Mature student experiences and outcomes (prefably past students)

I've been both sides of the fence with regard to study. My observations are:

1. As a student (regardless of age or educational background) is that you have to be prepared to engage with your lecturers and fellow students.

2. As a student, you have to be prepared to put yourself out to get the most out of your education experience. Be creative about meeting up with other students. Getting to a lecture 30 minutes before it starts can create an opportunity to get to know other students. Do not be reserved about giving contact details.

3. If you are concerned with keeping your student life and home life separate, get a separate mobile number and or email address, facebook account, twitter, skype etc that you use just for your study activities, but don't forget to check it regularly.

4. My experience was that lecturers were not biased to the age of the student. They tended to respond more positively to students who engaged positively during lectures and attempted non compulsary assignments. The good lecturars expect constructive queries or observations when they seek input from students during a lecture. Silence frustrates them and diminishes the value of the lecture or seminar.

5. Study groups don't have to be in person, embrace electronic means to start a discussion. Even a simple email to the people you know on the course can generate sufficient response to make a difference.

6. Many students now spend time travelling, my last journey was up to 90 mins and that wasn't uncommon.

7. Start with a positive attitude. Assume most people have hurdles to overcome when studying. So don't assume that your set of circumstances disadvantages you. Make sure you let the relevant people know when your circumstances affect your studies and report it formally. If you wait until after you have got a poor mark to give mitigating evidence, it limits what can be done to help you.

8. Exams scripts tend not to have your name on, it is normally marked blind. As most of your course work is submitted electronically your lecturer is unlikely to recognise your handwriting. Higher education tends to only give 2 attempts to achieving a passing grade. This can be a shock for some current A level students who have had the opportunity to retake modules until they achieved the right grade.

9. Take the time to find out the rules for your course. I've lost count of the times some of my fellow students have been dissatisfied because they haven't got a high enough mark due to submission errors. Late submission can cost you dearly, but if you have a relevant reason for late submission, let the lecturer and course administrator know before the deadline.

10. Accept that some lecturers may not be the most helpful (to anyone). Expect exam surprises. There are some who will be clear about which topics will be examined and others will be cagey, but don't assume that they won't ask beyond the core.

11. Mature students are disadvantaged by not having recent experience of time exams. You need to make sure that you practice your exam technique by doing past exam questions under exam conditions. Seek feedback from your lecturers about which points need to be covered.

11. Know and understand the grade boundaries. Today's A level students are used to getting high marks in excess of 70% and are shocked when they get to uni and 50% -70% is the norm and the first passing mark you get stands.

We are both ex mature students, but that was with the OU. But we start this autumn full time as undergraduates.

Some of your observations are interesting to us. May I ask, what subject you studied and what distance you were from the Uni. I will be very local to my Uni, my wife will have an end to end journey of 30 minutes, 15 minutes of which is by train.

As we have two of the four kids still at home I will not be living in college and my wife will not be in halls, we will have a house.

I've been both sides of the fence with regard to study. My observations are:

1. As a student (regardless of age or educational background) is that you have to be prepared to engage with your lecturers and fellow students.

2. As a student, you have to be prepared to put yourself out to get the most out of your education experience. Be creative about meeting up with other students. Getting to a lecture 30 minutes before it starts can create an opportunity to get to know other students. Do not be reserved about giving contact details.

3. If you are concerned with keeping your student life and home life separate, get a separate mobile number and or email address, facebook account, twitter, skype etc that you use just for your study activities, but don't forget to check it regularly.

4. My experience was that lecturers were not biased to the age of the student. They tended to respond more positively to students who engaged positively during lectures and attempted non compulsary assignments. The good lecturars expect constructive queries or observations when they seek input from students during a lecture. Silence frustrates them and diminishes the value of the lecture or seminar.

5. Study groups don't have to be in person, embrace electronic means to start a discussion. Even a simple email to the people you know on the course can generate sufficient response to make a difference.

6. Many students now spend time travelling, my last journey was up to 90 mins and that wasn't uncommon.

7. Start with a positive attitude. Assume most people have hurdles to overcome when studying. So don't assume that your set of circumstances disadvantages you. Make sure you let the relevant people know when your circumstances affect your studies and report it formally. If you wait until after you have got a poor mark to give mitigating evidence, it limits what can be done to help you.

8. Exams scripts tend not to have your name on, it is normally marked blind. As most of your course work is submitted electronically your lecturer is unlikely to recognise your handwriting. Higher education tends to only give 2 attempts to achieving a passing grade. This can be a shock for some current A level students who have had the opportunity to retake modules until they achieved the right grade.

9. Take the time to find out the rules for your course. I've lost count of the times some of my fellow students have been dissatisfied because they haven't got a high enough mark due to submission errors. Late submission can cost you dearly, but if you have a relevant reason for late submission, let the lecturer and course administrator know before the deadline.

10. Accept that some lecturers may not be the most helpful (to anyone). Expect exam surprises. There are some who will be clear about which topics will be examined and others will be cagey, but don't assume that they won't ask beyond the core.

11. Mature students are disadvantaged by not having recent experience of time exams. You need to make sure that you practice your exam technique by doing past exam questions under exam conditions. Seek feedback from your lecturers about which points need to be covered.

