Women were about twice as likely as men to experience academic problems as a result of the impact of personal circumstances. Taking into account the range and extent of problems experienced and the severity of demands posed by personal and financial circumstances and family commitments, the predominant picture is of students who were determined to persevere despite considerable difficulty. Academic experiences Students experienced good and bad years of study. Just over half of the students reported problems intrinsic to the academic content of their courses at some stage, while just over one third, and more women than men, experienced difficulties as a result of some aspect of the operation of their course or institution. For example, for some students, library opening hours conflicted with child care arrangements.
Continuous assessment is fairer because some people have exam nerves.
3rd year Arts student Science students were more likely to organise and take part in study groups than were humanities students. The remainder would have appreciated help had it been offered. In some cases students were required to submit other work, such as lab reports, projects and dissertations for assessment. All but one of the science students and six in ten of the humanities students had to submit such work and almost all of them said that they received help or an offer of help from lecturers or tutors in preparing it. Students' goals and career plans Most of the SWAP students sought advice from their tutor at some point and mainly during the early stages of their courses when topic choices within their course were more open.