For decades, the path to success seemed clear: attend a respected university, earn a degree of repute, and the future would unfold accordingly. But as the shape of higher education shifts in the UK, students and families are questioning whether the old rules still apply. In the current landscape, a degree alone is not enough to stand out; it must be paired with practical experience, strategic direction, and the ability to turn ideas into innovations.
“Students applying to Oxbridge and other Russell Group universities today want to understand how their studies align with their future goals,” says Matthew, a Think Tutors Admissions Consultant. “Prestige, on its own, no longer cuts it. Students want their education to reflect the effort they put into their studies.” Where name recognition once dictated future promise, purposeful learning and long-term development now take precedence.
In this evolving landscape, Think Tutors recognises that universities must respond to this growing demand. They must offer their student body an education that supports their ambitions and prepares them for a meaningful future.
Degrees That Do More
The rising cost of tuition (almost £10,000 per year in 2025/2026) has elevated the age-old concern around return on investment. Families are no longer reassured by vague promises of employability or the weight of a university’s name. They want transparency and they want proof. The failure of many universities to meet these expectations – offering glossy brochures and carefully choreographed campus visits instead of clear data on teaching quality, graduate employability, and student satisfaction – is something students and families are no longer willing to overlook.
Universities that can articulate how their curricula evolve with industry demands and how they measure success beyond graduation are redefining value-driven education. Faculty are increasingly recognised not just for their academic credentials, but for their real-world experience. Increasingly, students are considering factors beyond lectures and theory: valuing research opportunities, mentorship, and internships alongside academic results.
Today’s students are not passive participants in their education; they question, evaluate, and increasingly shape the direction and meaning of their academic experience. “One of my students asked every university just one question,” says Alex, a Think Tutors architecture tutor. “What kind of graduate work have your faculty been involved in over the past five years? She ended up choosing a smaller, design-focused school over a more famous name, not for its ranking, but because it matched her goals and the kind of learning environment she knew would suit her.”
Our Role: Navigating a New Era in Education
At Think Tutors, we support students and their families in making cognizant decisions. That means looking beyond rankings and reputation to examine the full scope of what a university offers – its course content, lecturers, opportunities for applied learning, and how well it aligns with a student’s plans beyond graduation.
Our tutors support aspiring medical students navigating the right balance between academic study and clinical experience, humanities students seeking programs with opportunities to undertake cutting-edge research, and STEM students balancing theory with real-world problem-solving.
New Models in Higher Education
It is worth spotlighting two former polytechnics that are pursuing increasingly bespoke approaches to education.
Birmingham City University (BCU) appreciates that many students have commitments beyond the written responsibilities of a degree. Their Curzon Building, for example, houses lecture halls, a library, a careers centre, group work areas, individual study rooms, cafés, a shop, and myriad social spaces under one roof. Traipsing back and forth across a large city is not harmonious with the demands of a 21st-century schedule, and so the university allows students to build personal timetables that work for them. This includes lectures being scheduled so that students do not need to be present for more than three days a week; lectures being repeated on different days of the same week, thus giving students the choice of which to attend; and all lectures being recorded for future reference. BCU understands that the contemporary employment landscape is decentralised, flexible, and increasingly virtual. Their courses, therefore, mimic such work patterns: exams are replaced entirely with coursework, learning resources are available both in person and online, and students can self-certify absence without bureaucratic constraint.
In the 2024–25 admissions cycle, Think Tutors was similarly impressed by Oxford Brookes University. In the past, former polytechnics sharing a city with Russell Group institutions would often feel a tangible sense of inferiority, but today they can play this relationship to their advantage, through both cooperation and differentiation. In terms of the former, Oxford University hosts a yearly international law firm fair, while Oxford Brookes University hosts a regional law firm fair, but students of either institution are now able to attend both. In terms of the latter, course content at Oxford University is often sprung upon unsuspecting students, but Oxford Brookes University makes a concerted effort to share course materials with students in advance of lectures. Furthermore, lecturers at Oxford Brookes helpfully proposed three-way communication channels between student, faculty staff, and Think Tutors for the duration of a student’s degree, meaning that Think Tutors can continue to offer relevant and well-informed academic and pastoral support for the full duration of a student’s academic journey, bridging the gaps between school life, university life, and working life thereafter.
A System Under Review
If UK universities wish to maintain credibility in this new landscape, they must meet the expectations of their most discerning applicants by embracing transparency and delivering clear, measurable outcomes. This shift demands a collective response. Families must feel empowered to ask difficult questions, and universities must listen. At Think Tutors, we continue to advocate for high standards and student-centred outcomes, helping each learner define success on their own terms.
Now more than ever, universities must offer concrete proof that their promises meet students’ future aspirations and justify their investment. The universities that rise to meet this demand will earn the trust of the next generation of students.