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One of the most common concerns parents share is that their child still doesn't know what they want to do.

The concern tends to surface when choices need to be made: GCSE options, sixth form applications, A-level choices and university applications.

These milestones keep coming, whether a young person has a clear plan or not. Some students seem to know exactly where they are heading, while many others are still figuring things out. The decision points arrive anyway.

Many families assume that university planning begins with UCAS. After all, that is when an application is completed, deadlines appear and decisions start to feel real.

The UCAS application is rarely the beginning of the story. In many ways, it is the tip of the iceberg: the visible part of a much longer journey shaped by years of interests, experiences, conversations and decisions.

What appears to be the beginning is really the point where everything starts to come together.

That process can include subject choices, changing interests, open days, work experience, wider reading and moments of discovery that gradually shape how a young person sees their future.

Understanding that journey matters because it helps parents distinguish between the decisions that genuinely shape future options and those that leave more room for change than many realise.

University can feel a long way off when a child is in Year 9 or Year 10. Most families are focused on what is immediately in front of them rather than an application that may still be several years away.

By the time an application is submitted, much of the groundwork has already been laid. Interests have developed, favourite subjects have emerged, opportunities have been explored and ideas about the future have started to take shape.

UCAS's Project Next Generation research explored how young people aged 13–17 think about their futures, including university, apprenticeships and careers. The findings reflect something many parents already recognise: young people begin forming ideas about future possibilities long before they submit an application.

This can happen surprisingly quickly. One of my own children was convinced before their GCSEs that history would be at the centre of their future plans. By sixth form, their interests had shifted towards the sciences. Today they are studying engineering.

The point is not that every student changes direction. It is that many do, in ways that would have been difficult to predict a few years earlier.

Awareness is useful. Certainty can wait.

For parents, starting early is less about planning and more about understanding. Which choices matter? Which can wait? Where is there flexibility and where are there specific requirements? Those questions tend to be more useful than trying to predict a destination years in advance.

Most young people are still discovering who they are throughout secondary school and sixth form. It would be surprising if their ideas about the future remained completely fixed.

Educational milestones arrive on a timetable. Clarity rarely does.

Some students know exactly what they want to study from an early age. Others gradually narrow their options through experience. It is common for students to move between different ideas before finding a direction that genuinely feels right.

Changing direction is not necessarily a sign that something has gone wrong. It reflects a young person learning more about themselves and the opportunities available to them.

For parents, one of the challenges is understanding which decisions genuinely shape future options and which allow greater flexibility. Not every choice carries the same weight, and recognising the difference can help families focus their energy where it matters most.

This is where the conversation becomes more practical. GCSEs and A-levels are the educational choices that generate the most questions from parents. While both matter, they influence future options in different ways.

For many families, GCSE options are the first point at which future pathways enter the conversation. Parents sometimes worry that choosing the wrong subjects at fourteen could limit opportunities years later. In most cases, the reality is more reassuring.

For most university courses, GCSE option choices do not determine future pathways. Core subjects such as English, Mathematics and Science remain important foundations because they support a wide range of post-16 pathways and are frequently considered as part of university entry requirements.

English Language and Mathematics occupy a slightly different position because they continue to be important qualifications beyond GCSE for many education and employment routes.

There are some cases where continuing a subject can support future progression, particularly where knowledge and skills build over several years. For most students, however, GCSE choices remain less restrictive than many parents assume.

The bigger consideration at this stage is usually keeping options reasonably broad while interests continue to develop.

Sixth form is where curiosity starts meeting reality. Students who have spent years keeping options open begin to discover that university courses do not all view subject choices in the same way.

For some degrees, A-level subjects are simply helpful preparation. For others, they are a requirement.

Medicine is a good example. Medical schools commonly require Chemistry and may also require Biology. Many Engineering courses require Mathematics and, in some cases, Physics. Similar requirements exist across a range of degree subjects.

This is one of the points in the journey where choices can begin to close off future options. A student who decides against A-level Mathematics may still have many opportunities available to them, but certain university courses will no longer be accessible later. The same principle applies across a number of degree subjects where specific prior knowledge is expected.

That does not mean students need a fixed university plan at sixteen. It does mean that understanding university entry requirements before choosing A-level subjects can help keep future options open.

Keeping options open is not the same as keeping decisions on hold.

The good news is that students do not need to make these decisions in the dark. University course requirements are published through university websites and UCAS, making it possible to understand how different A-level combinations connect to future options.

