COMING back from a lengthy summer break, I often dread getting back to work. This year, however, there was a certain degree of excitement in starting my new life at sixth-form.

Before realising it we are now a month into the new term and early excitement is subsiding and replacing it is the hard work and graft associated with previous years.

With the first exams as close as January there wasn't a lot of time for messing around and work began in earnest.

When starting primary school the first thing we did was potato prints, I was saddened on arrival to find out that this year's welcoming exercises were not paint based.

Working as part of a sixth-form is obviously different from being part of mainstream education.

For a start everyone involved has chosen to be here. As a result no one can have any complaints about having to come in and work.

Independence is key and it is important to work off your own back, although desks are provided in most lessons.

Only doing the subjects you are interested is a boost to morale as it means no more wasting time in lessons where you feel that the teacher is speaking a foreign language - although this can be useful in French, German or Spanish.

Lessons have been cut as well and now students are only in class for maybe four hours a day, freeing up time for background reading and carrying on with work from class.

For me this is one of the biggest plusses. It means everyone can work at their own pace with teachers there to guide your study.

Sixth-form is different, a more mature place to work, but with a raft of opportunities floating our way it is more important than ever that no one misses the boat.