Advice For Starting Uni from a Theology and Religious Studies Student

Hi! My name’s Jack and I’m now in my third year studying Theology and Religious Studies (TRS) at Chester. I have put together some useful advice and tips for prospective and new university students based on my own experience.

Social opportunities when you arrive

I have found that it is important to engage with social aspects of university, such as joining a society or going along to student nights.

When you arrive, you should definitely attend the events put on for you during Freshers’ Week, as this will allow to get to know your lecturers and course mates immediately.

Societies and sports are also good to get involved in. For example, I enjoy taking part in a 5-aside football league and I also attend the Theology and Religious Studies events that are available for staff and students. TRS put on coffee hours, fieldtrips, karaoke nights, pub quizzes, film nights and Christmas parties. It’s a busy and welcoming subject area with a great community!

Academic advice when you start

Once settled, make sure to take advantage of the support available through the Academic Skills team. They’re the experts in referencing, writing bibliographies, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and expression.

Additionally, it’s important to note that your lecturers are on hand to support you with any academic matters. Lecturers will always be happy to offer guidance and you can talk to them either after lectures, during their office hours, via Teams or over email. There are also numerous other opportunities to get further support such as a meeting with your Personal Academic Tutor, and attending essay tutorials, essay workshops, or feedback sessions.

Learning the referencing system for your course is also a key academic skill you should learn for your studies, and it demonstrates knowledge and understanding which will help you in your assessments. It caused me a bit of difficulty at first, however, with effort and lots of support from my lecturers, I soon got the hang of it! Learning the technique frees up more time for other important areas of essay writing, such as intellectual expression, argument, and implementing secondary sources and wider reading. You will get support throughout your time at Chester to get the hang of it, so don’t worry!

I would also strongly advise putting as much effort as possible into class preparation, such as completing the pre-readings and test questions. Pre-readings are sections from books, chapters, or articles that your lecturer will ask you to read before the lecture or seminar. They help introduce the topic and usually some of the session will focus on exploring the reading. A key tip here is to spread this preparation across your week; I’d recommend adopting a ‘little and often’ approach. This will help you gain the most out of your classes and you’ll find them more interactive and enjoyable.

Finally, it is vital to develop effective, time-management skills to produce good pieces of work on time for submission. You’ll be able to learn such methods from lecturers, fellow students, academic skills drop-ins and workshops. But, if you are struggling, then there is always help, guidance, and support on hand from the lecturers.

Career opportunities

There are lots of opportunities to gain employment and work experience at Chester. As well as volunteering, or finding work through Unijob, I would highly recommend applying for the paid role of Student Ambassador.

As a Student Ambassador I take part in Open Days, both for the Uni and my School. It’s a good way of meeting students from other courses as well as participating in the TRS subject sessions by answering any questions that guests have. I also lead TRS and accommodation tours (to help students like you find the perfect place to live!) and I create content for social media. This role is a win-win all round as you gain valuable experience and income to help support your student life.

Theology and Religious Studies course advice

Throughout your degree in either Philosophy, Ethics, and Religion or Theology and Religious Studies, you will gain progressively increased amounts of freedom when pursuing the knowledge you want to learn. Your first year is an opportunity to develop the fundamentals so you can exercise freedom and become specialists in the areas you find most interesting. For example, when I arrived, I had limited knowledge of Biblical Studies. However, after taking the module The Bible: Contents and Contexts, I found Biblical Studies extremely interesting and intellectually stimulating. This led to me choosing more specialised modules that related to the subject that inspired me in my second and third year. I have found that this has been a key benefit of the course at Chester, and it has allowed me to adapt my learning to what I want to pursue.

TRS also offers a dynamic approach to assessment where you still have essays, but you are additionally assessed on blog posts, presentations, or in projects involving interviews or participant observation with religious communities. I personally undertook some participant observation of a church near Everton’s Goodison Park, my football club, as part of my course. The aim of this assignment was to explore how secular and sacred can coexist in urban spaces, it was really enlightening to relate my studies back to my own interests!

Most importantly, there are a range of Work Based Learning modules in your second year, which successfully provide students with work experience and employability skills. These include TESOL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), learning a new language, and for my chosen module I did Religious Education and worked in a secondary school, observing and participating in an RE department.

If you need more advice and guidance, or simply have any questions make sure to drop me a message (my details are Jack, Theology and Religious Studies) or check out the TRS course page.