A – Z of academic terms
Academic mentor – a staff member at London Met who can help you with questions about your course or subject area, such as support with your assessments or getting feedback on your work. You can read more on our academic mentors page on our StudentZone (student login required).
Academic schools – whatever you study, you'll be part of one of our academic schools (they're called 'faculties' at some universities).
Accreditation – this is where an organisation outside London Met (usually a professional body) recognises and approves the quality and standard of our course. You can see any accreditations on our course pages.
Admissions – the team that looks after your application to university.
Alumni – once you successfully finish your course, you become a London Met graduate or alumni.
Bachelor's degree – this is the most common undergraduate-level course, and it usually takes three years full-time to complete. Depending on your subject, you'll graduate with one of these degrees:
- Bachelor of Arts (BA)
- Bachelor of Science (BSc)
- Bachelor of Engineering (BEng)
Bursary – money that you don't have to pay back, usually awarded based on your or your family's financial circumstances. Bursaries (also called grants) can help you with tuition fees, living expenses, or other educational costs. There's other financial help available, such as student loans and scholarships.
Campus – a grouped collection of university buildings and land. London Met has three different campuses or sites – Holloway, Aldgate and Shoreditch.
Citation – when you are giving key details of a book, journal article or other source that you've used as a reference in your work. You normally 'cite' this reference where you talk about it in your work, but also at the back of your work in a bibliography section that lists all the sources you've used. Find out more in our Library pages for London Met students.
Clearing – A UCAS process that allows you to find and apply for university courses that still have vacancies. It's often busiest just after A-Level results are out in mid August in the UK. While Clearing is open to all students, it particularly supports those who didn't receive the grades they needed for their university place, those who did better than expected or those who want to change to a different course or university.
Conditional Offer – An offer of a place at a university as long as you meet specific conditions, such as getting particular exam grades or showing other qualifications. See also Unconditional Offer.
DBS checks – these are Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, which are government-led services to see if you have a criminal record. They're usually carried out for courses where you might be working with vulnerable people such as children or adults, such as our social work or teaching programmes.
Deferred entry – if you decide to take a year out before starting university (sometimes called a gap year), you can apply for deferred entry, which means you'll start your course the following year instead.
Degree classification – this is the final mark that you'll get on your undergraduate course. You'll receive either:
- First Class (a 'first')
- Upper Second Class Honours (2.1)
- Lower Second Class (2.2)
- Third Class
- Pass
- Fail
Distance learning – a course that's taught almost entirely online.
Enrolment – the process of completing all necessary paperwork to be a student at London Met. You'll re-enrol each year of your course.
Extenuating circumstances – if something really significant comes up in your life that is negatively impacting your study, such as an essay deadline that you can't now meet because of a serious injury, you can ask your lecturers to consider extenuating or mitigating circumstances. This may mean you can arrange for a later deadline for example.
Firm choice – your top choice of university that you put down on your UCAS form. See also Insurance choice and Conditional offer.
Formative assessment – this is where you can give in your work and get feedback first before any marks are counted. See also Summative assessment.
Foundation year – this is an extra year before the start of an undergraduate course, which gives you essential knowledge and skills if you need extra support, or didn't quite make the grades for the undergraduate course. You can see our courses with a foundation year here.
Freshers' week/Welcome week – A week of fun activities to help you settle into university life, meet some other students and find your way around London Met. Our Students' Union organise a freshers' fair in September and January with lots of pop-up stands from clubs, societies and student-friendly organisations.
Gap year – with some courses, you can choose to take a gap year before starting university to work or travel. Ask us about Deferred entry (which is where you agree with us to start the course later) if you're interested in taking a gap year.
Grant – this is money from the government that does not have to be paid back. It's usually given depending on your or your family's financial circumstances. See our section on bursaries and grants to see if you're eligible.
Halls of residence – a shared building for students to live and socialise. You can browse nearby halls of residence in our student accommodation section.
Higher education (HE) – any university-level course.
Home students – anyone who's studying in their home country.
Induction week – also called Welcome Week, this is the week before formal teaching starts for new students, where you can meet new people, find your way around London Met and attend some course introduction sessions.
Insurance choice – this is your second choice of university on your UCAS form. If you don't get the grades you need for your Firm choice, your application will go to your insurance choice university next.
