Deciding where to apply to university may feel a long way off, or it may already be something your child is beginning to think about.

When the time comes, most students can make up to five* choices on their UCAS application. There’s no set formula for how the five choices should be divided between more aspirational and more achievable options. UCAS recommends considering courses with both higher and lower entry requirements, so students have different options.

So how do you make sure those choices are realistic without ruling out courses that are more ambitious?

It starts with understanding what each course is asking for. Published entry requirements are useful, but they don't tell you everything about how realistic a choice might be.

For students at the beginning of Year 12, this research can start before they have predicted grades. As predicted grades become clearer, they can help narrow down the options and compare them with the published entry requirements for different courses.

Then, once the shortlist begins to take shape, it helps to look at the choices together as well as individually. Does the overall selection balance ambition with realistic options? How competitive are the courses likely to be? Is there enough variation in the entry requirements? Would your child genuinely be happy to study at any of them?

If the wider application process is still unfamiliar, A Parent's Quick Guide to UCAS explains how the main stages fit together.

_{*Applicants to Medicine, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine or Veterinary Science can make a maximum of four choices in any one of these subjects, with a fifth choice available for a different course. UCAS Conservatoires uses a separate application scheme, where students can make up to six choices.}

Published entry requirements are an obvious place to start, but the headline grades do not always tell the whole story.

A course asking for A*AA, for example, may require the A* in a particular subject. Another may specify particular subjects or combinations of qualifications. Some courses use UCAS Tariff points, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that any combination of qualifications adding up to the required number of points will be accepted.

Always check the full entry requirements for every course carefully, including any minimum GCSE grade requirements. Depending on the subject, there may also be an admissions test, interview, audition or portfolio. If a test is required, Will Your Child Need to Take a University Admissions Test? explains when these take place and what parents need to know.

Universities use contextual admissions in different ways and apply different eligibility criteria, so don’t assume that if your child is eligible for a contextual offer at one university, they’ll automatically be eligible at another. Eligibility can sometimes lead to a reduced offer or additional consideration. Some courses may also make alternative or reduced offers linked to an EPQ, another specified qualification or a pre-entry programme, but these arrangements vary by university and course.

Published entry requirements are not a guarantee of an offer either. A student predicted AAA, for example, won’t necessarily receive an offer from every course asking for AAA. Universities consider applications alongside those from other students competing for a limited number of places, and on particularly competitive courses there may be many applicants who meet or exceed the published requirements. Predicted grades are only one part of the information universities consider when deciding which applicants to make offers.