canada, and Ireland, click here.
The Australian Medical Association's (AMA) advice on becoming a doctor there is here.
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