How to Use Our New Course Matching Tool to Find the Right University For You

To start using the Course Matching Tool, simply head to Discover > Course Matching Tool in the main navigation at the top of the website. It acts as an effective university finder and course finder all in one.  

Step 1: Initial search 

Begin by entering your study level, preferred study destination, and subject of interest. If you’re not sure about any of these yet, you can skip these, but bear in mind that the results will be more accurate if you provide as much information as possible.   

Step 2: Explore your matches 

Once you’ve entered your preferences, you’ll be shown a list of matching university courses. For example, if you’re looking for a bachelor’s in business management studies in the UK, you might see 1856 programmes across 112 schools. Your top matches for this search could be BA (Honours) Open degree from the Open University Business School and Management BSc (Hons) from Loughborough University.  

Step 3: Refine your results 

Next, you can refine your search even further by using the filters above the results. For instance, if you need to find a university course with an application deadline to match your personal timeline, you can simply use the calendar option in “Application Deadline” filter to narrow down your search. 

You can also use the filters to find a course that matches your specific test scores, whether it's for English proficiency exams like IELTS, TOEFL, and PTE, or academic entrance exams such as the GRE, SAT, or ACT.

The final section of filters allows you to refine your search to find a university course that perfectly matches your needs. You can adjust the international fees slider to set a minimum and maximum fee range, ensuring that the programmes you see fit within your financial budget. Additionally, you can filter by scholarship availability, making it easy to focus on universities that offer financial support.

The attendance options allow you to tailor your search based on your preferred learning format. Whether you want a fully online programme, a traditional on-campus experience, or a blended option that combines both. 

Once you've applied your filters, you should have a well-refined list of programmes that match your criteria. You can toggle between school view and programme view, depending on whether you want to explore universities as a whole or focus on individual programmes. By clicking on each programme or university, you can access key details across multiple tabs: overview, finance, and application. 

If any programmes from the results particularly catches your eye, you can add it to compare against other programmes. Here, you will be able to see side-by-side comparisons that include key details such as: 

• Minimum professional experience required 

• QS World Rankings and QS Star Ratings 

• Average graduate salary 

• Percentage of women in the class 

If a certain detail crucial for your search isn’t listed, you will also have the option to request more information directly from the university. Once you’ve found programmes that tick all your boxes, you can shortlist them.  

These shortlisted university courses will then appear in your profile, allowing you to review them at your own pace helping you keep track of your top choices as you move through the application process. And voilà, university shortlisting is as easy as that!