The Alternative Handbook

University of Leeds
Do you have any comments about your work life balance?
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I think that at Leeds you’re able to make of this what you want. The course is supportive of a work life balance but if you
wanted to choose to work more then there’s plenty to do!
Difficult during the first half of first year - few study days available as they are trying to fit in teaching and training. I feel
like this is getting easier as I adjust to the demands of the course and placement more. I only really have to use weekends
when deadlines are looming and only work in the evening maybe once a week. Course are keen to ensure you take all your
annual leave and they have an ethos of “good enough” for essays and projects - they only want you to pass, not to achieve
the best you can!
I think people manage their time and work load differently so it depends on the trainee but it’s rare that I do work at the
weekends or in the evening.
The course have spent time thinking about how to make the course as balanced and supported as possible. Leeds for me,
in comparison to other courses, avoids unnecessary stress and burden and keeps the wellbeing of their students at the
heart of their processes.
I don’t find myself working weekends or evenings much at all as I plan ahead & make use of study days
Work life balance is generally good but it’s important to organise time effectively to ensure this.
It’s obviously hard work, in the first year I’ve been juggling placement, literature review essays, group presentations, reflective
reports and thesis planning. However I find if you use study days well I don’t have to do too much outside of working
hours. I only work weekends and evenings in the few weeks leading up to deadlines and even then I’m not working all
weekend or every evening. I’ve found it challenging but manageable. Our cohort socialises together a lot.
Can be hard to achieve in the midst of training! The course tries to promote this, but I think it’s impossible to get the
balance I would like whilst studying for a doctorate.
It waxes and wanes, depending on work load, it’s mostly ok but less so at the moment with imminent thesis deadline....
The course encourages a work life balance. This said, in the first year at least there are not enough study days to complete
coursework- so you do have to do this in your own time (to keep my evenings free I use annual leave and often weekend
days to work). Everyone finds their own balance, there’s a myth that someone managed this course 9-5, but I have no idea
how this could be possible!
I think the nature of the course demands a lot of your time and it’s about making it work in the way that best fits you.
I try to run it like a marathon, consistent and steady. However, there are inevitably times when it is more skewed, work
demands are more intense and thus social activities may be harder to do, although this is time limited.
The course has been a very social one so far and we aim to do some social events across all three years. There are times
where there are more deadlines, than at other times, but this seems to balance out across the year.
How do you rate your financial quality of life?
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