Can I catch-up on University work despite being 9 weeks into the course

The intensity of the degree program will depend on the university and which course you're doing.

Your course should be treated like a full time job where you do at least 40 hours (I usually spend 60) of seminars, lectures, and combined studies.

The unit outline is your guidebook for the entire module. The essential and non-essential reading is found in the outline.

As it's your first year, you need to selectively read about the material in your lecture notes, looking at least into the essential texts for the module and ideally the recommended reading for the high marks (especially the journal articles). Make necessary notes that are related to the material in the lecture notes to reinforce and supplement your understanding.

You will be set assignments, and they are either usually announced during lectures or laid out in your unit outline. You should work on your assignments once the lecturer has covered the necessary topics for you to do them. For a typical assignment under 2000 words, you should spend at least 2 weeks to work on it (most of your first week is just researching material).

The way you write your essays/reports and the way you do your presentations should be done in an academic style, which is very different to how you do things at school or college. I recommend reading How to Write Great Essays by Peter Levin to get a full grasp of what you need to do.

For exams, it's usually very intense. Most of the material examined will be laid out in your lecture notes. To score high marks, you will need to do the recommended reading, like you do with your assignments. You should also be very, very clear on material you're learning, and there's usually a lot of material you need to learn.

A lot of uni is about self study, discipline, and reading (endless reading). The idea of a degree is to prepare you for a role in research, so if your assignemtns and exam answers don't look like research material, then don't expect the grades you're capable of. Having said that, there is also a lot of independence and freedom to do what you want to do.

Depending on the course you're doing, it's usually more about breadth than depth. Unless you're studying something incredibly technical and difficult, you usually don't get that much depth.

Thank you so much. Do you reckon I could catch up on my work over the XMAS period of december 1- January. Also I an studying international Relations and politics

I haven't studied International Relations or Politics, but I hear there's quite a bit of reading involved.

I suppose you can catch up over the Xmas period, but we're talking working night and day non-stop for roughly 6 weeks, with no breaks over the weekend. This is to catch up with the 12 weeks of work you were supposed to do (12 weeks at 40 hours a week is 480 hours, or 80 hours in 6 weeks). If I was you, I'd start as soon as I can.