About
"Marcus Sturrock is a THE-accredited university counsellor and author of The Student & Parent Guide Series — a published voice on university admissions for students and families navigating every major pathway: IB, UCAS, UK Medicine, European, and US universities."
The professional record
University admissions is a system. Like any system, it rewards those who understand how it works.
That understanding — built over years of guiding students and families through IB predicted grades, UCAS personal statements, UK Medicine interviews, European applications, and US admissions processes — is the foundation of The Student & Parent Guide Series.
Marcus holds THE CAP accreditation: the Times Higher Education Counsellor Accreditation Programme. THE CAP is a rigorous, externally validated standard of professional practice in university counselling. The books are the published record of that expertise: specific, pathway-by-pathway guides for families who want clear answers, not generalities.
The parent's seat
Marcus is also a parent. Three children, all at an international school in Jeddah, each at a different stage of the journey his readers are on: one navigating the final stretch of IB and applying to university, one working through IGCSEs, one just beginning secondary school.
This is not a theoretical perspective. The questions in the books are the questions Marcus is working through at home — in real time, alongside the families he writes for.
Geographic context
Marcus is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he works with international school families in the Gulf — a community defined by global ambition, mobile careers, and the particular complexity of planning a university future from outside the country you are applying to.
The Student & Parent Guide Series is written for this audience, wherever they are. The Gulf is the starting point. The reach is wider.
Marcus is currently employed at an international school and is not accepting external counselling clients. Professional enquiries — speaking, school partnerships, media, or book-related — are welcome.