How to get a first class honours degree

With degrees and their courses becoming more accessible, it seems now more than ever that every other person has a degree of some sort. However this is not to say that a degree is easy to achieve - it takes numerous hours of hard work, study, essays and exams to even get a qualification at the end. In 2017 I graduated with a first class honours Law degree after completing three years of intensive study at Swansea University. Amidst the blood, sweat and tears there were a few rules I stuck by to try and get the most from my course:

1. Set study time

Make sure that when it comes down to revision and essays that you have set times to study. I used to work for an hour at a time and then give myself a 20 minute break. You've got to find out what is best for you and also how many hours you can physically put into a day. When it got into third year I used to complete about 6 hours study a day to ensure I was ready for my exams.

2. Routine

As well as having a set time to study during the day, I found it useful to also get up at a reasonable time during the morning so I could make the most of my day when I had free time. I'd spend most of the morning and early afternoon revising and then give myself the afternoon and evening off. I'd also go to bed at a reasonable time so I could get at least 6 hours sleep.

3. work hard play hard.

Studying for your degree is important but almost just as important is giving yourself free time to relax and just enjoy the university experience. There is no point spending every free minute studying or else you'll end up missing out on socials, seeing friends and generally just doing the things that you enjoy. I found myself running a society, going clubbing and seeing my friends in my spare time. I always made sure I did both.

4. Getting those extra marks

Completing extra reading from resources that others may not have seen, writing out practice papers and timings and meeting up with your lecturers to ask questions on exam topics are all key ways of gaining extra marks to get to the next grade boundary.

5. Don't get left behind

Throughout my 3 years, I didn't go to every lecture. But if I didn't go to one, I made sure that it was recorded in some way so I didn't miss any key information. When I had the time or woke up after a night out, I wrote out all of the notes as if I was in the lecture. However, seminars were so important in my course so I made sure to not miss them to be on top of my learning.

Just remember, everyone has their own way of learning. I spent only a handful of hours in the library over my three years because I just didn't find it useful. You have to find your own solutions and work life balance in order to succeed. Comparing yourself to others in this situation is useless because you will have your own way of achieving.