How to choose a course and an institution

This page contains information on:

• teaching and learning methods
• study areas
• the location of the institutions
• how to choose a course
• assessing teaching quality
• Erasmus - going to the UK
• support for students with special needs

Teaching and learning methods

Q
What are the teaching and learning methods like in the United Kingdom?

A
Via the tutorial system you will feel supported throughout your course, having the opportunity to discuss your work with your tutor in small classes. Via their teaching methods, the institutions are committed to training quality professionals that are able to make a valuable contribution to the job market.

Find out more by consulting the information sheet 'Study Methods used in the UK' available on the UKCISA site, as well as the individual pages of the different institutions, and make sure that the institutions will make you feel confident and able to enter the job market through their teaching and learning methods.

Study Areas

Q
What areas can I study in the United Kingdom? And at what institutions?

A
Find out about higher education courses available in the UK, including Foundation Degrees, by researching EducationUK for full-time and part-time courses and the UCAS site for full-time and sandwich courses. For information on Foundation years / courses, you may search EducationUK in 'Access & Foundation courses' or search on the UCAS page in 'Course Search', in 'Subject' and then in 'F', then in 'Foundation'.

Location of the Institutions

Q
Where are the institutions located?

A
You will find the location of each of the institutions by consulting the UCAS site map – Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

Get to know the specific characteristics of each of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) by consulting the 'Where to study in the UK' section in 'Your study options at EducationUK.

How to choose a course

Q
What factors should I consider when making a choice?

A
Select the courses according to the area you are interested in studying and look carefully and thoroughly at the content of each course by consulting the page of the respective department within the pages of the individual institutions. If, after looking at this information, you still have doubts about the course, you should contact the institution directly.

Make sure you also find out about other important aspects when selecting the institutions:

• libraries
• computer access
• types of accommodation
• sports activities
• cultural and artistic societies
• students’ Unions
• student support services
• cost of living in the area where the institution is located, etc.

Apart from the course, it is very important that you feel happy taking full advantage of the excellent facilities that the institutions have created for you.

We recommend that you read the British Council Education information sheets on the different subjects. Each of these information sheets is dedicated to a specific study area.

Find out more by reading the British Council Education information sheet 'Choosing your degree programme and institution'.

Assessing Teaching Quality

Q
Are the courses and institutions that I have chosen of a high standard?

A
With the exception of research, the ‘Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education’ (QAA) is the body responsible for assessing the quality of higher education and for publishing official reports on study areas or individual institutions.

Find out more by reading the British Council Education information sheet 'Quality issues' and at Universities UK in 'Accreditation and Quality'.

Q
What is the Erasmus Programme? How can I study in the UK as an Erasmus student?

A
The Erasmus programme funds student mobility within the European Union. Find out more about the background of the Erasmus programme at Agência Nacional – Programa Aprendizagem ao Longo da Vida (National Agency - Lifelong Learning Programme).

If you choose to study in the UK as an Erasmus student you should first contact the Erasmus or International Relations Office of the Portuguese higher education institution you are attending. They will tell you about existent partnerships between your institution and institutions in the UK. If your institution does not have any partnership with UK institutions, through the same office you may inquire about the possibility of establishing, under the Erasmus programme, another type of agreement with an institution in the UK.

The Erasmus or International Relations Office of the Portuguese higher education institution you are attending will also have information about application procedures, syllabus of the course and funding.

To find out about higher education courses available in the UK, please go to 'Study Areas' on this page.

Q
What support is there for students with special needs?

A
The great majority of UK higher education institutions welcome students with disabilities, disabling conditions or specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia). After you have done your search for courses and institutions but before applying we advise you to contact the Disability Office or Disability Support Team, which is one of the student support services of the institutions.

Please read 'Studying and Living in the UK', a pdf document available on the EducationUK site, in 'Study advice' and then in 'Useful reading'.