The other day I sat in a two-hour seminar on an 800-page novel and began to despair about studying English. The novel was a set text for an exam and that seminar was the only one we would have on it. I decided, yet again, I’d probably have to turn to SparkNotes.

When I applied to read English at UCL, I wish someone had told me I’d spend the next three years predominantly on my own. As Oxford student Anna Tankel puts it: “Sometimes I feel like I’m paying £9,000 a year to sit in a library with fancier desks than my public library.”

Read the article for yourself (source: Guardian).

Many students arrive not realising that studying at university is not the same as it is at school. If you’re studying English Literature then by definition you’ll be spending a lot of time on your own – reading books.

I’m sure the writer of the article is an assiduous student who turns up for all the lectures and seminars on her timetable. A lot of students don’t, though, which rather suggests they’re not bothered about having more contact time.