Essex Preparation Programme

Overview

The Essex Preparation Programme is for students who intend to enrol at the University of Essex after receiving an offer of study.  If you complete the course by the set deadline, 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

Topics you’ll encounter on the Essex Preparation Programme are:

• Learning – how to become an independent learner and improve your study habits.
• Speaking – improving your speaking, discussion, and presentation skills.
• Thinking – how to become a more critical thinker ready to tackle undergraduate study.
• Reading – engaging with academic texts and reading actively.
• Integrity – learn more about academic integrity to make sure you are prepared for what is expected of you.
• Writing – writing at university level, and how to produce high-quality work from the outset.
• Essex life – find out about student life on our campuses, such as the Students' Union, clubs and societies, and sustainability.
  
  

Online workshops

We will host 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 after the course has launched for October 2026 entry.

How to enrol

The course is not currently available. Check back here in Summer 2026 when the course will launch for October 2026 entry.

You will be able to sign-up for the course by following these simple steps:

• Register with 'Open Essex', the online platform this course will take place on. 
• Confirm your account by clicking the link in the email sent to you.
• Enrol on the Essex Preparation Programme by logging into Open Essex and pressing ‘Enrol now’ on the course.

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.