Olivia Tranter
careers adviser
Encouraging; widens options
The Application
Personal statements, interviews, student finance and an apprenticeship assessment day collide in one autumn.
Planned · not started yet
Learning & education Ambition Hard choices Competing advice School or campus Small town Hopeful Reflective
The premise
Personal statements, interviews, student finance and an apprenticeship assessment day collide in one autumn. Jordan must choose a path his family only partly understands, and learns that both routes are respectable and neither is risk-free.
The protagonist
Jordan Mbeki-Walsh — First in his family who could go to university, also offered an engineering apprenticeship
The council
Every council member is an original fictional character. None represents, quotes or is endorsed by a real person.
Rhys Aldington
apprenticeship assessor
Practical; earn while you learn
Dr Leona Ravenscroft
higher-education economist
Data-driven; averages hide variation
How the story moves
One application cycle to a decision; a rejection and an unexpected offer change the shape of the choice.
What readers take away
- How UCAS applications work
- Writing a personal statement
- Admissions interviews and tests
- Student finance and how repayment works
- Degree apprenticeships
- Comparing outcomes using real data
- Visiting and choosing institutions
- Making and owning the decision
- Use league tables and outcome data critically
- Understand bursaries and scholarships
- Prepare for apprenticeship assessment centres
- Handle clearing and adjustment
The books
- 1The statement Planned
- 2The interview Planned
- 3The money Planned
- 4The choice Planned
Book titles are working titles and may change before publication. No book is on sale until the complete series is finished, checked and released.