Some degree courses require specific A-level subjects, while others offer greater flexibility. Exploring course requirements on UCAS can help students understand which subject combinations keep particular pathways open.

The aim is not to identify the perfect combination of subjects. It is to ensure that students understand how today's choices may influence tomorrow's opportunities.

Subject choices are only part of the story. Many of the experiences that shape university decisions happen beyond the classroom, often long before students begin researching courses or attending open days.

Interests can develop through wider reading, hobbies, competitions, enrichment activities, volunteering or simply conversations that spark curiosity about a particular subject or career. As students move through secondary school, they may encounter careers events, lectures, online courses or work experience opportunities that help them explore those interests in greater depth. By sixth form, that growing understanding begins to feed into more focused university research, with open days, course exploration and conversations with current students helping young people develop a clearer picture of what they want from higher education.

These experiences allow students to test assumptions as well as discover new possibilities. A student may attend a psychology lecture and discover a subject they had never previously considered. Another may spend time with an architecture practice and realise that what interests them most is not architecture itself, but interior design or the combination of design and technology used in areas such as animation and game development. Each experience helps narrow the field and build confidence in future choices.

One of the most valuable discoveries students can make is whether they enjoy a subject enough to study it in greater depth. Liking a subject at school and wanting to spend three years studying it at university are not always the same thing.

This is one reason direct experience matters. The UCAS Project Next Generation research found that 97% of young people believe direct experience is important when considering university, apprenticeships or employment, yet only 39% reported having accessed such opportunities. That gap is worth paying attention to.

For parents, creating opportunities for exploration can be more valuable than encouraging certainty. If you are thinking about how students can gain meaningful experiences, our article Choosing Opportunities Beyond the Classroom explores this in more detail.

UCAS has replaced the traditional personal statement with three structured questions. Students are asked to explain why they want to study the course, how their academic studies have prepared them and how experiences outside formal education have helped prepare them too.

In many ways, the new format makes explicit what universities have always wanted to understand. Students are being asked to reflect on how their interests developed, what they have done to explore them and why they are ready to take the next step.

That is why the university journey rarely begins with the application itself. The application is simply the point at which students are asked to bring together the experiences, decisions and discoveries that have shaped their thinking along the way.

The priority at this stage is exploration rather than planning. Notice interests as they emerge, encourage curiosity and keep options reasonably broad where possible. Most students do not need a detailed university plan at fourteen, and few decisions at this stage determine a future application.

By Year 11, future pathways start to feel more tangible. If your child already has subjects or careers they are considering, it is worth checking university entry requirements before finalising post-16 choices. The aim is not to narrow options prematurely, but to understand how different pathways connect.

For Year 12 students university research becomes more focused. They begin comparing courses, attending open days and exploring what different institutions can offer.

This is also the point at which many families encounter league tables, university rankings and discussions about the Russell Group. These provide useful information, but they rarely tell the whole story. We explored this further in University Rankings Explained: What Parents Need to Know About League Tables, Russell Group Universities and Reputation.

Open days then help bring that research to life. They allow students to move beyond websites and rankings and experience a university for themselves. Our article Open Days: What Parents Miss (and Wish They'd Known) explains how families can make the most of those visits.

Attention turns towards completing the UCAS application. Students refine their shortlist of courses and universities, complete their applications and begin making decisions about where they would most like to study. Applications for Oxford, Cambridge and courses such as Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science are typically submitted in October, while most other applications follow the main UCAS deadline in January.

As offers come in, students and families then begin thinking about firm and insurance choices. We explored that stage of the journey in Choosing Firm and Insurance: What Parents Need to Understand.

For many families, the university journey can appear to accelerate suddenly in Year 12. Students begin researching courses, attending open days and preparing applications. What can feel like a rushed process is usually the point at which several years of interests, experiences, conversations and decisions start to come together.

By the time a student completes a UCAS application, much of the journey has already happened. The aim is to give young people the time, information and opportunities to explore their interests and understand their options.

Parents do not need to have every answer. Their role is to provide the space, encouragement and support that help students make informed decisions when the time comes.

One practical habit can help. Encourage students to make a note of experiences that capture their interest along the way- a lecture, a book, a podcast, a work experience placement, a competition or a conversation that changed their thinking. Looking back on those experiences later can make it much easier to recognise how interests have evolved over time.

By the time a student starts completing a UCAS application, the university journey has already been unfolding for years.

If you’re supporting your child on the university journey, I share practical guidance each week to help you navigate decisions with more clarity and confidence.

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