1. Guide to Your Studies
To welcome you to your studies, we recommend that you listen to this podcast, which introduces you to the Centre and offers advice on how to study at a distance.
Planning your study timetable
We divide the year into five study sessions in which we offer the courses that make up the programme you are studying. The table below indicates when each of the study sessions begins and ends.| Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Session 4 | Session 5 | Exams | |
| Session Start | 14 Nov 2011 |
30 Jan 2012 |
2 Apr 2012 |
4 Jun 2012 |
30 Jul 2012 |
Oct 2012 |
| Session End | 22 Jan 2012 |
25 Mar 2012 |
27 May 2012 |
29 Jul 2012 |
23 Sep 2012 |
Each course is typically available in at least two sessions each year. This will give you flexibility when you choose what to study and when. You can study one course per session and take up to five courses a year.
You will select and enrol on courses throughout the academic year, using our online enrolment form. The form will automatically allow you to enrol in the next available session and all other available sessions for the year. You will be sent reminders by email when enrolment for a session opens and before each enrolment deadline.
Course materials
Before the start of each course, we will send you everything you need to study by DHL courier. You must provide us with a delivery address. It must be a building address where you or someone else is available to sign for your package, not a PO Box number, for us to successfully send this to you. Also, if you move to a different address during your studies, please ensure that you let us know.
The components that you will receive vary from course to course, but a typical set of materials would include the Study Guide, which is a specially written text organised into eight units; Course Readers, which consist of key articles and chapters; textbooks; DVDs or computer software. As part of your first set of materials, you will also receive a textbook – Talbot (2011) Studying at a Distance – a guide for students, Third Edition, McGraw-Hill, providing you with helpful advice on how to plan and undertake your studies. If you think any element of the course materials is missing from your package, contact your administrator straight away.
Assessment
For each course, you are required to complete two Assignments, which will be marked by your tutor. Assignments are each worth 15% of your total mark. You will be expected to submit your first assignment by the Tuesday of Week 5, and the second assignment at the end of the course, on the Tuesday after Week 8. Assignments are submitted and feedback given online. You will also sit a three-hour examination on a specified date in October, worth 70% of your total mark. You can arrange to take the exams in your own country. A specimen examination paper is included in the introduction section of each course to assist you in your revision.
We have recorded a podcast to provide advice on how to prepare and write assignments and examinations, which we recommend you listen to.
Using the Online Study Centre
The Online Study Centre is a web-accessed learning environment. Via the OSC you can communicate with your assigned academic tutor, administrators and other students on your course using discussion forums. The OSC also gives you instant access to your course Study Guide units and assignments as well as a selection of electronic journals available on the University of London Online Library. You are required to submit you assignments and access your grades and tutor feedback on the Online Study Centre.
We have prepared an online OSC User Guide, which you can access here. If you have any queries about using the OSC or experience technical difficulties, contact your administrator.
Help and advice
Remember that help and advice is always available to you. Don’t suffer in silence. If you are experiencing any problems or difficulties with your studies or using the OSC, let your administrator know.
The next chapter of this online handbook looks at the avenues of communication open to you and the support available to help you succeed in your studies.
