Are 5.5 teaching hours a week normal for a full-time degree?

[facethesunshine]

My dd has just been sent her timetable for her 2nd year at university and her teaching hours are only 5.5 per week. I do not understand how a full time degree can be only this many hours per week. Can anyone advise if this is allowed for the fees being charged

If your kid wanted to do a science degree would you be happy for her fees to cost £20k a year? Humanities students are funding no one. International students are funding your kid.

Different disciplines need different skills - who knew.

As PPs have said this is really subject dependent - and definitely something prospective students should fully investigate.

DC does a STEM subject with a lot of lab time, and some of their days have more hours than some other degrees have each week. Obviously self-work is expected away from letctures/labs etc but workload varies a lot between subjects

This!!!

I hd four hours/week for a Masters many moons ago. One of those was often cancelled. It was an absolute scam and whilst I completed the year with flying colours, I also worked almost full time throughout. Thankfully I’d got a scholarship but if I’d been paying out of pocket, I’d have been sorely disappointed. It really was not worth it for the very little input we had.

Years and years ago, I did a joint degree with a STEM and a humanities subject. The STEM side had a lot more contact-hours and was highly structured. The humanities side had almost no contact time and a shedload of reading and essay-writing. That was MUCH harder and took more work from me! (It is even more obvious at postgrad level; a Ph.D. in the humanities is almost entirely self-directed.)

I totally agree. She will be doing the majority of her studying at home. I’m just glad that she is not paying for accommodation too.