First time studying since school & I'm completely lost

Hi.
I have just started my level 5 - and doing this online. I have never studied and totally lost with the 1st assessment and its 3000 words :-(

I was wondering if you can get private tutoring? just to get me started?

Hi Marie, this is not unusual at all, so don't think you're alone in this. On the plus side you have lots of really useful practical experience to draw from so that's going to stand you in good stead. Lots of good advice here from community members and here are some tips from our website too: www.cipd.co.uk/.../study-guides

It seems you don't get as much support online - do you have any kind of Tutor, Forum or similar?
Are you stand alone or in a small HR team? As I had really good support from the rest of my (large) HR team and had a designated mentor.

Hi
I have a few people in the team who have done Level 5, but don't like to ask too much with it being my 1st assessment done want them to think i'm cheating my asking them to help me. plus we are a new team and only been working together for 5 months. the online tutor is good, forums are good just feel like i need someone in person the explain everything and what is expected from the answers, and how to format things and how to reference stuff. :-( At the minute i'm just doing the 1st activity on the CIPD Map and struggling already - Do i pull the information from the map and reference it, or do I actually have write my owns words.

If anyone knows of anyone in manchester area that offer tutoring, I would like to know more :-)

I see. It's not necessarily cheating . I found my team really helpful in explaining it and applying it in the context of the workplace - pointers of examples to evidence in my assignment etc. So more of a steer and guidance than actually doing it for me.
I found the same - whilst Coach/Assessor was good I needed to understand it in the context of my own workplace.
I found the CIPD student section really useful for referencing guides etc. Even though I had completed a degree it was over 20 years ago and in quite a different subject.
I'm not very good at putting things in my own words and too reliant on texts etc. However you should be able to reference what you are writing about.

As others have said, don't be at all afraid to ask for - and insist on getting - help.

But for your first assignment, the main thing is just to get started. Have a brain-dump, bullet-point the things you think you want to say, sort them into some kind of logical order, then start writing. You'll probably find that your thoughts evolve as you go, so either write your introduction at the end, along with your conclusion, or be prepared to tweak it afterwards. Worry about referencing at the end; stick a highlight in wherever you're going to need to add a reference, and come back to it later, so you don't disrupt your creative flow. Analysis is analysis - look for trends, similarities and differences, and comment on them, the same as you would when looking at internal data.

So the format may not be what your tutors are looking for, or it turns out you're writing at the wrong level? So what? You'll only find that out by having a go, and acting on the feedback you get. I'm currently writing a dissertation as the last part of a degree, and having regular "rabbit in headlights" moments, like you're having now (and I have to keep giving myself much the same kind of pep-talk!) The biggest hurdle is getting past that moment and getting started - once you do, you'll probably surprise yourself with how much you find that you have to say. Good luck!

There's lots of good advice here already. If you want another source then take a look at the Open University. They help lots of students every year, many of whom also haven't studied for a long time.

There are lots of guides and short self-paced courses freely available on their Open Learn website:
www.open.edu/.../skills-for-study

Hi Marie
That first assignment is definitely something that can make you feel overwhelmed. You've had lots of great advice already but I thought I'd let you know how I approached the process of writing the assignments on my level 5 course, in case it helps.
The assignment is usually broken down into several sections. I wrote down the question in each section as a heading. Under each heading I listed the points that I thought were essential in answering the question, either as one word or a short phrase. I then expanded on each of these until I had the first (and usually very wordy) draft of my assignment. After that I fine-tuned the text until I was happy.
I wish you lots of luck with your course. However daunting it may seem now, you'll feel a huge sense of achievement, elated and justly proud when you've qualified!

Hi Marie,
I am in exactly the same predicament. Just try take one part at a time that's what I have been doing. Also the wats ap group has been amazing and so supportive. I am here if I can help at all :) x

Hi Marie,

Definitely pat yourself on the back, it's hard to study and work full-time at the same time, let alone with kids! I finished a part-time Masters in 2017 after leaving college in 2000. My advice would be:
1. Talk to your tutors. Schedule a phone call or sit down session and ask them re. essay structure and what they are looking for.
2. You can't read all the reference material and you can't even read all of the texts you choose. Learn to skim documents for the material you need and make a list of them. Start creating the reference lists early because this takes time.
3. My biggest tip: find some other assignments on the same topic and see what references they used and what format they used. There's no need to completely reinvent the wheel as there is a standard enough format for most assignments.

I hope this helps!

Eilis