The Essex Preparation Programme is for students who intend to enroll at the University of Essex after receiving an offer of study. The course is available from 23 June 2025 and will give you a flying start when settling in as a student at Essex. To top it off, if you complete the course by 23:59 on 8 October 2025 and are eligible, you will receive a £250 cash bursary! Terms and conditions for the bursary are available online.
The course is divided into six topics, covering important parts of university life – such as study habits, reading and writing skills, and critical thinking.
Throughout, you'll build your academic skills, and a range of others that will help you to succeed at university. You'll learn through a mixture of lectures, articles and quizzes - and as the course is online, you can study at a pace that suits you – with new content being released weekly from the end of June.
Topics you’ll encounter on the Essex Preparation Programme are:
We are hosting a series of online workshops to support your progress throughout the course. You'll be able to join the webinars directly from within the Essex Preparation Programme.
You can sign-up for the course by following these simple steps:
If you have any problems creating an account or accessing the course, please email orgdev@essex.ac.uk.
We also have a wide range of other resources on our Schools and Colleges web page, including our fantastic podcast series busting higher education myths, CPD resources for teachers and advisers, tips and tools for university applications, and our all-important information about on-campus events.
" I found the Essex Preparation Programme really useful and it has definitely eased my anxiety surrounding university study. I have always found knowledge to be comforting and I feel far better prepared in terms of knowing what to expect at Essex after completing this course."