Overview
The Essex Preparation Programme is for students who intend to enroll at the University of Essex after receiving an offer of study. The course is available from 30 June 2025 and will give you a flying start when settling in as a student at the University. To top it off, if you complete the course by 23:59 on 8 October 2025 and are eligible, you will receive a £250 cash bursary! Terms and conditions for the bursary are available online.
The course is divided into six topics, covering important parts of university life – such as study habits, reading and writing skills, and critical thinking.
Throughout, you'll build your academic skills, and a range of others that will help you to succeed at university. You'll learn through a mixture of lectures, articles and quizzes - and as the course is online, you can study at a pace that suits you – with new content being released weekly from the start of July.
Topics
Topics you’ll encounter on the Essex Preparation Programme are:
- Learning – how to become an independent learner and improve your study habits.
- Speaking – improving your speaking, discussion, and presentation skills.
- Thinking – how to become a more critical thinker ready to tackle undergraduate study.
- Reading – engaging with academic texts and reading actively.
- Integrity – learn more about academic integrity to make sure you are prepared for what is expected of you.
- Writing – writing at university level, and how to produce high-quality work from the outset.
Online workshops
To support your progress throughout the course, we will host a series of online workshops during the summer of 2025.