What is the Super-Curriculum:

You go to school to learn, and your teachers organise lessons to make that happen, but learning what you are directed to for exam courses is narrow. Education is bigger than that, and the Super-Curriculum is the term given to taking your learning over and above qualifications and into your own areas of interest. It is often independent, but always driven by your interests and passions and what you want to spend your free time learning about either for a university application, to prepare for the rigour of studying at university or simply because you are interested.

Generally it includes books, articles, podcasts, videos, lectures, competitions, events, school activities, running a club, taking an online course and lots more beside - essentially it is anything that takes your learning out of the classroom and beyond the school curriculum.

Some general advice for building up a super-curricular profile includes the following, but you should also check out our subject pages for extensive reading lists and ideas for what you could do to enhance your knowledge base in that subject area.

Get and Stay Informed

Regardless of what you are going on to study, you will need to be aware of the sector that you operate in. If you are an Engineer, you need to be aware of debates around the future of that industry and renewable energy, lawyers need to keep abreast of important cases or changes to the law, similarly the latest advances in medicine, a high-profile accountancy scandal or the latest technology story all matter if you go into those fields later. Channel 4's news is analytical and highly regarded for the detail it goes into, but the BBC, SKY and others provide news on TV and online too. TV shows like Newsnight are useful, as are documentaries such as Horizon, Channel 4's Dispatches and BBC Panorama, which are all investigative journalism. Newspapers often have dedicated sections to major areas such as Business, Politics or International Affairs, and most newspapers are now located online and easy to search. Regardless of your course of study, it is worth being up-to-date with the key developments in it.

Participate

You may have no idea what you want to do now, but when you decide later you want to be able to show universities that you have had that interest for a long time. It's hard to make up for not taking part earlier, so it's best to have a wide range of interests and cut them down as you specialise. Debate, play chess, sing, act, play sports, enter Maths competitions, write short stories, enter a History essay prize - do all of the things that you are good at or interested in. Later, you can focus your personal statement on those things which link to your course choice, but it's never a bad thing to have public speaking experience, or to be able to prove your time-management skills.

Rule things out as well as in

There is a lot to be said for knowing what you don't want to do. By taking part in super-curricular activities and reading, you might find that one of your potential choices is not for you, and that's better to learn before you apply for university than after. Read widely on a range of subjects, and those which don't hold your interest or attention clearly aren't going to be worth taking too far.

Get Experience

If you know you want to be a Dentist, Lawyer or Pharmacist, then it's obvious which types of experiences you are looking for, but for those who haven't decided or are keeping an open mind, you should look for experiences which come with multiple benefits. Something which demonstrates your skills, such as time-management, organisation and working with others, is never going to be wasted, whilst voluntary work that serves the greater good is always useful, and highly satisfying. Showing that you can be trusted to take on responsibilities and that you have the confidence to interact with other people demonstrate some of the things that will be required in any field as well as at university.

Keep a Log of Your Activities

Whilst you are carrying out further reading, doing work experience, participating in competitions or taking one of our short courses, it is well worth keeping a log of that. A simple log will allow you to gather your thoughts, record what you have learned and keep a record of your achievements so that you can choose what to include in university applications. For advice on how to keep a log see our blog on it - adding a couple of things each week can really build up your profile quickly.