Thinking about studying, but looking at your week and wondering how you will fit in study? Especially if you’re balancing part-time or full-time study with full-time work.

The good news is that it can be done! Many of our students work, are parents or care for others on top of studying. And you don’t need to overhaul your life to start uni. You just need to study in a way that fits into your life.

Plus, we’ll let you in on a secret. Most of our students aren’t fresh out of high school. They’re people like you. Experienced. Busy. Already juggling a lot.

So let’s discover how you can make study fit your life.

Try our study load calculator

Fit university study around your life

Answer a few quick questions to see what study load might work for you.

1 Your weekly commitments

Study time per subject: Each 8-point subject requires around 12-13 hours per week, including readings, assessments and participation.

Tell us how many hours you already spend on work, family and other commitments.

What your study load actually means

Your study load is the number of subjects you take each session. But when you’re balancing work, family or caring responsibilities, it’s about more than just numbers. It’s really about what you can manage in your average week, not your ideal week.

To give you an idea, a full-time load is usually four 8-point subjects in a session, which adds up to about 40 hours of study a week. If you study part-time, you’re usually looking at 10 to 20 hours, depending on whether you take one or two subjects.

To figure out where you should fall on the study load spectrum, we recommend taking an honest look at your typical schedule. Include work hours, commuting, rest, family time and everything else that fills your days.

This will help you choose a study load that’s realistic and sustainable over time.

How to make study fit your life

Now on to the nitty-gritty. Making study fit alongside full or part-time employment, parenting, hobbies, plus whatever else you’ve got going on is possible (we promise). But you have to approach it thoughtfully. It’s not about choosing the quickest option or following a typical path. Instead, it’s all about making a study plan that is tailored to you. Study should meet your needs and align with your goals and vision for your future.

That’s why flexibility is at the core of everything we do. Studying online gives you more control over when and where learning happens. You can plan study around your work schedule and personal commitments, instead of trying to squeeze everything into fixed hours.

As a Charles Sturt student, you’ll have ongoing access to your learning materials through Brightspace, our online learning platform. This means you can revisit content, plan ahead and study at the times that work best for you.

As Australia’s largest online university¹ we’ve been supporting students to balance study with work and life for decades. That experience shapes how our courses are designed, with flexibility built in from the start.

The benefits of studying as a mature-age student

Yes, studying later in life can come with extra responsibilities and time constraints. But there are also real benefits to studying where you’re at right now, and they’re worth remembering.

One of the things we pride ourselves on at Charles Sturt is learning by doing. And the chances are you’ve already done a lot of “doing” before joining us. So in many ways, you already fit here. Plus, the skills you’ve developed in life and in your career are transferable and will be a huge advantage to you at uni.

Think about it. Many mature-age students:

have a clearer sense of what they want to achieve and why
bring strong time-management and problem-solving skills
are used to juggling competing priorities
can apply what they’re learning to real situations straight away

These are all massive benefits. You might be returning to study to pivot your career, upskill, or land a promotion at work. Whatever your goal is, Charles Sturt can help you achieve it.

Photo of a woman studying on a laptop, with their toddler on their lap

Get started

Learning doesn’t stop when life gets busy. Many people return to study because the world has changed, their work has changed or they’re simply ready for a new chapter.

The calculator is a starting point to help you think through what might work for you right now. If a career change is part of that thinking, visit our career change hub for practical tools, advice and study options to help you explore what’s next.