The 31st Isle of Man Higher Education Fair will take place on Thursday 15th and Friday 16th June, at Ballakermeen High School. The school runs this annual event to ensure that all the Island’s students have the best information about university choices.
 
Each year, the school invites universities and other institutions of higher education to the Island to meet Manx students and their parents and carers. Young people who are considering the next stage of their education can ask specific questions of university and college representatives. This year around 70 organisations will attend.
 
The fair opens on Thursday 15h June at 7.00 pm in the Studio Theatre at Ballakermeen with presentations by Jane Murphy from the University of Huddersfield and Andrea Bourne from the University of York. They will be addressing parents and students about the application process for higher education. They will also be commenting on the different types of institutions and the variety and types of courses on offer. This year Gail Corrin from the University College of Man will also give a presentation.
 
Following this briefing, from 7.30 pm onwards parents and students will be able to talk individually to the representatives from each university and higher education institution in the school’s sports hall, to get advice and information.
 
The Thursday night session in the sports hall is open to students from Year 10 upwards and their parents. During the day on Friday 16th June, all of the post-16 students from the Island’s schools will be attending, as will students from the Isle of Man College.  Members of the public interested in applying to university as mature students, or recent ‘A’ Level students who chose not to attend university after their examinations are all welcome to attend either session.
 
The event in the sports hall will also be extremely useful for Year 11 students. It will enable them to gain some idea of the requirements of the courses for which they will be applying in just over one year’s time. This will be helpful in making their final choice of post-16 course, as many courses have specific ‘A’ level requirements.  The Friday sessions take place from 9.15am – 12.00pm and 1.15pm – 2.45pm.