Parent Survival Guide
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Parent’s survival guide Engineering at Warwick
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Parent Survival Guide
Transcript of Parent Survival Guide
Parent’s survival guide
Engineering at Warwick
Student comments
After visiting Warwick on an Open Day, I knew it would be ideal for me: the structure of the course, combined with the leafy campus environment meant it was an obvious choice. It hasn’t disappointed. The course at Warwick is highly enjoyable. The variety of topics covered early on in the course helps to explore what areas are of interest to you, as well as the group work and various methods of assessment, resulting
in a worthwhile experience.
Studying Engineering requires commitment and discipline to keep up with the workload, but the rewards are worth it-
I wouldn’t want it any other way!
Parent’s survival guide! • Making your choice of University • Narrowing 5 UCAS choices to 2 (firm & insurance)
Agenda for this talk: • What to look for • Engineering at Warwick • Pastoral care for students • What happens next
What to look for
Selecting firm and insurance offers
What to look for
University • League table rankings • Campus based or not • Accommodation • Distance from home • Pastoral care
Engineering course • League table rankings • Accreditation by
Institutes of Engineering • Flexibility versus
specialisation • Work experience
The University of Warwick is a top 10 university
• Consistently in the top 10 of UK universities
• Ranked 7th in UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
• According to a 2013 High Fliers Research Ltd. survey, reported in the Daily Telegraph January 17th 2013, Warwick is the “top target for graduate employers”
2013 Guardian University League Table 1 Cambridge 2 Oxford 3 London School of
Economics 4 St Andrews 5 Warwick 6 UCL 7= Durham 7= Lancaster
Presenter
Presentation Notes
For many students/parents, this is the most significant slide of the presentation! You present this as seriously as you like. I am not so comfortable with a hard sell so I let the facts speak for themselves but joke about us also being in the top ranking in the duck survey, we have a high population of ducks on campus due to the lakes.
• Easy transition to 1st year – Campus based – Plentiful on-campus accommodation
• Good value and support for all 3/4 years
– Structured course, tutors will help with academic progress
– Good pastoral care, more later…
Easing the transition from school
Generous bursaries
Family income Annual help with tuition fees
Annual help with living expenses and course costs
Annual total
£0–£25,000 a year Warwick National Scholarship of £2,000 This reduces tuition fees to £7,000.
Warwick Bursary of £2,500
£4,500
£25,001-£36,000 a year
- Warwick Bursary of £1,500
£1,500
£36,001-£42,611 a year
- Warwick Bursary of £500
£500
We guarantee an automatic fee waiver of £2,000 (Warwick National Scholarship) to full-time students with family incomes of £25,000 a year or less, who are eligible for a tuition fee loan from the UK Government and who have undertaken their sixth form education within a state school or college in England.
Presenter
Presentation Notes
We do have some unique selling points about our bursary scheme for low income families: generous in comparison to some University schemes, a maximum of £9,677 for living expenses of which only £3,823 has to be paid back. 25% of Warwick students in 2012-13 took advantage of these bursaries No separate application needed if you are at a state school and tick the box on the student loan application to share information with Universities we pay termly and in the first term, whereas some pay in January EXTRA INFORMATION IF ASKED If student is at a private school on a means tested bursary they are eligible but have to apply separately.
Financial support from Engineering
• Free text books for all core modules in the first year • Free lab coat and safety shoes • Free calculator • Merit scholarship for the first year for firm choice
offer holders – £1,000 (paid in January 2014) – Maximum of 100 awarded based on students’ A-Level
results or equivalent
Presenter
Presentation Notes
We have now agreement to go up to 100 £1,000 scholarships for 2013 Firm choice applicants only Everyone eligible; overseas and UK/EU fee payers We would expect the minimum achievement to be A*AA or equivalent IF ASKED There will be a minimum of 40 scholarships for 2014 so if an applicant is deferring entry to next year they should still get same package.
What to do if all the offers are similar?
• Is there BEng / MEng flexibility • Has there been flexibility on grades in August • Is the course flexible • Where do you think you will be happiest
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Why are the Engineering offer very similar? Partly due to the Institutes of Engineering who historically wanted to set a minimum entry level for the MEng and BEng and partly due to the competition for the best students. Now with £9,000 the minimum offer level is set by the Government at AAB last year, which might be relaxed to ABB this year but this is unlikely to affect offer levels. Flexibility We need to try to avoid applicants switching to a BEng offer and holding us as insurance but we still want to promote flexibility! Worth restating that scholarships are for firm choice offer holders only BEng/MEng Key decision point is end of 2nd year as courses different in 3rd year Flexibility in August See next slide – yes we are flexible, especially for firm choice offer holders Course is flexible First decision point at end of 1st year Our expedreince isthat students perform the best if they are happy both in the academic side of their studies and also with the style of campus and social activities.
