Every course has a reading list that is available before the course starts. You can either find your reading lists on your Sole page or on BlackBoard, in the individual module sections. Each module should provide you with a module guide and somewhere in there (whether online or handed to you in your first lecture) should be a reading list of Set Texts and Additional Reading.
I started my PGCE course and I’ve already got my set texts for the Core Subjects (Maths, English and Science) and my specialist subject (Special Educational Needs).
Money is always a problem for students, so when looking to gather your texts for a module look around at different places, don’t just go straight to Amazon! There are many other places you can look for textbooks that will save you a lot of money in the long run.
1) The Library – you pay thousands of pounds for your course and this includes full use of the library. It is a £60 million resource so use it to its full potential. It boasts over 250,000 books and 12 miles of archive collections so it’s more than likely it will have the book you’re looking for
2) Inter-Library loans – even though the Hive has thousands upon thousands of books it does not hold everything therefore for more specialised texts relevant to your course you can use the inter-library loan scheme. This means you can either borrow or photocopy an article/text from another library
3) Look online – there are many different websites you can use that sell second hand textbooks at a discounted price. It pays to look around different sites such as AbeBooks, JustBooks, AwsomeBooks, BookBrain and BestBookPrice,
4) Past students – everyone tends to buy the same texts for a module year after year and they don’t alter very much therefore a great place to buy textbooks is from students that have previously completed the module. You can do this via notices placed around campus, notices on facebook pages etc. It gets you a cheap textbook and provides students with a bit of extra cash! Win win!
5) Amazon – even though there are many different places to buy books amazon is still probably the easiest and simplest. They may not be the cheapest if you want to buy new, but they do have second hand options which are just as good as new books!
Overall the key thing to take into account is to shop around, you can end up having to spend hundreds of pounds of textbooks over your degree so you may as well try and save yourself a bit!
Get ahead of the game, whether you’re going into first, second or third year and look at your reading list as early as possible.
Happy shopping!
Worcester Student Life 