Hours studying at uni

OceanDreaming

I’m starting uni in September to study History. It’s a 35 hour week and about 10 of those hours are contact I think. That leaves a lot of time for reading and assignments which is fine for me, I can do independent study. However, during A levels I studied for about the same amount of hours a week and became extremely burnt out and stressed and my mental health plummeted. I want to prioritise my mental health at uni and make sure I’m resting lots and taking a lot of breaks and having fun (during A levels I basically never went out, not even on weekends), but I’m worried that by not sticking to the 35 hours a week I will fail or do badly or not be working enough. My mum thinks working 35 hours a week is easy even though she knows how much I struggled at A Levels - it’s like all she can see is my results and not my actual mental state and wellbeing, which to me is much more important than anything else. I’d love some other opinions or thoughts.

toffuna101

how did you study the same amount for a levels? i thought you were only supposed to study like 15 hours per week (or at least thats what my school says).

OceanDreaming

@toffuna101 We got told we were supposed to study for about 6 hours every weekday (including lessons) and then I studied about 5-6 hours over the weekend. Maybe at your school the 15 hours a week was just for independent study and didn’t include lessons? I did get told to reduce the number of hours I studied at school when my mental health got worse, so only doing about 3 hours of work every weekday.

Former Member

Hi @OceanDreaming

Firstly, congratulations on getting into uni, it is a real accomplishment, especially for the amount of work you put into your A Levels.

I think you show good insight, as you can recognise how your studying affects your mental health and how it is something you wish to prioritise during your time at uni. Your concerns regarding balancing your studies and your mental health, is a common struggle with students, I would recommend speaking to your personal tutor and/or student support as soon as possible. Many students do not reach out for support until they are struggling.The support systems at your university will be able to provide you with advice, guidance and support, such as resources, workshops, and checking in on you.

Have you shared with your mum, that you feel she only sees your results and not your actual mental state and wellbeing? And that this is more important to you than anything else?

OceanDreaming

@fiona333 Thank you! I am autistic so am already looking at getting in contact with student support and the disability team to see what accommodations or support can be put in place for me. I will try to talk to my mum a bit later about how I’m feeling because while I tried to have the conversation earlier it didn’t go very well and I got a bit upset - hopefully when I’m calmer it will go better.

toffuna101

@OceanDreaming yeah i think it only includes independent study.

Millie2787

Hey

So my university if they required us to read anything or do a task before the next lecture they actually timetabled it in as independent study, so it was physically on our timetable. For example during our skills block we get timetabled independent study to do the pre reading required for the skills session that week. It may be your university does something like that!

Otherwise I set myself 2/3 hours a week to study anything extra otherwise I found myself getting to worked up or burnt out and would increase it slightly if we had an exam coming up.

AnonymousToe

I can relate to this. I burnt myself out so much doing A levels, I’m also going to uni in September and I have no idea how I’m gonna be able to put enough work in. I think there will be people you can talk to though for advice about it, like the support people. Apparently support at university is a lot better than at school.

OceanDreaming

@AnonymousToe I’m glad I’m not alone with this. I think also the first year doesn’t count towards the final degree so it isn’t like A levels where everything counts towards one big exam. I’m hoping that by sticking up for myself and not pushing myself too hard I’ll be able to not get burnt out, and I’m trying to be better at asking for help when I need it. I keep trying to remind myself that work isn’t anything and I am enough no matter what. We deserve to not have to ruin our mental state just to get good grades! I think also I won’t know for certain what uni is like until I get there so to some extent I’ve just got to trust that it will all work out

ebyrne556

Congratulations into getting uni I knew from my experience the majority of the hours were spent at home doing independent study and stuff but definitely get in touch with your disability team as they can offer you hopefully a bit more flexibility and accommodations that can support you but let us know how you get on and we are here if you wanna chat things through a bit more with us. Thinking of you.

OceanDreaming

@ebyrne556 Thank you!!!