Engineering at Warwick
Why choose our engineering courses
Student comments
I am pleased to say my first year has been a sea of opportunities! I feel the degree is tailored perfectly to the needs of the industry, and this is achieved particularly through the Business module.
I came into university very unsure of what I wanted to become, or even what I wanted to study. I was only sure that I was interested in
technology, its changes and business. And Warwick was the university for me that offered a good combination of engineering and business
studies. The main appeal of studying engineering for me at Warwick was how you don't have to make a decision of which engineering discipline you want to study until the end of your second year.
2013 Guardian University League Table – General Engineering
1 Cambridge 2 Imperial College 3 Bournemouth 4 Oxford 5 Exeter 6 Warwick 7 Leicester 8 Loughborough
Why Engineering at Warwick?
• Consistently in the top 10 for general engineering
• Ranked 5th in UK Research Assessment Exercise (RAE)
• Unified approach to teaching engineering
• Common 1st year leaves you time to decide on your choice of specialist engineering course
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Clearly the fact that Warwick is a top ranked University will give you confidence that you will receive a good education and that your degree will be highly valued. However, there are also big differences between the way in which different universities treat engineering. Most universities have a range of separate Engineering departments, such as mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, civil engineering, etc. However, many of the top universities, such as Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick, have unified approaches to teaching engineering, which cover all of the main engineering disciplines within a single, very large department. Our common first year means that you can base you decision on solid evidence and experience. Most students leave school not ever having been taught engineering so choosing a specialist course now with no chance to change later can be very difficult.
Undergraduate engineering degrees at Warwick • Engineering • Automotive Engineering • Civil Engineering • Electronic Engineering • Mechanical Engineering • Manufacturing & Mechanical Engineering • Systems Engineering • Engineering and Business Management • Engineering and Business Studies
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Stress the wide range to choose from. Stress range of degrees but all the same 1st year, no intake targets for any particular course just a total target.
Structure of the degrees
• Our courses are flexible • Students can adapt as they
discover their strengths and passion for certain disciplines
• Project work is an important part of the course
Presenter
Presentation Notes
I would talk here about how many students change their minds once at Warwick about which type of engineer they want to be. Decisions are often based on the project work, often the work associated with the design modules.
Flexible degrees at Warwick
• One intake for all Engineering courses • Gap year students welcome • BEng and MEng courses
• Final choice made at end of 2nd year • MEng students must achieve 2i performance
• Options at end of years 1 & 2 to change degree course
• Ability to take a year in industry at any point after year 1
• Exchange years for MEng 3rd year • Current partners in Europe and Australia
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Intake Expect around 300 1st years, 80-90 overseas. This might be worth stressing as a recent report at Imperial said that 50% were overseas and this can be viewed by both UK and overseas students as poor. Overseas students do not want to be alone but they do want to study with UK students if only to improve their English Gap years We know it can be hard to secure a placement. We are happy for students to change their minds up to July 2013. so if the placement falls through or if they unexpectedly get a placement we are happy to adjust their year of entry accordingly. We have 5-10% of students typically come from a gap year, for 2013. Of course you can always apply as a qualified applicant whilst on a gap year. BEng/MEng Key points are that all MEng students must achieve a 2i performance at end of 2nd year regardless of entry level Any BEng student can transfer at end of 2nd year if they get a 2i performance Changing course If you want to take electronic engineering the choice is made at the end of first year, for all other courses the final choice is at the end of second year. We believe that engineering is inherently multi-disciplinary and that our students by learning the common foundations first are better able to integrate into the multi-disciplinary teams they will encounter in industry. However, this approach does not suit all students, some prefer to specialise earlier and may find a specialist course offered by a specialist department might suit them better. Industrial years out Can be taken at any time. Can be formally part of the degree or can temporarily withdraw. Support from the careers service to find a place. Exchange years Part of the Erasmus scheme. Partnerships constantly changing so may have new ones for them. Currently for France, Germany, Austria and Australia. Taught in european language in EU.
Measuring student performance
• First year – Does not count to final degree – Students must pass exams at end of year – Tutors monitor performance weekly to
address any issues early on • BEng
– 2nd year: 30% of final degree based on exams and course work – 3rd year: 70% based on exams and course work
• MEng – 2nd year: 20% of final degree based on exams and course work – 3rd / 4th years equally important
• 40% each based on exams and course work
Presenter
Presentation Notes
I would talk here about our 1st year tutor system. This is different to many Universities, who would only offer the pastoral care element.
