Mature students

At VUW, mature students are students over 20 who have been out of education for some years. The government’s vision for tertiary education is focussed on learners under 25, so there is currently relatively little emphasis on mature students at university. Mature students include both those who are returning to university after time away to pursue post graduate studies, or a different course of undergraduate study, and mature students who have never attended university. New Zealand and Australian citizens, over the age of 20, can attend university in New Zealand without having gained any form of university entrance qualification (see see VUW website Special Admissions page). Obviously students who have previously attended university have some idea of the educational environment they are returning to, but they can be very worried about how rusty their academic skills have become in the intervening years. Student who left secondary school many years ago and who have not attended any educational institution in the interim can find attending university both intensely intimidating and also, intensely rewarding. Both groups, though they may not initially be aware of it, have advantages over their younger fellow students in terms of life experience and strategies for coping. This 2008 article by Cathy Stone gives a good idea, from an Australian perspective, of some of the issues facing mature students who have never been to university. VUW provides some orientation activities specifically for mature students and the SLSS website also offers some advice specifically for this group.