FAQs
You are likely to have a lot of questions about what it is like to study at the University of Brighton, Our Welcome Week will ensure that you will feel settled in and have all the necessary information. Before you get here, these are some FAQs about studying at university from previous Brighton first-year students:
Your timetable will tell you how many hours you need to be in lectures, seminars and tutorials. This will vary depending on the course you take, with arts and humanities based subjects normally having less ‘contact’ hours than science subjects. However, full-time students are normally expected to spend around 35 hours a week studying. When you are not in classes you will be working independently - reading, preparing for classes and writing assignments. For more information on independent learning, see the Academic Study Kit.
The ability to take useful notes in lectures is an important part of studying at university. There is always a balance between trying to take down as much content as possible so your notes will be useful in future and trying to listen and engage with what the lecturer is saying. For more advice on note taking see the Academic Study Kit.
The minimum requirement to bring with you is a pen and paper! However, some courses allow you to access your lecture notes (or at least an outline of what will be covered) before the class online on student central, allowing you to bring a printed copy of the slides to make notes on. For those who prefer to type rather than hand-write, you can bring a laptop or netbook to take notes but these can prove an extra distraction. Some students bring small recording devices to capture the lecture and these can be useful for revision purposes. However, you must ask the person giving the lecture whether they are happy for it to be recorded.
When you start your course, you are allocated a personal tutor who you meet with 1-2-1 to talk about your academic progress. They may advise you visit the Academic Study Kit website, attend study skills workshops or take part in Peer-Assisted Study Sessions (PASS). There are also a number of specific professional services at Brighton including the Disability & Dyslexia service and English language support for international students.
You may only see your lecturers teaching in your classes but this is only a small part of what they do. Lecturers are experts in their subject and are normally required to spend time doing research, writing books and journal articles (long essays written for an audience of interested researchers) as well as talking at conferences to other lecturers and students in their subject area. Lecturers also play a vital role in organising their School by working on administrative committees or managing research institutions. They may also have more formal roles such as ‘Admissions Tutor’ or ‘Head of School’ which involve a large commitment. On top of this there are office hours, marking, supervising students and offering support in their role as a personal tutor.
The first time you speak to them in person, use their official title e.g. Dr Smith. You will soon find out if they do not mind being addressed in other ways such as by their first name. Similarly, when emailing lecturers, use their official title and if they respond with their first name, you can normally use this in future.
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