UCAS’ career quiz will help students navigate their next steps

Students researching their future university course options and careers will get clear guidance on all their options from UCAS’ (@ucas_online) new career quiz tool on UCAS.com.

By answering a series of questions about their interests, personality and plans, students as young as 11 will now have the opportunity to receive personalised career matches along with a list of courses that previous students studied in order to get there.

For the first time at a national level, career quiz will clearly show the link between the courses that previous students have studied and what jobs they went on to do in the workplace.

Career quiz provides an interactive experience for students to get relevant information from the most comprehensive sources possible as UCAS has worked with Emsi Burning Glass to combine data on graduates and careers with university and college courses.

UCAS’ recent Where Next? report highlighted the need for accessible and relevant services for students as they make important decisions about their futures, as two in five said more information and advice would have led to them making better choices.

There are 2 key pathways that career quiz can support students make informed decisions:

• I don’t know what I want to do – a quiz that gives students an idea of career options and courses that others took to get there
• I want to do a particular job, but I don’t know how to get there – a student can search for a career and be shown courses and data on what others have previously done to get there

Students can see vital information on jobs and careers including the hard and soft skills required, daily tasks, plus salary guidance split by new, average, and highly experienced professionals. There are also details on long term pathways and related careers.

UCAS Chief Executive Clare Marchant said:

“Career quiz is the next innovation in UCAS’ ambitious plans to provide personalised, timely and best in class information, advice and guidance to all those looking to explore their next stage in learning. It gives students the ability to unlock their future and explore the options available to them, discovering some which might previously have been unknown to them. UCAS is expertly positioned to provide the first national, fully connected and engaging view of which courses lead to career outcomes and vice versa.

“Allowing students to really focus their research instead of scouring countless forums and website, career quiz will not only provide a compelling proposition to them but also to the many schools around the UK. This free service, available for everyone on UCAS.com and integrated into the UCAS Hub, will increase access to careers advice, helping teachers to support students as they make informed decisions.

“Career quiz will continue to evolve as we’ll be bringing in apprenticeship data giving parity of information provision across all their available routes, plus helping students make choices at GCSE level based on their early career goals.”  

Director of UK Higher Education at Emsi Burning Glass, Richard Hewitt, said:

“Mapping data on graduates and the labour market to UCAS’s comprehensive database means career quiz can widen students’ options with a more personalised approach.

“Emsi Burning Glass’ mapping between course subjects and graduate occupations is informed by a range of information including data from the HESA Graduate Outcomes Survey, Emsi Burning Glass Job Posting Analytics and our analysis of typical qualifications by occupation.

“Career quiz results are grounded in data – vital for students making crucial decisions about their futures as they need rich information that is accurate, practical and reflects the true progression of recent graduates.”