There is no way around it, starting study at postgraduate level is a lot of deal with, but hopefully throughout the course of this short post, I can detail some of the resources and steps I took to help that jump up from undergraduate. 

I attended the School of Arts, Languages and Culture (SALC) online open day, which lay out the basic information of undertaking postgraduate study at the University of Manchester which detailed general information about tuition, accommodation, campus and the city. For me, this was not too useful because I studied at The University of Manchester for my undergraduate, but for someone who is looking to join from elsewhere in the UK or abroad, I would recommend these online open days as a general source of information.    

One of the resources which I found the most important was the online chat features of the post-graduate taught webpage, as it enabled me to have direct access to current MA student ambassadors, whose experiences I found invaluable when preparing myself to go through what they already go through. On the other side of this coin is talking to current staff, who are almost always happy to correspond with potential MA students to make sure the course matches their wants. If you are already in Manchester, like I was, I would recommend attending school prospecting MA socials, in which a variety of staff informally chat away with provided food and drink, happily answering questions and providing further insight into their programmes. 

In terms of the actual period of time before starting postgraduate education I would recommend an ‘active break’ from learning and education. There is a temptation to completely turn off from scholarship in an effort to completely relax in the time before starting your new degree, equalled by the intimidation or excitement brought about by the prospect of starting a new venture which can incidentally lead to the impulse of over-working. Making the effort to find a comfortable middle-ground is the goal, making sure that you are not out of practice of learning and engaging in scholarship but also relaxing enough to give yourself to the opportunity to re-energise, I would recommend finding podcasts and similar avenues of less formal academia.  

Personally, the most important step I took in terms of easing that transition was getting in contact with the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) and establishing my support plan before my programme started. While this will not affect everyone, for students looking for disability advice I cannot stress the importance of this. The start of postgraduate study is busy and tiring as you work to find your routine, having already got a disability support plan in place before it starts will save you a massive headache later on, especially as it will all be in place well before assessments start. Beyond that, I cannot stress the importance of attending the introductory week, which will provide opportunities to both socialise with new course-mates and establish healthy routines to move into the postgrad study, and is genuinely a fantastic way to start what it likely to be a fantastic period spent in Manchester. 

Written by Benjamin Walker, a Library and Archive Studies MA student

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