Internship – a period of work experience that's related to what you're studying, giving you practical skills and insights into the industry. Can be paid or unpaid. You could do an internship before, during or after your degree (unlike a placement, which is usually a built-in part of certain degrees).
Journal – an academic publication on a particular subject that you can use for your research. Journals are written by academics, usually peer-reviewed (a checking process by other academics and experts), and can include the latest research on topics. Most libraries have e-versions of journals that you can search.
Learning outcomes – what you're expected to have learnt or the skills you should have acquired when you complete each part (or module) of your course.
Lecture – a common form of teaching large groups of students at universities. The lecturer may give a presentation while you listen and take notes, and usually you save any questions until the end, though some lecture styles vary. See also seminar.
Level 4, 5, 6 – Level 4 is the same as the first year of a full-time undergraduate degree, level 5 is the second year, and level 6 is the third year. Levels can be helpful if you're a part-time student.
Maintenance loan – funding to help you with day-to-day expenses such as rent or food while you're studying. The amount you can get is partly means-tested (based on your household income). It's paid direct to you, and you'll need to start paying the loan back when you've graduated and are earning above a certain amount.
Master's (MA/MSc) – this is usually a one-year full-time postgraduate degree course that you would usually do after an undergraduate degree programme, or if you have related work experience. See our list of postgraduate courses.
MBA – this is a specialist master's or postgraduate programme in business administration. See our MBA course.
Modules (core and optional) – the building blocks of your degree. For each year of an undergraduate degree (if you're studying full time), you'll normally take modules that add up to 120 credits.
In your first year, you normally take more core modules – these are required, mandatory units. In your second and third years, you'll get more choice in what you're studying, so you take a mix of core and optional modules. You can view the modules for each course on our course pages.
NUS – National Union of Students, which is an organisation in the UK that supports all university and college students.
Plagiarism – this means taking someone else's ideas and passing them off as your own, whether you mean to or not. It's a serious offence in any university, and that's why it's really important to list your sources in your text and in a bibliography at the end of your work. See also citation.
Postgraduate degrees – these include master's courses (MA, MSc, MBA) and are usually taken after undergraduate degrees and/or relevant work experience. They usually take one year full-time to complete. We also offer postgraduate research degrees including MPhils, PhDs and Professional Doctorates.
Reading Week – a week's break usually midway through the term, where you generally don't have classes, to allow for a bit of time away so you can catch up with any extra study or reading needed and perhaps see friends and family.
Reference – when you're doing an assignment, you'll need to make sure you've listed any other books, journals or other sources of reference you've used – both in the specific place in your work, and also at the back in a bibliography section. See also citation and plagiarism.
Registration – also known as induction, whether you're a new or a returning student, you complete registration at the start of every academic year, which usually involves checking course and tuition fee details, and any legal or identity documents you need.
Resit – if you fail one of your coursework exams, you can sit the paper again in a resit. These usually take place during the University's reassessment periods.
Resubmission – this involves your coursework. Some modules on courses allow you to resubmit a paper if you failed or didn't do well on it, to try to improve your results.
Scholarship – a financial award that you don't have to pay back, usually given if you've achieved great academic results or you're in financial need.
School – you'll become part of one of our academic schools when you join London Met, depending on what course you're taking – we have various different schools for different subject areas.
Semester – either the first half or second half of the academic year (autumn or spring semester) – any taught courses will usually fall under one of these two. This is a little different from academic terms – we have three terms and you can find our term dates here.
Seminar – usually a seminar involves your lecturer with a small group of students, where you'll be discussing a particular topic, and be expected to be an active participant. See also lecture, tutorial and workshop.
Summative assessment – this is part of your work that counts towards your marks for your degree – it could involve coursework or final exams, unlike formative assessment.
Tutorial – a one-to-one session with your lecturer, sometimes with just a few other students. You'll be expected to participate actively in any discussions. See also seminar and lecture.
Unconditional Offer – a guaranteed offer of a university place that doesn't rely on you getting particular exam grades in the future. See also Conditional Offer.
Workshop – a small, practical or hands-on session that's designed to give you real-world skills. See also Lecture, Seminar and Tutorial for other different learning styles you might encounter at London Met.