As your students prepare to leave sixth form or college and move on to their next destination you may want to run some activities to support their transition. Colleges and Universities may offer activities to support students with transition but you can use the resources below to develop your own activity and signpost students to information which may be relevant to them.
Living Arrangements
Students may be considering whether to live independently or remain at home and commute to their chosen place of study. Each option will appeal to different students but some points that students may like to consider are listed below:
- Is there chosen place of study within a reasonable distance to commute?
- How will they commute to the institution?
- Is their preference to move out or remain at home?
- Have they looked at accommodation options at their chosen place of study?
- Is accommodation guaranteed for students?
- What is the cost of the accommodation?
When choosing to live independently it may be useful for students to consider:
- Would they like to live in catered or self-catered accommodation?
- Would they like to share a bathroom?
- Would they like to live in accommodation that is split into flats, corridors or individual studio flats?
- How close to their teaching location would they like to be?
- What is their budget?
Encourage your students to view accommodation and ask questions about the support that may be available to them. If students are not able to visit an institution and its accommodation in person they may find that there are virtual tours, videos and pictures online.
Supporting Independent Study
The academic transition from further education to higher education will be different for every student and may also depend on the type of course and subject studied. Studying for a higher education qualification often requires more independent study and with this comes more responsibility for students to manage their own workload. While students enjoy the freedom that this change in learning can bring they make take some time to adjust.
Introducing independent study and critical thinking to students early can have a beneficial impact on their current studies while preparing them for the transition to higher education. The resources below may help your students to become independent learners.
Pearson English; Seven Ways to Develop Independent Learners.
Learn Higher; Independent Learning.