12. Know and understand the grade boundaries. Today's A level students are used to getting high marks in excess of 70% and are shocked when they get to uni and 50% -70% is the norm and the first passing mark you get stands. Similarly if you come from an Access course and achieve Distinctions you may have unrealistic expectations. Rule of thumb anything in excess of 60% keeps you in the running for 2:1 or better, depending on the institution.


13. Most people at some stage feels that their previous study has not prepared them for their current studies. The people that are most confident are those with the discipline to read ahead and spend the summer holidays reading the recommended texts.

14. For future mature students, all I can suggest is prepare yourself to study the course you have signed up for. Don't assume that your pre degree courses (A level, Access BTEC) have prepared you. There is a reason that universities give you reading lists prior to starting your course. Contact time at university is limited and you are expected to do a lot of independent study.

I am 30 and handed my thesis and dissertation in on monday. I have a gobbet exam in two weeks then I am finished. I have tried hard the past 3 years but I think I will probably end up with a 2:2.
Basically, do many mature graduates get 2:1 grades or higher?
Do mature graduates get decent jobs?
How do they feel uni went?
Do they feel access courses were adequate enough?

Due to distance and being older than most of the students in my groups I am unable to meet up with others to form 'study groups'-a MAJOR disadvantage (as they always seem to get better grades).

I am both surprised and somewhat disappointed at the OP's experiences which differ significantly to mine.

I graduated in 2010 at the grand old age of 43 in a course that does not attract many mature students so I guess I stood out somewhat!

Okay, let me change tack a little and start at the very beginning of my degree rather than the end...

I had to have an interview to get on the degree as a mature student. That is of course fairly standard. The course leader said to me at that interview "I am sure that you are right for this degree course but I'm not sure the degree course is right for you." I was uncertain what he meant and asked him. He replied saying " you will be studying with mainly 18 year olds, we do not get many applications from mature students for this course."

Now, up that point I hadn't even considered age an issue at all but of course the seeds of doubt had been planted and uncertainty about my plans crept in.

I was offered a place and commenced my degree.

My experiences and observations are as follows:

One thing in particular did surprise me though. I found to my surprise that university educators, academics, lecturers tutors, right across the spectrum do not seem to recognise any intrinsic value in education whatsoever. I still find this hard to accept or understand. They seem only interested in processing students through the system for the sole purpose of putting the student into the world of work. Just to be clear, academics seem to see the sole purpose of a degree as equipping the student to go and get a job. The education itself seems to hold no other worth and I find that extraordinary and shocking.

I don't wholly accept that argument though it has some merit.

I have a friend who is Assistant Principal at an International School in Beijing. I have endeavoured to tackle the issue with him as an educator and as a friend. It was clear that he saw no intrinsic value in education either and he did not understand that I did. His reaction to the discussion was not driven by thoughts of KPI's I don't believe. He just couldn't understand that I enjoyed the whole experince for the sake of the education itself and that I was not driven to do the degree to gain a better job. His wife's reaction was the same. She is an Assistant Principal in an International School in Beijing too.

I just don't get it.

As for what motivates an 18 year old student to go to university. I did not make a point about that deliberately. I entirely understand their motivations; I spent 3 years with them so I understand fully. My observations are about educators specifically.

Socialising - I have worked hard to get into university and I won't let this opportunity pass me by. Of course I make friends and be social, but I stay away from too social people as I am purely at university with the aim to make money once graduating. I have also found my head deep in biology and chemistry books this year with no time to actually socialise.

Family - Sorry if I offend anyone here, but if you want to achieve your best at university then you will have to put your degree and the time you spend on it above everything else in your life. This year the mature students with mediocure grades are the ones with family. Those mature students with grown up kids tend to achieve better results because they are able to put their effort into background reading...ect. This isn't to say that achieving a first with a baby on your arm isn't possible, but you just make life more difficult for yourself.

Study groups - While study groups may seem a positive notion (all learning together...ect) the danger with them is that students tend to not want to go further with research in order to obtain the top grades; this means that their grades tend to be the same. I found myself in a study group earlier on in the year and I left to study on my own simply because I wanted to achieve higher grades on my own merit. It is also worth pointing out that university is about independent learning too.

Asking questions - As this year means a lot to me, I made myself a promise that if I didn't know a certain theory/answer... I would ask rather than second guess. By asking questions it shows the lecturer that maybe they need to teach something in a different way so you can understand it. Also, everything that is taught is something you need to know; thus understanding what it is is important.

Yes access course may have many 'gaps' which I was aware of since the start of this year. My chosen degree (Geology) requires strong knowledge of the sciences, by studying extra hard on biology and chemistry. However, as I have worked my socks off this year, my knowledge in chemistry is just as good as any a-level student as my teacher has been fab and covered nearly all content (barring halogens) from AS/A2.

While I can accept your view points, I disagree with certain aspects.

A train journey (however long it is), is not an sufficient place to study.

I still stand by my belief that young children and studying don't mix. This might be because when I was younger (13 - 16) my mother studied her degree as a mature student. I struggled at school during this time, but she still put her learning and degree first. I pretty much failed school, and it wasn't until this year I found out I had a learning disability.