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EDITS Cherwell College Oxford
It was more by luck than judgement that in
reality I found myself in the right place at the
right time, tagging along with the crowd. I’m
fairly certain that had I been left to my own
devices, my nightmare would have become
reality. School had prepared me wonderfully
well in terms of academic requirements but I
was ill-equipped for the autonomy university
would require of me. And that was some
35 years ago! Nowadays, there are far
more demands on undergraduate students
to manage their own learning. Timetables
are generally distributed electronically.
Seminars often have to be pre-booked
online. Written assignments are mostly
submitted electronically making it impossible
to sneak a late essay onto a pile in the tutor’s
pigeonhole. Today’s students simply have to
be on the ball to succeed.
This is where it can be helpful to have a
halfway house between school and university.
A-level students need academic support
and close attention to exam specifications
but they also need to learn independence,
balancing study with their social life and
taking responsibility for their own learning. At
Cherwell College, students enjoy a relatively
Making the
transition from
school to university
I have a recurring nightmare about
missing a whole series of lectures
at university, wandering aimlessly
around the university campus, at a
loss as to what I should be doing
and where I should be.
liberal environment, working in partnership
with tutors and progressing at their own
pace. They tell us they enjoy being treated
with respect and having some autonomy. At
the same time, there is a safety net of weekly
tests, monthly exams, supervised study and
subject clinics to ensure that where a student
might be drifting off track, this is quickly
addressed.
From September, our students will feel even
more like undergraduate students in their
brand new en-suite single study apartments,
centrally located near Oxford’s railway station.
Whilst they learn to manage their day-to-day
living in relative independence, the college
continues to provide meals, laundry facilities
and sensitive supervision. We anticipate
this arrangement being very popular. A-level
students and even some who are studying
for GCSE seek independence and flexibility
with the security of knowing there is back-
up when required. At Cherwell College we
like to think of ourselves as a bridge between
school and university where students gain
confidence and learn vital self-management
skills. Had I experienced such an approach,
perhaps I’d now be sleeping more soundly!