To study at HE level normally means you are 18 or over and have achieved level 3 qualifications (eg, A Levels, BTEC National Diploma, Advanced 14-19 Diploma, NVQ 3). Higher Education courses are available at universities and colleges throughout the country and enable you to continue to learn up to level 4. There are some jobs you cannot enter without going into Higher Education (eg, Doctor, Barrister, Architect) but there are many more where a degree - although not essential - is becoming more and more the norm for entry to a job (eg, Youth Work, Computer Games Design and Health and Safety Inspector). Visit jobs4u or Careerscape to see what is said about your career interest.

Entry requirements vary from course to course and you must check these out carefully on the UCAS website and with individual universities and colleges. You cannot assume because you have a level 3 qualification you will be able to enter any HE course, most HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) have specific requirements depending on factors such as the demands of the course in terms of standard and amount of work required, and the popularity of the course (ie, numbers of people applying). You must also check out whether the types of qualification you already have are suitable for the course you want to take; HEIs will tell you whether they accept A Levels, BTEC Diplomas, 14-19 Diplomas, NVQ 3s or other qualifications and what grades you must have achieved in each.

There are over 55,000 courses available in the UK at over 300 HEIs. HEIs can be universities, colleges and any other learning provider offering Higher Education qualifications. With so much choice you will need to research your options carefully so that you are applying for the right courses. Some courses are only offered at small number of institutions if they are in a specialist area and require specialist teaching facilities.

In a similar way to courses available from 14-19 HE courses at 18+ can be grouped according to their relation to work. Many courses are broad-based and increase your knowledge of a particular subject such as History, French or Chemistry. Others will be more vocational (work-related) such as Hotel Management or Travel and Tourism. Some HE courses are occupationally-based and train you specifically for a particular job such as Teaching, Nursing and Social Work. As well as considering the type of course you want to do there are also other factors such as cost, location and what else your chosen course can offer you beyond qualifications (for example what other activities can you become involved in whilst studying?).

This depends on what type of course you want to do, where you want to study and what you want to do with your course afterwards. For some young people cost is a rising issue, for others it may be location, perhaps wanting to choose a city university or college to give them access to opportunities that might help them throughout their time studying. Your school, college or local Connexions centre will have various HE publications that can help you decide and you can check out university league tables to gain an idea of the differences between courses. Both the Guardian and Times newspapers produced league tables that rate HEIs on a number of criteria such as course quality, student satisfaction and career prospects.

Higher Education is an option for both young people with level 3 qualifications and for adults. In fact, over half of those who attend HE are adults either gaining HE qualifications for the first time or perhaps being sponsored to take a level 4 qualification paid for by their employer. You may not want to go into Higher Education straight away, but may not want to leave it too long either, in which case a gap year could be a good idea. If used wisely a gap year can be excellent preparation for both HE and your future beyond.

A Foundation Degree is a degree level qualification at level 4 which combines academic study with learning in the workplace. Through this qualification students can learn professional or technical skills associated with a job and can use it to progress into that profession. In other cases the student is already employed and is being sponsored to attend university or college to work towards their qualification. A Foundation Degree is equivalent to two thirds of full Degree so students can use it to progress to the next level if this is the right route for them.

These qualifications are similar and stand for Higher National Diploma and Higher National Certificate. Both are vocationally-related in nature as they prepare students for an area of work. Both can also be taken while you are at work ie, your employer pays for you to attend university or college to work towards either qualification. Because HNDs and HNCs are at a slightly lower level to full Degree courses they can be taken if people do not have the grades for a full Degree or if they perhaps do not feel confident enough to embark on a Degree. The differences between HNDs and HNCs are minor and so are often grouped together. Check individual HEIs to see what they say about their qualifications.

Check out the UCAS site for other types of qualification offered at HE such as the Cerfificate or Diploma in Higher Education and postgraduate courses. There are also many specialist courses available which should be checked out before any application is made.

In the North East we have five local universities - follow the links opposite or check them out at ucas.com. You can also take HE qualifications at most local colleges in the North East - these are mainly HNCs/HNDs and Foundation Degrees.