A common complaint from staff in Higher Education (HE) is that students arrive from Further Education (FE) providers with a lack of awareness of what to expect at university. This is manifested by an unpreparedness and in some cases an unwillingness for autonomous learning and self-responsibility. This study was designed to assess student awareness and preparedness for HE with a particular focus on Mathematics. This was achieved via FE student and teacher questionnaires and a focus group which crucially allowed judgement between students’ perceived awareness and their actual awareness. The focus group also gave FE students an opportunity to quiz HE students on their experiences and opinions and gave the HE students the opportunity to provide information they felt was missing from their own transition to university.
