Targeted support for mature students

“Yeah, it was hard, and I nearly left once or twice. If it wasn’t for the LLC I would have left, I reckon.”

The words of Fidelia, a mature postgraduate Criminology student who came to Leeds as an undergraduate around five years ago, sum up the importance of Leeds’s Lifelong Learning Centre (LLC), which is both a multi-disciplinary School running undergraduate courses, and a specialist service supporting mature and part-time learners across the University.

Many mature students face different challenges to their younger counterparts. ‘Mature’ can mean anything over 21 — and you’d expect the younger end of that cohort to be pretty similar to their 18- and 19-year-old classmates, but that’s not always the case.

The Lifelong Learning Centre offers bespoke support to mature students that starts from their current position and acknowledges the broader context of their learning experiences. The aim is to create spaces where support can be provided without students having to request it, helping them feel more comfortable about getting the help they need. The team works to promote a sense of belonging within the University and the academic community.

The challenge of being a mature student

Many mature students come to university later  in life through choice, but for others, it’s because their experience of secondary and further education was not a positive one.

According to data from the Office of Students, mature students are more likely to be disabled or come from more deprived areas. They may be working at least part time on top of their studies. They may have family or caring duties, combining their studies with looking after small children or caring for older parents, for example — so their university studies may not be their prime activity. 

Mature students are more likely to be living off-campus in their own family home and commuting in so they will miss out on the bonding and friendship-forming opportunities of living and socialising on campus (although they may not see this as important). 

Notably, if there’s a gap of a few years or even decades between leaving school and going to university as an undergraduate, their academic skills — like essay writing, researching and structuring arguments — may be a bit rusty.  

Pre-entry skill-building

I tell every mature student I know about the LLC. I’ve taken one or two of my postgraduate friends with me and every one of them has said that it’s a nice space.

Fidelia started off her higher education (HE) journey by completing the LLC’s Preparation for Higher Education (PHE) course (a weekly course to prepare learners for HE) which she says gave her ‘a good start to [her] university experience’ prior to progressing onto an undergraduate degree in sociology. 

“In an academic way, I felt on the back foot,” says Fidelia. “Obviously the other students were very young, just out of school. They’d just done their exams and they were still in the academic mindset.

“I’m really glad I started out in the Lifelong Learning Centre. At times, when something was wrong, I felt it was because I wasn’t doing something right — but that wasn’t always the case. Sometimes it was because it wasn’t made clear. But I felt it was my fault and it took me a long time to learn that it wasn’t.”

Prior to starting a degree programme, the LLC also offers ‘Kickstart’ - a blended learning course  which provides access to lessons and activities that help develop study skills for university assignments. Students are given access to an online resource and then invited to a live session, either online or on campus, where they can meet with staff and other students who will be on the same course as them. Following the session, students write a short piece of work to practise the skills they have learned. 

Students at the LLC find Kickstart helpful; one says: “The support that you get from everybody here makes you feel safe to have a go. Kickstart, the support you get from all the tutors, makes you feel you can do it” whilst another comments: “….I’d not done English since GCSE. So, I was a bit panicking about that, but the referencing stuff was all so, so, helpful, and the notetaking as well, that was really, really good.”

And it’s not just academic skills that Kickstart can help with but the social side of university life as well: “what you learn, you know, is an amazing amount really. Also, the kind of the social skills or social academic skills, I’d say, like presenting, group work, integrating, you know, that kind of thing, which has helped a lot with social skills.”

An integrated approach

(The LLC has) been critical to me going on to study further at Leeds.

The LLC’s integrated multi-disciplinary school/specialist service model facilitates a bespoke approach for mature students on Foundation Years, which continues to be a support base for students who transition into programmes based in other faculties. This is enabled by a framework of collaborative working across Programme teams, LLC Student Support, LLC Academic Skills, LLC Student Experience and the LLC Student Education Service. 

Skills support is integrated into taught Foundation Year modules and the LLC offers additional one to one flexible support, including at short notice, out of normal hours, face to face or via Teams. Students can go to the resource area for ad-hoc support or pre-booked appointments.

Workshops are available in addition to individual support, covering issues such as:

• Time management and getting organised
• Searching for and evaluating resources 
• Planning, using sources and being critical
• Reading and making notes
• Reading and writing retreats
• Study reboot
• Exam revision and technique

Positive feedback

Anecdotal feedback from students suggests that they have benefited from the support of the LLC and that outcomes have improved as a result of the intervention.

“They were amazing,” says Fidelia “If I had work to do, I was in the Lifelong Learning Centre. I still use it while I’m doing my postgrad because I know everybody that's there. Some other mature students started with me and now I’ve known them for years. We've all built a support system between us as well as the support from LLC as well.

“I tell every mature student I know about the LLC. I’ve taken one or two of my postgraduate friends with me and every one of them has said that it’s a nice space.”

Another LLC student says: “I wanted to thank you for everything! All your help and the fact that you have so much faith in us. I wanted to give you a massive thank you - I genuinely would not if been able to get what I needed without you. You gave us your time which means the world and more to all of us, I'm sure. Words can't express how grateful I am for all the help you have given to all of us and myself. I got 88% on my maths exam! I'm overjoyed and I needed 60% in this module and it's safe to say I have met that requirement!”

Raising awareness

Fidelia believes the LLC could benefit from more publicity. “I feel that it’s really undersold. People I think would use it don't know it's there, but it’s been critical to me going on to study further at Leeds.”

The LLC team is taking steps to work more effectively with faculties to raise awareness of the support it can offer.  

To find out more about the LLC’s programmes and initiatives, email the Lifelong Learning Centre at lifelonglearning@leeds.ac.uk or visit the LLC’s Linktree.

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