In Europe, after students successfully complete college, at approximately age 18, most apply to universities; others take a few years off or end their structured education. They refer to the time spent attending a university as ‘uni’. European universities offer 3 year programs to earn a degree in a course of study.

The majority of words we use in the States to describe parts of college are different in Europe. For instance, a class is called a ‘module’, your major is referred to as ‘your course or program of study’, a schedule is the same thing as a ‘time table’,  and their forms of assessing students is through essays and written essay finals. A uni semester has reading weeks and a month break (Christmas or Easter holiday) before a month and a half of final exam time.

Their modules are structured very different then most U.S. classes. Most modules here consist of a lecture ( 1-2 hours long) with a convenor ONCE a week and then a follow up seminar, which is discussion, based  on lecture material, once a week depending on year and module.

The area I had the most difficulty adjusting to was the fact that I was not getting 5 assignments a week with quizzes and exams to study for as well, uni is very focused on individual learning.  As in the States, each class has a syllabus which includes core text readings and optional readings plus assignments. Keeping up to date on the weekly readings is critical because, there are very few small assignments, essays and quizzes to assess your knowledge.  For the majority of my modules the assessment of students knowledge is through one or two lengthy essays due at the end of term  (for me this is the beginning of April), which accounts for a small portion of the final grade or ‘mark’. The larger portion of the final grade comes from the final exam. Most final exams consist of another hand written essay within a 2 hour time slot.  

Another huge difference is when holidays are taken and when reading weeks occur. A reading week is a week without lectures or seminars as a designated time to catch up on readings. Reading weeks differ depending on the course of study.  

Just this past week was my reading week along with some friends and we ventured to Barcelona, Spain for 5 days. Next blog will be all about beautiful Barcelona.

Location: University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent