Fitting a course into your life can be a challenge - make sure you map out how much time you have for study.

• Find out how much time you need to devote each week for your course
• Map out what you can do in an average week
• Use a year planner to check out how study fits in with other commitments.
• Include the time needed for any residential schools.

Samina
"I have to plan my day so I’m able to set aside the best time to study, which means I may not always be able to do what I would like to. It's important for me to manage my time especially working full time, since my free time is limited."

Paul
"You make time for your studying by making it part of your routine. Now that I am a teacher, I find that I have only the weekends to do my studying, with the odd evening as well. However, I'm lucky that my final OU year has a six week summer holiday. This will allow me to get ahead of myself, rather than playing catch up."