University Entrace Psychological Questionnaire

FROM: Kate Samuel

What NEED does this meet?
17% of students in the UK drop out of University before completion. At some universities this number is around the 40% mark and it's growing yearly. This website will help people applying to University to find a location that suits their personality as much as their grades.

What is the APPROACH?
When you are at school you are told where you can go according to your grades and given basic facts, e.g. some universtities are campus based and some are city based. There are also books which tell you about uni's. Uk Universities vary hugely in location and the lifestyle they offer. For students to get the most out of university, or in some cases remain in education at all, they have to enjoy their time at the establishment. What this approach will do is allow all students to access a questionaire which will ask them personality based questions about their interests, lifestlye, future plans etc. These will lead the questionnaire to a conclusion about which universities they would be suited to. A number of options will be given, each offering different grade requirements. Basically, instead of being told facts about universities, the influence of which aren't explained, a student will have an understanding of why their personality profile appears more suited to certain universities.

What are the BENEFITS to people?
It will give students (and their parents) a wider understanding of the choices they are making when they decide on universities. It will help schools give focussed career and future advice. Hopefully, it could significantly reduce university drop out rates.

What is the COMPETITION?
Although there are services which partially cover the same area(prospectuses, university guide books, alternative prospectuses etc) there is no comprehensive service which links your choice of university to your personality as well as your grades and your future aspirations, explaining the reasons for its decisions. This site would allow schools the opportunity to deal with a multitude of individual problems and questions at once, hopefully over a short period of time, maybe even a class. At present studenst aren't aware of the multitude of choices they are making when selecting a university and how much making an incorrect choice can influence their future.

What BUDGET & LOGISTICS are required?
Expense wise there are a number of things that would have to occur: A professional would have to be hired to write a questionnaire on student experiences to send to student unions at every university to get, c.100 reponses from each. These results would have to be tabled and another professional would be hired to write a personality quiz based on these findings. The quiz could then be put online. However, it would be easy to market - as there is a definate need /niche for a service which provides a greater understanding of further education choices. Hopefully schools would use it in school hours. It would ahve to be updated yearly, but only with minor adjustments to figures like entrance grades/male to female ratio.