Uni course to combat perfectionist student

A university in Adelaide is pushing back against perfectionist students with a course designed to reduce excessive self-criticism and lower drop-out rates.

From next year Flinders University will offer a Thriving and Surviving course for first-year students - designed to combat perfectionists with unrealistic expectations and excessive self-criticism.

"Some people think that more effort means more payoff. If people push themselves too hard, performance starts to deteriorate ... people actually sabotage their own ability to achieve," Dean of the School of Psychology Professor Tracey Wade told AAP.

"It's not really pressure from universities; it's self-imposed pressure and societal pressure where achievement is highly valued and it's become more competitive to get the jobs people want."