First of all…Well Done, You! 🥳
You are incredibly brave for chosing this path of pursuing your dream career, whether you come from abroad or you travel nationally to your dream university.
Talking solely about my experience, I was somewhere in between – coming from abroad, but also living in the UK for the past 3 years, a place thatI felt like home. I felt that I belonged, yet I was also living with the fear of missing out.
Of course, there were some aspects of uni life I wasn’t aware of, and I will happily share them with you, just in case you are as lost as I was (and that’s totally fine) 😌
- Study hours per week
To say I was in shock when I heard (then saw my own timetable!) how many study hours there are per week, would be an understatement. And, my fellow Eastern European friends… if you’re here, grab a tissue, ’cause the next number might set your tears off.
12-16 h/week*. Yes, that number is correct.
*The above is a national estimate according to The UniGuide
Maybe I need to explain why I’m making such a big deal out of this.
Well – I am coming from a background where uni is equal to a typical 9 to 5. Monday to Friday. No breaks. Real hustle. Real exhaustion,
So this schedule looks like heaven, but also somehow wrong? , if that makes sense? 😅
It really took me a while to settle into the idea that I have some freedom and don’t need to rot my brain out. - Self-learning & Self-management
Remember my confusion and excitement about the number of study hours per week? Forget that. Because this one? It took me a whole academic year to figure it out. And you need to prepare for it. I truly mean it.
Due to the reduced amount of studying hours (in my point of view, and maybe yours too) you find yourself in a moment of despair, where you feel you haven’t learned anything, at the same time you don’t know where to start filling in those missing pieces of the puzzle, yet you feel like you’re outsmarting the system and it feels wrong.
The British education system is designed to develop critical thinking, multi-angle perspectives and autonomy, all of which are only achievable through independent learning. Of course, you won’t be able to achieve those knowledge heights with just 12-16h/week, hence the recommended average of 20-25 hours of independent or group study per week. - Studying structure
When it comes to how teaching is delivered, I wouldn’t say the difference is huge. You have 1 lecture and 1 seminar per module, per week. Both will last 50 minutes and you are good to go.
Talking term wise (which usually lasts 11/12 weeks) students are typically allocated 4 to 5 modules (or known as subjects, e.g.: Advertising and Consumer Culture).
Doing the math you’ll have only 4 lectures and 4 seminars/week.
Beautiful, isn’t it? - Assignments aka Exams
Now that we know where we are, what we’re studying and how teaching works – it’s time to talk EXAMS! Or, as British call them, Assignments.
Basically, this is a piece of paper (somewhere between 1500 and 3000 words) designed to cause mild brain-cell damage in order to prove a point on a given subject. Now, this is my brutal opinion, when in reality assignments have taught me loads of brilliant skills, two of which I’ll talk about in more detail under point 5 and 6.
Assignments tend to differ from course to course within the same field, not to mention across different domains.
– Business Management courses will focus on business reports of 2000-3000 words
– Creative Industries (media, communication, production) usually combine 1000-2000 words essays with creative outputs: : video products, posters, billboards, storyboards, portfolios.
– Accounting courses will have a mixture of essays, accounting/auditing tasks and actual exams.
– Medicine students have them all: from research papers to journal publications to exams and anatomy practical skill tests.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg and each and every course is individual. Which is why I highly recommend familiarising yourself early with assignments and assessment criteria, because it would be a shame to fail your year simply because you didn’t expect to write an an essay for your Aviation Management course. (this is an example lol) - Research
One of the few things I was expected to know how to do – was research. In our culture, you probably only come across research in your final year, when you start writing your dissertation. But here, from day one, everyone talks about it as if it’s a piece of cake, and feeling overwhelmed is absolutely normal – wanting to turn back where you came from or to cry your eyes out because you simply DO NOT UNDERSTAND what these people want from you.
But honestly it’s one of the most beautiful things I ever learned. And I promise, you will feel this way too.
