Managing your workload through independent study

Teaching at York is delivered by academic experts who will introduce you to academic subject areas, key concepts and outline your learning objectives. You are responsible for researching, studying and managing your own learning.

You will need to plan your time carefully and be aware of timescales and deadlines for assessments, projects and exams.

Your lecturers and your supervisors are there to assist you and we have the support in place through the Skills Hub to help you gain any additional skills you might need with your maths, academic writing and referencing, IT or languages. For further information, please see the Study skills section of the Handbook.

Planning your independent study

Your own private thought and study time is where you can gain deeper insights into the subject you are studying. Most lecturers would agree that the main steps in learning occur during further reading and through private study.

Your responsibilities for learning go much further than the simple attendance requirements. In planning your work you should bear in mind that each 10-credit module involves 100 hours of work, and each 20-credit module involves 200 hours of work, and so on. This is made up of contact time in lectures but also includes a large amount of private study.

We would recommend that your study plan includes a number of hours to be spent preparing tutorial work, going through lecture notes, reading a text book or journal papers to enhance understanding, etc. It is important for such a weekly plan to be realistic, and that you do not leave all your work until the last minute. Remember that a ‘normal working week’ in theory is not restricted to the hours 09.00 till 17.00 on five days: you may need to commit some evenings and weekends to study.

Whatever you decide is best for you try to adhere to your programme both during term time and vacations. If you are struggling with your studies you should discuss this with your personal supervisor.

Occasionally, it may be necessary for students to complete reassessments or deferred assessments during vacation periods. You should check the Assessment Schedules in advance so you are aware of when the scheduled reassessment dates are. You should take these dates into consideration when booking holidays to avoid clashing with reassessment dates. Holidays are not valid grounds for missing a reassessment.

For support with your studies visit the Study Skills website.