I never do the questions through the course and I read the course books, do a little bit extra then write the TMA/ECA and that's it. Worked so far...

The first one I think I over-complicated it and worked too much, if there is such a thing! Couldn't fit everything I knew/wanted to say into the assignment so concluded less work = more marks.

i guess it depends what kind of marks you're looking for. i'm not very good at doing 'just enough' i did do about 12-16hrd a week but i also got TMA scores between 80% and 96% (my project).

if you're better at judging how much is 'just enough' you can probably spend less time.

I'm with the FallenMadonna - my courses which are supposed to take 16hours don't any more. They might have done when I started out but you do get faster and learn what you can and can't miss out and it is possible to cram for the exam right at the end. Also depends on your studying style. If I take notes as I read it doubles the time it takes. Some people cope OK with just underlining the text which I can't.

You will also find that it isn't always 16 hours a week - maybe TMA weeks it will be 20 weeks and the couple of weeks after a TMA deadline you might get away with 5 or 6 hours.

They say 16 hours, but I don't think I've ever done anything near that except for during revising level 3 law, when I cna study almost full time.

I find at level 2 I prob do about 8 hours. I've done level 2 law, now doing level 2 literature and I think the work load has been similar.

It does depend a lot though on how quickly you read, and how much of the activities you actually work through and to what extent.

depends on the course. i did S216 (environmental science) and it did require the full 16hrs and lots of people dropped out.

someone on the OU forums had data about each course and how many people stick it through and how many pass it. that data must be freely available. if you can find it you'd get a good idea for the course you're considering.

TBH I did very little work - I just did the TMAs (none of the reading and then revised like crazy for 3 weeks before the exam. But I wasn't new to studying and it is an acquired skill for sure.

I think it depends on the course you do. Last year I did a level 3 lit course and couldn't believe the amount of work (probably spent 20 hrs a week including reading the novels). This year, level 3 again and it's much more civilised. they have factored in the time to read your books, and although they suggest 16 hours I think that's being generous and realistically I've spent probably about 10 -12 per week, so if you have 2 hrs a day to spare you should manage fine.

No, thats a great help. Thank you.

Work slow atm (32 hours) but potentially going up to 50+ hours at the end of the year, so need to be realistic about what other things I could achieve. (Im a single mum, with no regular time off)

Roughly 2h 15m a day studying..hmm. Not going to work, is it?!

I think 16 hours is the normal amount.

However I've just finished two level 2 course last exam this morning, and some weeks 16 was too much but other 16 wasn't enough.

Not sure that helps Sorry