Skills for university life: Time management

This unit looks at the diairies of two undergraduates to see how they manage their time, money, health and diet, studies and social life. The ability to adjust to university life, being able to balance home, social, study and coping with living away from home with all that this entails are factors frequently given as affecting university success.

The motivation to develop these life skills will come more easily when pupils have a real grasp of what the university experience will involve. This session provides a starting point for helping pupils to close the gap between what they are expecting of university and what they actually get. Pupils need to know how they can bridge these gaps by using university student support systems.

Aside from those students who experience great difficulties adjusting to the academic side of university, the types of students most at risk of dropping out include those with:

• Low self esteem and lack of confidence
• Lack of knowledge of student support systems (eg finance, counselling, personal tutor system)
• History of poor attendance
• Poor financial management skills
• Poor time management skills
• Limited strategies for dealing with stress

It is a tall order to address all of these areas in sixth form PSHE sessions and this session gives a starting point rather than exploring any one area in great detail. It provides a broad base from which you could identify specific needs for further work. Visits from undergraduate ambassadors from local universities are hugely valuable and popular with pupils at this stage.

Download Unit 7.

Skills for university life: Critical analysis and essay writing

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