UCAS Discovery Fair on 4 April - Brighton Centre

Dear Parent, Carer or Guardian

The UCAS Discovery Fair takes place at the Brighton Centre on Friday 4 April and the College has secured 500 free tickets! 

This is the main university fair that our students can attend. As it is organised by UCAS, it is the one the vast majority of universities have in their calendar. If your young person is excited by the prospect of going to university, is not sure or is even feeling less than keen, it's a really good event to attend to help them with their decision making. 

Before attending, it would be good preparation for a student to know roughly (or precisely) what subject interests them, whether they want to study locally or further afield, what a Russell Group university is and whether they would prefer a 'campus' or a 'city' university. This will help them pinpoint the stands they want to chat to on the day. 

To get a list of universities that offer a particular subject, students should type their subject of choice into the search bar on UCAS.com, this will then give a list of all universities offering the subject in alphabetical order. Using the filter, the list can then be whittled down by geographical location and the entry requirements for the course. 

Please do encourage your young person to chat to their friends and 'book' a friend to go with. In order to book an E ticket, they will need to create their own UCAS Hub 2026 account. The instructions have been sent to them. They MUST follow the instructions for setting up their UCAS 2026 cycle Hub account accurately as this is what they will use to apply to university (if they choose to). See below for the instructions I have sent them.

If you have any questions, please email me at cvd@varndean.ac.uk

Best wishes

Cordelia Dobbie, Careers Manager


Copy below: 

Dear Student

Every year UCAS holds a University Fair at the Brighton Centre and this year, Varndean College has booked 500 (free) tickets. These tickets are for Year 1 students and are given out on a FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS. WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE ALREADY BOOKED.

If you are not sure if you want to go to university (either straight after Year 13 or after a gap year), or if you know you definitely do want to go, this is the university fair to go to - it is run by UCAS, so it is the one the majority of universities will want to attend.

In order to get your free E ticket, you will first need to create your own UCAS Hub. Please follow the instructions below. It is important you follow them accurately as any student who decides they want to apply to university will use this Hub to complete their university application form.... (if you get stuck, please ask your tutor or come to room 62 and ask for Cordelia or Kirsten)

  • First visit ucas.com - in the home page, top right click on 'sign in' to set up your UCAS Hub account. When you have the pic of a woman with a bicycle, select 'register' and fill in your details. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU USE A PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS. Make a note of your password - you will need to use this often!!!    Then verify your email address
  • The next page, add your home address, put in DOB and select 'undergraduate study'. If you are planning on going to university and are not interested in any of the options under 'Which opportunities are you interested in?' ignore this question and then select 2026 (even if you might take a gap year). You MUST select 2026.... continue
  • Select Varndean College. 'Consent to share my data' - please select YES otherwise the college can't see where you are applying and support you.
  • Complete the 'Interests' and 'Preferences' pages and click on 'Complete Setup'
  • You have now registered and have your own UCAS Hub. Please make sure you keep your password safe as this will be needed if you want to complete a university application form (or open your E ticket for the fair!)
  • Click on 'Go to my Hub'

Then......to get your ticket for the UCAS Fair on April 4th....

  • Go into your UCAS Hub
  • Scroll down to the 'Your Events' tile and type 'Brighton' into the search bar select 'UCAS Discovery Brighton 2025' - you may need to click on the little down arrow to get the full listing of UCAS events
  • Click on the 'Book your place at this UCAS Discovery event now' button.
  • Then click STUDENT
  • JOIN GROUP BOOKING
  • Check details and 'Register'
  • Enter the booking reference: UCASBKN1126030 'find'
  • Choose which time you would like to attend 10:30 - 12:30 or 12:30 - 2:30 on Friday 4 April.
  • Registration form - complete and check details are correct 'Submit'
  • You will receive a confirmation email that has a link to your personalised ticket.
  • Download and save your ticket to your phone or wallet.
  • Please bring your personalised ticket to the event, either on your mobile phone or as a printed ticket.

If you follow the instructions above, it should work....if you get stuck, please come to Careers in Room 62 at lunchtime.

See you at the Fair

Cordelia


 
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