Careers and Higher Education fairs are a great opportunity for students to gain insight into the variety of options available upon leaving school or college. In this blog, we explore how students can the most of these events as well as tips for useful questions to ask exhibitors. At Careers and Higher Education Fairs, there is usually a mix of employers, universities and training providers present who each have a stand explaining the different opportunities they have, whether it be an apprenticeship, job opportunities or courses at universities.
To make the most of these events, it is wise for students to prepare beforehand. Please feel free to share our below tips with your students:
If you are someone who is thinking of going to university, the best way to maximise your interactions with exhibitors is to observe the banners on each of the stands to see if it offers the course you are looking for. Although, if you are someone who doesn’t know what they would like to do to study, look for course or subject listings which are similar or comparatively similar to your current qualifications.
Starting up a conversation
You can start a conversation with an exhibitor asking ‘Can you tell me more about your course in this subject?’ or ‘what topics or areas of study does you course in X subject cover?’ The university rep can then help tailor an answer to your question so that you gain meaningful information about the course that you are interested in.
You may not be familiar with the entry requirements or other specific information for your preferred course, so you can ask questions to become better informed about the different opportunities available to you.
To make the most of the fair, it is probably wise to have prepared 3-4 questions or topic areas about university, or entry to a specific university in mind, before approaching a stand to ask questions.
Obtaining the most important information
Most universities will have a prospectus or brochure available for you which contains information about the course you may be interested in, as well as general information about student life at that university (accommodation, the local area, amenities and study spaces etc.) However, please do ask the university rep if you can take a copy of a prospectus or brochure first before taking one, as there may not be enough copies for everyone, and it might not be dated for your year of entry – new prospectuses are released every year! Universities may also have other merchandise available which you can also take, such as bags, pens, bookmarks and other niche accessories.
Completing surveys or scanning QR codes
Many universities may ask you at the end if you would be willing to complete a short survey or questionnaire as part of your conversation, which may ask you to fill out some of your personal details such as your name and email address. The purpose of this is so that universities can send you more information about events that are running for future students such as Open Days and Applicant Days as well as other communication with more information about the course you maybe interested in, so that you have as much information as possible to make an informed decision about which course(s) to choose and where to study, when deciding between your final 5 choices to make on UCAS hub.
However, please do not feel pressured into completing any survey or questionnaire from any university rep- it’s your choice!
Some universities may also have a QR code on a sheet of paper or on a device such as an iPad which students can scan to take them to specific pages on university websites like accommodation and course pages.
We hope that you have found this advice useful. Please do always reach out to us at schoolsliaison@city.ac.uk if you have any questions – we are always happy to help.