Advice needed on the definition of a Full Time Student

LarryPlane

Hi all,

New to the site, but haven't been able to find a non-contradictory answer on google for my question.

At the moment I am on a Foundation Degree course. This started a few weeks ago. It's a brand new course and so obviously some things are a little up in the air, however, on our introduction day we received a booklet outlining the course.

Each module has 45 hours of tutor contact time spread over 9 weeks (we take one week off in each 10 week term).

The hours were defined up as 3 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon for each module (full time students do two modules per term).

Obviously 5 hours per day per module times 9 weeks per term = 45 hours.

So far no problems.

However, on our second day we were told that tutorial times would slice into the 2 hours in the afternoon, which would mean we now only have one hour in the afternoon.

That's not terribly clear is it. Let me lay that out.

Module 1 = 3 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon. With an additional tutorial hour in the afternoon. There would be only 2 of these additional tutor hours per term per module per student.

So to me this now works out at 4 hours per day per which times by 9 weeks = 36 hours per term which for full time students is a loss of 9 hours per term, or 27 hours over the year.

The question is, am I now doing enough hours (4 per day per module, in my case, 8 per week) to be called a full time student?

Thanks for reading.

Oldernotwiser

LarryPlane wrote: »

Hi all,

New to the site, but haven't been able to find a non-contradictory answer on google for my question.

At the moment I am on a Foundation Degree course. This started a few weeks ago. It's a brand new course and so obviously some things are a little up in the air, however, on our introduction day we received a booklet outlining the course.

Each module has 45 hours of tutor contact time spread over 9 weeks (we take one week off in each 10 week term).

The hours were defined up as 3 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon for each module (full time students do two modules per term).

Obviously 5 hours per day per module times 9 weeks per term = 45 hours.

So far no problems.

However, on our second day we were told that tutorial times would slice into the 2 hours in the afternoon, which would mean we now only have one hour in the afternoon.

That's not terribly clear is it. Let me lay that out.

Module 1 = 3 hours in the morning and 1 hour in the afternoon. With an additional tutorial hour in the afternoon. There would be only 2 of these additional tutor hours per term per module per student.

So to me this now works out at 4 hours per day per which times by 9 weeks = 36 hours per term which for full time students is a loss of 9 hours per term, or 27 hours over the year.

The question is, am I now doing enough hours (4 per day per module, in my case, 8 per week) to be called a full time student?

Thanks for reading.

If the course is designated as full time then that is what it is, regardless of the number of contact hours. On one year of my degree, I only had two hours contact time per week.

LarryPlane

So the Full Time label really means nothing when talking about classroom hours?

minnieuk

LarryPlane wrote: »

So the Full Time label really means nothing when talking about classroom hours?

No, you don't need to worry about classroom hours. If you are registered with the uni or college as a full-time student then you are a full-time student.

The uni or college should be prepared to give you a certificate of registration or equivalent stating this if you want to claim the council tax discount for example.

LarryPlane

I'm also worried about the value for money I am getting. I paid for the course, through a Student Loan, on the understanding that I would get 10 hours per week teacher contact time. That's not happening.

The_One_Who

To me it reads that you are still getting three hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, just with one of those being a tutorial. Or have I misread it? I'd rather have the tutorial than a lecture, but that might just be me.

As already said, whether it is full-time really depends on what they call it. You also have to remember that you should be doing work outside of the designated contact hours.

LarryPlane

Oh yeah, a lot of my work is done outside the classroom, so that's not a problem and something I fully understood before I signed up for the class.

The tutorials are twice per term. So I get one hour next week (I believe) and another hour at some point before the term ends. In total, two additional hours of teach contact per term. Our tutorial groups are of around 4 to 5 people. Class size is 18.

So it's 3 hours in the morning, 1 in the afternoon, then a separate 1 hour tutorial that happens just twice per term.

Oldernotwiser

Degree level education is all about independent learning rather than classroom teaching. Four hours contact a day is quite a lot - far more than most people on an academic degree would get.

divastrop

I am doing a foundation degree full time. We are only supposed to get around 26 hours classroom time per module, and there are 3 modules per term. I am only in college 6 hours a week, but we are also meant to do 8 hours a week placement.

[Deleted User]

yep hours mean nothing! my last year of my degree was 2 hours twice a week, and i was still registered and considered to be on a "full time" course and a full-time student!

LarryPlane

Education is bizarre. Thanks everyone for filling me in on how it works. All a bit wonderland, but hey, at least I know.