I wrote a blog post very similar to this almost 3 years ago in which I explained the differences between high school and Sixth Form and so, since I've just finished my first year at university, I thought I would write about the differences between Sixth Form and uni. I wrote a very brief list on my phone but once I started writing, it kind of turned into a "What to Expect From University" type post but it all kind of links together. Bear in mind, these are my experiences and therefore might not directly apply to you but I've tried to keep it as simple and general as possible.
1. The first difference is probably the fact that Sixth Form is very much "school". You have to go in every day, or at least I did, and sit in a classroom and be taught by a teacher. That's not really the case in university. The majority of my time on campus is actually in lectures, meaning that me and 300 other students sit in a big room with a lecturer at the front who talks for about an hour and we listen and take notes. For me, I only had 5-8 hours of lectures a week which means that the rest of your time is "free". That doesn't really mean "free" as you are expected to do background reading and compile notes on topics and just general revision all throughout the year, rather than just in preparation for exams like you might do at Sixth Form. This is quite difficult to do especially since I was so used to the structure of being in school and having a lot of spare time meant that I was unmotivated and got hardly any work done.
Luckily, my first year is kind of just a foundation year for my course and so I will be taking things more seriously next year and properly focusing on being a university student. I feel like this year was just a transition year between Sixth Form and uni because there are so many vital differences that people don't really explain.
2. The second difference that might not apply to everyone reading but I thought that I would include anyway because people see it as part of the "university experience", I know I did, and that is student accommodation. Obviously if you're a Sixth Form student then you live at home with your parents because you are legally a minor but when you turn 18, you can move out and since many people go straight to university, student accommodation is usually their first real step away from home. This means that you usually live in a flat or a house with maybe 4/5 people you have never met before, sharing general living facilities and sometimes even a bathroom. Fortunately for me, I had my own room and bathroom so I did have some privacy but it was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be living away from home. I've spoken about this in a previous blog post, Feeling Alone: My First Year At University, so I won't go on about that because you can just read it. However, it was hard for me to be away from my friends and family, much harder than I ever expected when I decided to live in student accommodation.
I would definitely look into all the options when you decide to go to uni, perhaps staying at home for the first year might be best if you are someone like me who feels quite anxious especially in new situations surrounded by new people. Like I said, the first year is the "transition year" and it's about making you feel the most comfortable while you start this new chapter in your life.
3. The third difference that I thought would be important to include was the "student lifestyle" and the fact that it is incredibly different at university than it is at Sixth Form. This might be because obviously you have more free time and it's kind of expected of you to engage in this type of behaviour but there is a lot of drinking as a student. I guess this happens a lot during the first year of university because it is the first year that people have been legally allowed to drink (the legal drinking age in the UK is 18), plus you are surrounded by bars and clubs that offer student discounts on cheap alcohol, so many people go overboard and drink themselves into oblivion, not to mention blowing their student maintenance loan in a matter of weeks. I have no objection to alcohol or anything like that, whatever people want to do is up to them but again when you are an anxious person like me, who happens not to drink, it can be quite overwhelming to suddenly be thrust into that "student lifestyle".
Personally, I chose not to really get involved in that and that's okay as well. Like I said, it is about making sure that you are comfortable and more importantly being SAFE. When you're in Sixth Form, you are kind of limited by how much you can drink because you live at home and are confined by the structure of school every weekday (not to mention you are underage!), but at university, there are no limits and so it's important to be careful.
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