The following tips are tried and tested. Everyone we know with a 1:1 degree has used some form of these to help them achieve their goal.
While you obviously need natural aptitude and a strong work ethic, some simple life habits can play a significant role in the end result.
Mindset is everything. Ask any athlete, any business leader and anyone who has achieved anything significant.
A mindset of working hard, being diligent, making effort and being prepared to work harder, longer and smarter than everyone else.
Having this clear in your mind from Fresher’s week onwards, if not long before, can seriously improve your chances of that 1:1 degree.
We’ve all seen the TV shows that show students staying up all night cramming or working until midnight on something important. That’s mostly fiction and should stay there. Yes, you’re going to have occasional all-nighters. Yes, you’ll have to work early or late every now and then, but that’s not how to get a 1:1 degree.
You need balance. That old phrase ‘work hard, play hard’ is rolled out for all kinds of reasons, but there’s a good reason for that. Because it’s so true.
You’ll need to work hard. Harder than anyone else. But you also need downtime. Your brain needs time away from the books to process what you’ve learned and commit it to memory.
That means achieving some kind of balance between studying and being a student.
Every course works in different ways so it pays to find out what’s expected in yours.
As a whole, you’ll need 70% or more to achieve first class with honours. But each course will get there in different ways.
Understand whether your course uses mostly exams, coursework, group work, work placements, closed book exams, open book exams or something else entirely.
Knowing in advance can help you prioritise whatever study method will help you most with each type of assessment.
It sounds obvious, but we need to say it anyway. To stand any chance of getting a first class honours degree, you’ll need to attend all your lectures and seminars.
We know some will be much more interesting than others and you may have to balance competing priorities. But there’s always something useful in every lecture.
It could be as simple as a question at the very end with an insightful answer or a throwaway comment from the lecturer that sparks a Eureka moment.
What we’re trying to say here is that knowledge and wisdom come from all directions and when you least expect it. Don’t assume anything about lectures if you can help it!
We all spent far too much time in our university library, but it was all part of the course.
However, don’t spend all your time there. Make sure to get outside, meet new people and live a little too.
Some of the best essays we have ever read come from people who have lived a little. Who went out there and met people, absorbed cultures, the light and laughter of the world and were able to bring all that to their essays.
It’s tough to balance study, library time and getting out into the world, but we strongly recommend it. Books can teach you a lot. But so can relaxing in a coffee shop watching the world go by or meeting someone from another culture.
Feedback can be tough sometimes. Nobody wants to be criticised or told they aren’t good enough, but it’s all part of growth.
The main thing to remember is that, with the very odd exception, it isn’t personal. It’s not about you as a person, it’s about that particular piece of work.
The lecturer has no axe to grind. They aren’t there to belittle you or put you down. They’re there to direct, help, grow your knowledge and improve as a person and as a student in their subject.
Most people find feedback difficult, but it’s something you’re going to need to get used to. The world of work is full of feedback, reviews, critiques and opinions. You may as well make friends with it now as it isn’t going to get any easier!
We’re not your parents, so please don’t take this the wrong way. But spelling and grammar are everything at university.
You’ll never achieve a 1:1 degree if the reader can’t read or comprehend your work.
Use a spell-checker if you have to. Use a grammar checker. Read lots of books and work on your English just as much as your subject.
The clearer and more concise your essays, the more likely you are to get your meaning across.
With that clear communication comes your chance to shine and to begin earning that first class honours degree!
We know from our own experience there’s a temptation to coast through the year, enjoy the warm summer and hit the books at the very last minute.
That’s a mistake for several reasons. One, the brain is good at absorbing lots of information in a short period of time but it can’t sustain it.
It needs time to process and to turn short-term memory into long-term memory. You can’t do that in three years of two-month hard hits.
Keeping a steady pace of study throughout the year gives you time to absorb, process and memorise the knowledge you’re going to need for a 1:1 degree.
It also gives you time to begin applying what you learn more effectively going forward because you’ve had time to analyse and fully process what you learn.
Anything in life is possible with the correct application of effort. While you’ll need aptitude and a little luck to earn a first class honours degree, the rest is down to effort and a little planning.
These 8 tips are not exactly revolutionary. We all know them, or most of them. What these tips are, are tried and tested by people who earned their 1:1 degree. By people now working in Blue Chip companies and are at the top of their game.
If that isn’t reason enough to adopt them yourself, we don’t know what is!