Livestock Health and Production
(MSC, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate)
How you study
Although the programme is designed
to be followed successfully with a minimum of direct academic
support, students are able to receive support in several ways:
-
Up
to three written assignments for each course will be provided
for you to complete and submit for tutor comment and guidance.
(The marks for the best of these will count in the formal assessment
process.) Although the marks obtained on the other essays do
not contribute to the overall assessment, students often find
it helpful to receive academic feedback on their work, to
ensure that they are reaching the standard required for the
Diploma or MSc. In addition, writing essays can be a useful
aid in preparing for examinations.
-
Students
are offered tutorial support for academic matters through
the External Programme Office at The Royal Veterinary College.
Your enquiry will be answered by an appropriate member of
the panel of experts from the college academic staff who support
this programme. However, The Royal Veterinary College is unable
to provide support on non-academic matters.
-
An online
discussion board has been introduced for selected courses.
This provides the opportunity to collaborate with others via
discussion rooms. You will require access to the internet
(either dial-up or broadband) to participate. At set times, a
tutor will be online to answer questions and the University is
planning to run tutorials during the academic year.
-
Students
are invited to allow the University to give their names and
addresses to other students studying on the programme
in their locality, so that networking and mutual support can
be arranged locally if desired.
Study materials
When you first register as an
External student for the MSc or Postgraduate Diploma, you will
receive:
-
a Handbook,
giving you information on planning your studies, preparing for
examinations and study techniques
-
a Course pack
for each course you study containing a folder of directed learning
notes along with a series of readings (copies of specially
selected book chapters and articles). These will present the most
concise and readable information and recent developments in the
field.
-
Textbooks
for certain courses
-
Videos
for certain courses
-
Samples of past
examination papers and, where a
course has previously been examined, an examiner's report
-
CD-ROMs
(for certain courses).
In subsequent years of your
registration, you will receive an updated Handbook; the relevant
course pack for any additional courses you begin studying; any
sample/past examination papers and reports not previously received.
Period of study and time commitment
Students registering for the MSc
degree programmes have a minimum of two years and a maximum of five
years in which to complete, whilst Postgraduate Diploma and
Postgraduate Certificate students have a minimum of one year and a
maximum of five. The ‘study year’ is effectively between February
and September, with examinations in early/mid-October.
Because individuals differ in the
number of hours per week they need to devote to study, and in the
number of years in which they would like to complete the programme,
it is difficult to be precise about the number of hours’ study
required. A rough guide, however, is that to complete in the minimum
period you should be prepared for not less than 10 hours of study
per week and 15 hours would be recommended. It is very important
that the hours given to study, however many they may be, should be
given consistently.
