It’s hard to know what UA92 is like until you get there, and all universities and colleges are different.  In some ways it’s easier to describe what UA92 isn’t! Well, everyone says that it is not like school or college, or work, or home. So, what IS UA92 really like? We aim to give you a realistic view, based on things students told us they wish they had known.

Studying at UA92 is a new experience for everybody. Whilst all students look forward to the prospect of becoming more independent; the reality of making new friends and getting used to a new environment and way of studying, can be challenging and takes time to get used to.

You are expected to be an independent learner and you will be responsible for planning when you are going to work, managing your own workload and conflicting deadlines.

Typical challenges students who took part in our survey told us about are:

• Time management which is one of the biggest problems, especially during the first year when everything is still new.
• Coping with large amounts of learning material, with lots of variation, that needs dealing with quickly and efficiently.
• The new social environment – new tutors, other students, the people you live with, etc…
• Life skills – laundry, cooking simple meals, budgeting, keeping up with UA92 info (social media channels and your UA92 email once set up – don’t ignore it as it’s the only way the UA92 will get in touch when you start), sorting out a student bank account, getting a doctor close to UA92, managing technology (back everything up!).
• Finding your way around campus – campus maps exist, but sometimes it’s a good idea to use spare time allowing yourself to familiarise yourself with the buildings you need to visit.

One of the best (and in some ways scariest!) things at UA92 is that nobody checks up on you or tells you what to do. However UA92 has a strong attendance policy, and if a student or apprentice’s levels of attendance and engagement are unsatisfactory, the student or apprentice will be informed via email and/or Microsoft Teams in the first instance. In the case of unsatisfactory attendance during week one, this email will be a notification of withdrawal. Attendance at sessions will be recorded on a daily basis by lecturers via the UA92 timetabling system and attendance reports securely recorded on Teams.

You are given coursework, obviously,  and while lectures and tutorials have sign-in sheets, nobody calls home if you don’t turn up.  Your calendar is your friend, and if you use an online one then you can get reminders on your phone/computer.

• Organise your workspace – use a fixed workplace to study. Find a place where you are distracted as little as possible. Make sure that there is only stuff on the desk or table that you need for studying – no distractions!
• Manage your time – try to figure out on what activities use your time ineffectively and minimise these. Plan your day so that e.g. chatting on social media and web browsing does not take up more than 1 hour, get up and start studying earlier in the morning if you are planning to go out in the evening, etc.
• Cope with bad days – there are days when nothing works, e.g. you cannot find the solution to a problem in the assignment, you cannot focus on the task, etc….STOP! Go out and get some fresh air, go to the gym or the cinema or something else you enjoy. Sometimes you simply need a distraction.
• Routine – devote regular time periods to your work. It stops things getting too last minute and panicky.
• Look after yourself – eat and drink healthily and regularly, shower regularly, wash your clothes, get some exercise and make sure you have enough sleep.
• Get going – sometimes it’s difficult to get started with your work when you know it’s not due in for a while. “Free writing” can help – it doesn’t matter if what you’re writing is rubbish, just make yourself write for 10 minutes and you might find it easier to get on with it. There are other tricks you can employ like filling a Word document with headings, subheadings and bullet points and turning those into sentences and paragraphs

1. If you have moved out of home, can you cook simple meals, do your laundry and manage your finances? – We would recommend you practice shopping for and cooking simple meals prior to coming to UA92, make sure you have a plan for managing your laundry and housework. If you are able to, plan your budget and develop a plan for managing your money before coming to UA92.
2. Do you know how to use the calendar function on your phone or computer and can you synchronise it with UA92s’ system?
3. For any further support, reach out to the Student Support Service for further support and guidance.