Making Your Final Decision

You Will Not Have Perfect Information

By this point in the course, you have a framework, you have knowledge, and you probably have a shortlist. But you may still feel uncertain. That is not a failure of your research — it is the nature of this decision.

The truth is that no Year 11 student has perfect information about their future. You do not know exactly what you will want to study at university. You do not know which career will appeal to you in ten years. You may not even know how your interests will shift between now and your first A-Level exam. And that is completely normal.

The goal is not to make a perfect decision. The goal is to make a well-informed, thoughtful decision that you are unlikely to regret — even if circumstances change.

The students who navigate this well are not those who found the "right answer." They are the students who gathered enough information, considered their options honestly, and then committed fully to their choice.

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The Regret Minimisation Test

When you are stuck between options, try this thought experiment — sometimes called the regret minimisation framework: