I've put a bunch of information on this page about things that proactive parents and teachers often ask me (as someone who has taught across both school and uni). I want to make this site and these resources as useful as possible though, so if you have questions or there are things you'd like covered that aren't, please let me know in our Facebook Community linked here. For example - would you find a guide to what to pack for living on campus handy? Or an FAQ about university contact hours? Whatever would be useful, I'm happy to help!
Many students say they feel like "just a number" at uni...
But we can solve this together
As someone who has taught fulltime, permanently at both school and uni, I can definitely confirm that the learning environments are *really* different - even though I taught 18 year olds in Year 12 in November one year and 17 year olds in January at uni the next!
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There are many supports available for uni students, so it is not true to say that students are left to struggle alone. But they really do need to have the confidence and proactive planning to independently access the help they need. This is foreign to most students, even the most academically strong.
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If your child is neurodivergent, anxious or high-achieving, if they would benefit from increasing their organisational skills, if they find time-management or motivation challenging, if they do not feel 100% confident in new social situations, if they are working part-time or if they are still working on balancing study, their health, their social lives and their screen time, then the transition to uni is likely to be tough. And withdrawing from or failing even just one unit can set a student back a whole year of study, not to mention the impacts on their wellbeing.
This is true for so many people students! Long story short, starting uni is hard for everyone, just in different ways. The good news? There are things students, families and communities can do to be much better prepared and more confident.
What are the stats?
After 9 years, more than a quarter of undergraduate students in Australia won't complete their degree. Even students who enter university with an ATAR of 90 or above have a 15-20% risk of not completing their study after 8 years. E.g. in 2018 this equated to more than 50 000 *new students* dropping out of their degree.
The average cost of an incomplete degree is $12 000 and people miss out on the additional lifetime earnings that commonly go along with a university degree.
Many students who consider dropping out cite their health and stress levels as a determining factor. Anecdotally, many school teachers often talk to me about supporting their students academically, only to hear about even their most successful graduates dropping out of uni the following year.
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Most students who drop out report feeling as though they have let themselves or others down.
This is not where we want our young people to be. But the good news is, it can be avoided.
Proactively deciding a particular pathway is not for you and pursuing something different is a positive outcome. Spending years growing a HECS debt and feeling increasingly bad about academic performance is not.
Academics are discipline experts and there are many uni supports, so why do so many students find it tough?
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Many people argue that there are many student supports available at university, so there's no need to students to find uni challenging as there is so much help available. However, the course completion rates show a different story.
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At school, your child's teachers must have an education degree, must complete hours of teaching professional development each year and have in loco parentis duty of care for your child. At university, it's true there are many supports available, but teaching staff mostly do not have an education qualification and the Privacy Act in Australia prevents staff from contacting home about things many parents would deem important (e.g. absence from class, concerns about wellbeing or assessment or even unit failure).
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Students often have a wonderful sense of community and belonging at school and they're usually unaware of just how much confidence and support they derive from this.
I'm hoping to bridge this gap by acting as a coach in your family's corner as your child transitions to uni. Or if you're a school teacher, I work with secondary cohorts to increase awareness of the challenges (and solutions!) that accompany university life.
Support
You can see a summary of all services on the Home page, but here are some quick recommendations if any of the above rings true for you.
For parents and students
Sign up for access to on-demand courses you can watch yourself and with your child to help give them the confidence they need and avoid all the traps described above. The concise, encouraging videos will take you through all the key points students say they wish they'd known before starting uni. Happy study!
For schools (teachers and senior students)
Arrange a Unilateral school presentation for your senior students along with free access to the Unilateral Ultimate Uni Intro course. The presentation can be tailored to your cohort and will make visible all the invisible challenges that cause students to struggle.