New website will help students pick the right degree course
Students applying to university will have more information at their fingertips than ever before to help them make choices about courses and where to study.
Today, the Business Secretary Vince Cable is launching a new website that features a standardised set of data called the Key Information Set (KIS). The completely revised Unistats website (unistats.direct.gov.uk/) provides extensive information for over 31,000 courses in the UK, including student satisfaction ratings, graduate salaries and employment, tuition fees and financial support, and the cost of accommodation.
The new KIS data have been collated after consulting students about the information they find most useful when they are choosing higher education courses. The data for each course link directly to the relevant course webpage, which provides more detail on what the course contains and how it will be taught.
For the first time prospective students will be able to search and compare information about courses across the UK, focusing on the factors that are most important for them. They will also be able to create a shortlist of their favourite courses and create a detailed comparison page, to make it easier to compare their options.
Results from the 2012 National Students' Survey, published today, will also be included in the site.
Dr Cable said: "Applying to university is a big decision and we want to ensure that all students, whatever their background, have the key facts at their fingertips to help them make the right choice for them. The introduction of the Key Information Set represents a major step forward for students, their parents, and their school and college advisers."
HEFCE Chief Executive, Sir Alan Langlands, said: "It's the first time these kinds of data have been brought together in this way, providing reliable, impartial information to students in a format that is useful to them, in the places they want to find it. I would like to pay tribute to the hard work and commitment of universities and colleges in providing the data and enhancing the information that is available about higher education."
Professor Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University and Chair of the Higher Education Public Information Steering Group which led the development of the Key Information sets, said: "Research into the information students most want to see has underpinned the development of Key Information Sets. The KIS includes the information students say they need to make informed choices and will be published where they want to see it.
"Of course key Information Sets do not provide the complete picture and should not be used as the sole basis for making a decision where to study, that was never the intention. They provide an excellent starting point for anyone considering a degree and the basis for further investigation. I'm hugely confident they will be a success."
Rachel Wenstone, NUS Vice President (Higher Education) said: "The Key Information Set is a new addition to the wide variety of resources students need to make sure they make the right application choices.
"This information needs to be combined with an understanding of the learning environment, the relationship between students and staff, as well as the role of student representation, all of which are such important factors in empowering individuals to make the right choices for them.
"We need to see a continued commitment from the higher education sector to provide increasingly relevant and contextualised information to prospective applicants, and this should be seen as another step on that journey."