Reaching Chartered Engineer status
Accredited MEng
(4 years)
Accredited BEng
(3 years)
Structured Training & Responsible Experience
Chartered Engineer
CEng
Additional Learning
For UK students MEng offers Masters level study at undergraduate rates with Government loans
Accreditation
• MEng engineering courses are accredited as fully satisfying the educational base for a Chartered Engineer (CEng)
• BEng engineering courses are accredited as partially satisfying the educational base for a Chartered Engineer (CEng)
• BEng Engineering Business Management and BSc Engineering & Business Studies are not accredited as they do not contain enough engineering
Presenter
Presentation Notes
I stress all the specialist degrees are accredited by the relevant Institute. Many have a choice; Civil engineers can join ICE or IStructE for example. General engineering can be accredited depending on the module choice. I stress the fact the EBM, EBS are 3 year degrees, not accredited as too much business.
3 year BEng or 4 year MEng? • MEng degree has 4 years of study
– UK students have access to Government funded student loans for all 4 years
– Courses automatically meet the academic CEng requirements
– Employment rates are normally higher • To become chartered from a BEng degree:
– Typically involves taking an accredited MSc course • 1 year versus 9 months of study • Individual research project versus group project • MEng degree integrated, MSc stands alone • UK/EU students have no access to Government funded student loans
for MSc courses
Presenter
Presentation Notes
The key point here is that all 4 years of the MEng degree are treated as undergraduate education with respect to student loans. You can get to the same M or masters level with a 3 year BEng and a 1-year masters course but the 1 year masters course is treated as postgraduate education and for UK students there are no loans. For the early applicants with a lot interested in Oxbridge you could say that if you were thinking of a PhD the quickest route would be a 3-year BEng followed by a PhD and with the PhD being at a higher level this would normally be accepted by the Institutions for CEng status.
Engineering employment statistics 6 months after graduation
• 68.7% in work • Including 11.1% combining work & study
• 13.1% in further study • 14.6% still seeking work • 3.5% not available/other • Median salary, six months after graduation, is
£25,000 • Warwick is 4th in the Russell Group for graduate
level jobs and 3rd in the highest average salary
Recent graduate destinations
• Civil – AECOM (formerly Faber Maunsell), AmeyMouchel, Atkins, Balfour Beatty,
Halcrow group, McAlpine, Network Rail,
• Mechanical, Automotive, Manufacturing – BAE Systems, Cummins diesel, GE Aviation, Jaguar Land Rover, Marshall
Aerospace, Ricardo, Rolls-Royce plc,
• Electronic, Systems, Computer – Dorset Software, Morgan Stanley, Renishaw, Siemens, Telent
• PhDs in – Atmospheric Physics, Fluid Dynamics, Material Science, Medical Physics,
Mobile Robotics, Power Electronics
Life at Warwick & pastoral care
Helping students settle in and making the most of their opportunities
Student comments
Taking part in societies and sports clubs is one of the best aspects of being at university. Most students I know are part of at least one society and one sports club. With over 75 sports clubs and 250 societies, everybody finds something to their liking. I wouldn’t consider university a complete experience without trying out several new activities!
Last year I participated in Warwick Hitch, a 1500 mile hitchhike to Morocco where I raised nearly £500 for charity. I met so many amazing
people and experienced Europe & Africa in a way I never would have as a tourist.
On the way I was lucky enough to drive over the tallest bridge in the world which for me, as I am studying Civil Engineering, I found absolutely
fascinating.
Life at Warwick • Sports
– From £45 / year for sports hall, swimming and fitness
– Football & rock climbing to frisbee & ball room dancing!
