Get A First Class Degree

I have never been good at revising. There is no substitute for knowing your subject, and to know your subject you must attend all lectures and complete all tasks and exercises!

It is much easier to ‘revise’ the day you are taught something, even if your exams are a long way off. Once you properly understand […]

This sounds completely mercenary and to a point it is, but when attending University you may have to compete for available resources.

There are rarely enough books for every student in the library
Lecturers have a limited amount of time available to spend with students
Specialist equipment may be in limited supply

With this in mind students need to […]

When studying for a degree no one is going to hold your hand.
Unlike school, no one is going to make you get up in the morning, no one is going to tell you to attend lectures, it is down to you as a student to motivate and discipline and organise yourself.
Failure to do this is […]

To learn how to study as a distance learner, first read all introductory informaiton on your course, this shoudl provide you with most of the informaiton you need.
Spend as much time as is necessary making sure you understand all the resources available to you, it is vitally important that you do this.
The main disadvantage of […]

One question often asked by students is how do you know what to study for an exam?
If you are asking this question the night before your exam you are probably too late! Plan for your exam revision well in advance of the actual date!!
The best source of information on what is likely to come up […]

A quick post on how to approach your assignments with a view to getting a first class result.

Start work as soon as the assignment is set, do not wait for the hand in date to approach, get ahead so you have more time to refine and get feedback on your work
Read and re-read the assignment […]

It is a known fact that different people study best in different ways, or rather absorb information in different ways.
Since leaving University I have attended a number of short (a few days) and very expensive training courses. Observing and speaking to the trainers on these courses made me reflect on the way I approached my […]

If you want a first class degree you need to go above and beyond what you are being taught / told to read. The problem with many University courses is that they are often a little out of date, certainly many books in the library will be.
Try reading specialist publications relevant to your degree, usually […]

When people ask how much time does it take to get a first class degree I always answer
“Treat your degree like a job”
meaning start University work at 09:00 and work to 17:30 with an hours break time each day.
Treat this as the baseline for your entire degree course. Never do less than this!
Always try and […]

The only problem I had with other students at university was dealing with freeloaders.
Very early on in my degree I allowed another student to read some of my work. It quickly became apparent they were planning to plagiarise it. I warned them not to and nothing came of it, but it was a valuable lesson:

Only […]