AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WELCOME AND ORIENTATION GUIDE

Making the transition to postgraduate study - life as a postgraduate student

You will be joining students in a thriving postgraduate community. You will bring a lot of skills and a different outlook to your course which will enhance the experience for you and your fellow students. If you have done a degree at another university, it is very likely you will find a lot of differences between your old institution where you completed your undergraduate degree and UEL.

These may include:

– Different teaching methods and study techniques.

– A more diverse community of students and staff.

– New terminology used to describe your environment and how you study. There is a jargon buster at the end of this booklet to introduce you to some of the terms you will hear when you get to University.

There is a range of things you can do to help familiarise yourself with our systems before you start. This will ease the pressure during the first few weeks of term and give you a real advantage in settling in as a student. As part of the enrolment process you will need to set up your UEL student account. This is the key channel for receiving a lot of the information at the start of your university journey. Once it has been set up you will be able to access more information about studying at UEL on Track My Future.

Studying and learning at postgraduate level is very different to that of undergraduate so it is completely normal to experience some concerns, worries and anxieties. Rest assured, everyone is likely to feel the same! Do not think you are different or alone. This guide will help you to identify what you need to do, when and how. By following advice in this guide, some of the uncertainty will be eased.

If you have any questions about beginning your UEL journey, during your preparation or settling-in period, our friendly staff at The Hub can help. No issue is too big or too small. Whether it is a course-related enquiry, a question about status letters or ID cards, or a more personal issue such as mental health, disability or your finances, talk to people at The Hub first. Our Hub team are experts on support provision. They will either provide you with an immediate answer, refer your query to the appropriate professional service team for resolution, or book you an appointment with a specialist advisor.

To get in contact with The Hub, phone: +44 (0) 208 223 4444 or log an enquiry via your MyPortal account. The link for MyPortal is: https://myportal.uel.ac.uk. On campus, there are also face-to-face Hub helpdesks situated on the ground floor of the East Building at Docklands campus, the ground floor of University House at our Stratford campus, and the front reception desk at University Square Stratford (USS).

Further contact details for where you can get support and advice are in the Contact section at the back of this handbook.