8th May 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A recent survey has revealed that university students frequently receive under 100 hours of contact time throughout the course of their undergraduate degree. As well as sparking controversy and fueling the debate on higher education fees, this has also started some interesting conversations about the benefits of contact time at this level.
Some students have said that at this point in their education, it is appropriate for them to engage in independent study, making use of libraries and study spaces as intended. Yet where do the skills for independent study come from, and can extra contact time earlier on help create more independent students?
It may seem counter intuitive to say that students who had private tutors at school do well with limited contact time at university, yet, anecdotally, this seems to be the case. Students who had private tutors have the opportunity to explore their subjects in greater depth with the help of their tutor, and develop the skills they need to read around their subjects in more detail.