Freshers' week

Welcome to the School of Psychology within the College of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Exeter.

You are joining one of the top ten universities in the country, a member of the Russell Group of top research-led universities. As a consequence, you can expect our standards to be very high, our teaching to be excellent and your experience to be one of the best available in higher education.

What you will experience here represents a step up from anything you will have experienced prior to this at school or college. You will be taught by people who don't just use textbooks, but write them. Researchers who know exactly what it's like to establish a new finding, discover a new effect, or construct a new theory. They will expect you to learn to operate at the same level as them, and eventually to be capable of doing what they do.

The good news is that you have three years to make this journey. But you cannot afford to waste any of that time. The first year is introductory, and as such does not contribute (in terms of assessment) to your final degree (though you must pass the modules to progress). But if you do not take full advantage of this introduction, and learn to deal with the change in standards that will apply in your second and third years, then you will find it difficult to reach the standard that you would otherwise expect of yourself. The first year is for you to practise your skills, to discover the areas of your course that you enjoy the most, and to learn how to think and communicate in the context of your subject. Use it well, and above all engage with your tutors, lecturers and other members of staff. Become part of the discipline and attend our seminars and talks and you will feel the full benefit of studying at Exeter. We look forward to working with you.