Hi Joseph, welcome to this fine establishment.
I to am a Joseph living in the West Midlands, which uni are you at?
I must admit, I got into every aspect of straight shaving at once and made every mistake you could, but I made em quickly once only. I wouldn't reccommend you do it my way and might want to leave honing for now and focus on the shaving. You might want to see if you're shaver passes a HHT, shave ready razors generaly do though not neccessarily and even a sharp blade ain't alway a good shave. It is probably a good idea to send it out if you are unsure but it's alway worth a test shave on cheeks only. I highly reccommend Lynns DVD it's a terrific starting point and I find the wealth of knowledge on this site invaluable.
At my humble level of knowledge, if I can help I will so feel free to contact me.
Question: Have you used a straight, feather or shavette before?

Best of luck
Joey