Lecture classes can vary in size from twenty to two hundred. Students are normally expected to prepare work in advance for seminars and tutorials. Preparation can take the form of researching a topic for discussion by writing essays or solving problems. Multiple-choice questions are seldom used as a means of assessment. Lectures, seminars, and tutorials are all one hour in length, while laboratory classes usually last two to three hours.
Many courses run for the full year and examinations for all courses are held in the final term.
Much emphasis is put on individual study in British universities, and students are expected to spend as much time, if not more, studying by themselves as being taught. In Britain, students say that they go to university to read for a degree, thus emphasizing the private study nature of university-level work in the United Kingdom. You should expect to spend eight to ten hours studying on your own for every hour spent in class. Successful study at University College London requires an ability to be self-motivated and pursue academic goals seriously and independently. To help overseas students select a full course load, each course at University College London has been assigned a credit value.