The University Journey

The University Journey 🎓

A supportive two-year guide for students & parents, from the first university conversations to applications, offers and everything in between.

When we first started thinking about university, I thought the process would be fairly straightforward: choose some universities, go to a few open days, write a personal statement and eventually fill in a UCAS form.

I quickly discovered there is so much more to it than that.

Which universities should you actually visit? What should you ask when you get there? How do you look beyond league tables and find somewhere that genuinely feels right? When should you start thinking about predicted grades? How do you narrow down courses? What actually makes a strong application? And what happens when the university or future you had pictured suddenly isn't the right one anymore?

The University Journey is the guide I wish we'd had at the beginning.

Created from everything we've learned while navigating the process ourselves, it takes students and parents through the journey from Year 12 right through to offers and decisions, breaking an overwhelming process into manageable stages.

Inside, you'll find practical guidance on researching universities and courses, making the most of open days, understanding entry requirements and actual offers, building your shortlist, preparing for UCAS, approaching the personal statement and keeping track of the things that suddenly seem to arrive all at once.

And it’s designed to be used, not simply read. Throughout the guide you’ll find planning pages, checklists and dedicated notes sections so you can keep university research, open-day thoughts, questions, comparisons and decisions together in one place. It becomes a record of your own university journey as you work through the two years.

But this isn't only about applications.

It's also about the human side of it: changing your mind, coping when plans don't work out quite as expected, letting go of a dream, managing the pressure of Year 13, supporting your teenager without taking over, and remembering that choosing a university is about finding somewhere they can live, grow and be happy, not simply somewhere that looks impressive on a league table.

There are questions to ask, things to consider and the little pieces of advice I wish somebody had given us before we began.

You don't need to know exactly what you're doing yet.

You just need somewhere to start.

And hopefully, The University Journey can be beside you for everything that comes next. 🤍