What do you need to do?
Having chosen and enrolled on your course, the day soon arrives when your course materials are delivered to you and it’s time to start work. It may be some time since you last did any formal study, so where do you start?
How to Study at Home
Together with your course materials, you will also receive a downloadable copy of our study guide How to Study at Home. This is packed full of useful information on how to organise your time, improve your study skills, and prepare for exams. Make sure you set aside time to read through the guide and try out some of the activities it includes, as this will help you make a positive transition to studying your course.
Take time to read through the course introduction and familiarise yourself with the contents of the course. The introduction provides information on how to obtain a copy of the course specification (syllabus). You can access this online and also explore other areas of the exam board’s website. AQA, Edexcel and other assessment bodies provide information for private candidates, past exam papers, revision guides, sample answers, and much more online. You should familiarise yourself with these resources as you work through your course.
Our study guide will show you how make a plan that will help you to fit studying into your life. You need to make a realistic study plan as to where and when you will study, making sure that you have time to cover the course before you sit any exam that you might be working towards.
Making contact with your course tutor
Two or three days after you have received your course materials your tutor will contact you by telephone.
In the meantime, to help get you started have a look at How to Study at Home and Improving your Study Skills.
We hope you will enjoy studying with Oxford Open Learning.
Good luck with your exam!