UCAS - Coping with studying

Coping with studying

As a mature student, one of the main things you may be worrying about is how you will cope with the academic work when you go to university or college.

The fact is that the university or college that takes you on will have confidence that you can cope with the work. This may be because of the life you have led to date, which includes achievements that equate with higher study, or it could be due to your Access course.

Basic study skills

You need to understand not only how to learn, but also how to:

organise your time
take notes
read effectively
research, analyse and draw conclusions
write essays and reports.

An Access course will help you to brush up on all these skills, but don't underestimate skills of which you may be unaware. For example, if you have brought up a family successfully, there is a good chance that you know how to organise your time and have had to learn new skills quickly.

More information about Access courses can be found on the Access to HE website.

Family and friends

It is important to prepare your family and friends for your change of lifestlye, as those around you will have to come to terms with many differences. This is bound to change relationships to some extent. Your views might change significantly because you will be exposed to other ways of thinking and this can strain some relationships if you are taken unawares by it.

Depending upon your personal family circumstances, you will need to discuss your plans in some depth with all those who are likely to be affected and come to a working agreement about how best to handle any area of difficulty.

Preparation

Sort out in advance areas such as finance, childcare and travel, and set priorities for the way in which you are going to run your life as a student.

It might be a good idea to draw up a schedule of how you will manage your time in a typical week as a student. To do this, you will need to find out the likely timetable for the course you are interested in and work out roughly how much time you will want to spend on campus. Take into account, for example, time to be spent in the library and at social events.

You will meet many new people and make lots of new friends as a student. This will enrich your life and give you opportunities to contribute to the student community. You may not always find your course easy, and life as a mature student will have its challenges, but you will have the benefit of studying with others who have similar interests and are encountering the same problems. They will be there to provide mutual support when the going gets tough, and they will value the support you can provide too.