• Culture – Warwick Art Centre, for theatre,
cinema, art • Students Union
– Over 230 societies including curry club and belly dancing
– Cultural, political and religious societies
Pastoral care What support is available? • Director of Student Support & Senior Tutor • Engineering Personal Tutor
Meetings every Wednesday during 1st year, with progress checks on academic work
Pastoral care in later years, meeting at start and end of every term
• Residential tutors & wardens • Counselling Service • Disability Services • Mental Health • Health Centre • Students’ Union Advice Centre
Presenter
Presentation Notes
9 services + allied services -- COMMUNICATION COMPREHENSIVE HOLLISTIC
Pastoral care – Other allied services • Student Funding • International Office
– Immigration Service – Police Registration – Banking – Trips and Social events
• Chaplaincy • Security
– We have our own policeman for the campus
• Student Careers and Skills
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Int. Office (o/s feepayers and EU) – student experience – ISB, host, vacation provision, newsletter, web-info
Pastoral care - Finally
• Our contract is with the student, an adult, and we
have to abide by the UK Data Protection Act • We will have to ask permission from the student to
be allowed to talk to their family
What happens next
Accommodation and other information
Parent’s survival guide to the UCAS process • Our experience is that parents are often less well
informed than applicants, and may not know – What else the applicants have to do – What happens in August – What happens in September/October
UCAS important dates • When candidates have had decisions from all their
chosen universities, they will be asked by UCAS to select their Firm and Insurance offers - Deadline for this is set by UCAS - 8th May if all decisions received by 31st March - 6th June if all decisions received by 9th May - Some universities press applicants to make quick choices
Accommodation
• 6458 rooms in self catering halls • Firm and insurance choice offer holders apply
online for accommodation by 31st July • Students are asked to select their 1st, 2nd and
3rd choice of accommodation • Priority for firm choice offer holders
• All recent students, firm and insurance, placed in Hall for their first year
• Flexible letting periods 30 or 39 • Weekly costs from £78 to £150
Presenter
Presentation Notes
30 week lets, go home for 9 weeks of vacation. 39 week lets, stay for vacation. 30 week lets seem unusual more typical 40 to 50 week lets at other Universities. At £78 per week a 30 week let will save you £702 in comparison to a 39 week let if you can live rent free at home. REMEMBER check latest details online when booking. Prices and let periods can change.
Accommodation after 1st Year
• We support students for their whole stay not just first year!
• Plentiful, quality off-campus housing • Found via Warwick’s Accommodation Office,
estate agents & friends • 42 to 48 week lets typical £60-£80 per week • Add £15-20 per week for utility bills • Buses every 10 to 15 minutes • Can return to hall in final year
Coventry
Leamington Spa
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Warwick Accommodation has Off-Campus – 1,700 bedrooms off campus in managed properties, providing safe accommodation with value for money The average rent for off-campus houses reported by our engineering students reported for 2012-2013 academic year is £60 to £80 excluding bills, £10-15 per week utilities. This includes water rates and a basic possessions insurance cover up to £4000. Typical rental period off campus is 42 to 48 weeks. About one third get accommodation via University, rest private landlords, hand down from older students.
What happens in August?
• On Thursday 15th August 2013 the A-level results will be published
• University staff try to confirm the places of students holding them as their firm or insurance offer by Thursday 15th August 2013, the day results are available to students
• For non A level qualifications: • If results received before 15th August and offer met the place will
be confirmed • If offer not met decision may be held until 15th August
What happens if they miss their offer
• In Engineering we aim to accommodate all firm offers – We will review all results that just miss the offer and in some cases
automatically accept you – If you applied for MEng but miss grades we expect to be able to
offer you a BEng if you meet these grades • If you hold us as insurance and miss your firm offer
• If you have been rejected and met our offer you place will be confirmed automatically
• If there is no decision – phone us • If all else fails go to clearing!
Many applicants do get their firm choice! In a typical year 1st year engineering students at
Warwick came from: – 10% deferred places from previous year – 80% held Warwick as their firm choice – 10% held Warwick as their insurance choice
What to do on 15th August 2013
• Make sure you have – Good internet access and telephone – Able to buy a UK newspaper with clearing places listed
• Check UCAS website for decisions from early morning • In UCAS > CF to UF
• Conditional Firm to Unconditional Firm • Student accepted, place confirmed at firm choice
• Where students meet the offer of their firm choice university they are guaranteed a place
• They just need to confirm they accept their place via UCAS
What happens to students in clearing? • As soon a student has been rejected by both the firm and
insurance universities, UCAS offer clearing • Students need to act immediately
- get A level results from school as early as possible - phone Universities where offers were made but declined
and ask if any spaces - check for clearing places on UCAS website or newspaper - places allocated on first-come-first-served basis and
assume most will be allocated on 15th August - likely to be at the back of the queue for University
accommodation
What is UCAS adjustment?
• An “adjustment period” is for students who meet and exceed the terms of their conditional offer • i.e. AAA against an AAB offer
• Students have 5 (calendar) days to seek a place at another university while firm place is held for them
• May enable the student to go to a higher ranked university • But they may be at the back of the queue for University
accommodation
What happens in September/October?
• Students will be sent information on where they will be living and when their course starts
• Students move into their accommodation over the weekend before the start of term
• Warwick does not have a “fresher’s week” for home students, but has a “soft start” to the first week of term, to allow students to get settled in and to make friends before the academic side starts
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our open day and found it useful
Please have a safe journey home
I am happy to answer any final questions