The general rule of research is simple: if you have 3 great sources behind your argument, your thoughts become an opinion worth reading. So now imagine the list of books, journals, articles, databases you need to access for a single 2000 word assignment.
A LOT. TIRESOME.
But what do you get in return? a well shaped mind that no longer relies on the first article you come across on Facebook. Your mind starts wanting more. Craving more. You begin digging deeper into the truth, until fake news become yesterday’s problems. - Referencing
Another skill you’ll be grateful to have one day, but went through hell to master it, is referencing. So you kinda try to forget those sleepless nights it took you to put together your reference list.
Every single piece of evidence you find to support your argument HAS to appear in your work. It needs to be included in the main body, and then again in a separate list at the end — usually in Harvard style.
For those that are not with me yet: all those books/articles you’ve read for your assignment? They want credit! They want to be in the spotlight! and if you don’t do that the way they want/like – well that’s on you mate. The criteria have been listed and stressed about enough.
Wanna learn how to reference? Cite Them Right is your buddy. - Available tools and how to use them wisely
Oh, if only I had known this from the beginning, not towards the end of Year 1!
So hear me out – YOUR UNIVERSITY IS THAT COOL RICH KID THAT SHARES EVERYTHING WITH YOU. And I am not even joking.
a) Need access to Microsoft 365? Just log in using your uni email.
b) Need to learn how to edit a photo/video? You have access to the whole Adobe Creative Cloud. Same email address.
c) You’re probably stressing out about where to buy your books from? Your uni got you covered – find their library website and dive in.
d) Want to access the coolest databases related to your field? Bloomberg, WARC, Financial Times, WRDS, Cambridge/Oxford Academics, JSTOR, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, Westlaw – YOU NAME IT. YOU HAVE IT.
Look. Access. Explore. Use. Learn. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. - Teamwork – or how to love/hate someone
This one here is directly linked to the self-learning bit. ‘Cause, who are you to carry that weight of independent learning, alone? Delegate. Influence. Dominate.
Joking.
But not really 🙂 Team-working is yet another skill to learn, actually imposed by your teachers, ’cause you will find yourself minimum 4 times/week working in a team.
We do learn that sharing is beneficial. We learn that debates are healthy, and we also learn who the hell is that person next to us. Team work will bring you friends or…just that person that pisses you off every time they speak.
And I don’t even want to say this is a different way, because that’s the truth. Those talks about being in a team as all flower power? not truthful. But I guess they are there not to discourage you to try. And this one is another truth. How will you know if you are a team player, or a lone worker, if you don’t come near a team? You totally should seek people’s attention and start working with them. Even if it hurts your anxiety. - Uni is about opportunities, not your degree
When I first joined my uni, nearly every second person was asking me: So what’s it gonna be after you graduate? Will your degree secure you a job? or How is it to study in the country with the best education?
Two main and biggest misconceptions. Which I learned only now, two years later.
Your time at the university is precious. Not to be wasted on skipping classes, sipping wine and letting your future slip away. No one cares about your degree, if that’s the only thing you took from uni.
University opens some doors that normally would’ve been closed, even if you are the smartest kid. Career fairs. Exchange years. Meetings with field leaders. Volunteering. Internships. Micro-placements. Networking. Events.
All these shape the tomorrow you. You that will stand out from the crowd. You with a brighter future, and a good job. - Having fun
Last but not least. Being a student is hard, especially hard if you are in your 20s. I have this personal theory that uni should start at 25 y.o minimum, that’s when I believe you’re ripe enough to understand the course you want to take in life. But nonetheless. With all the weight to make it right, you are a young adult. So uni should be fun too. Too much pressure hasn’t helped anyone, so in between those boxes you’re planning to tick, make sure you find a gap to meet with your favourite team-mates for any kind of fun that works for you all.
Remember that YOU ONLY LIVE THIS ONCE. And even if, after years, you’ll decide you want a second degree, it won’t be the same. It’s like heating up yesterday’s dinner. Edible but not tasty.
And as usual,
with utter sincerity
Mihaela
UK Unfolded 
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