This paper explores the transitions that a group of students, admitted from further education colleges as part of broader widening access initiative at a Scottish research-intensive university, made across the lifetime of their degrees. It investigates how they negotiate their learning careers beyond the first year, and how they (re)define their…

This article draws on findings from a longitudinal study of Chinese international students beginning study in a New Zealand university, and focuses on the very different experience of two students in relation to a single course and its assessment requirements, as they sought ways to negotiate identities as university students in their new setting.…