Personal Tutors

Overview

All students are assigned a Personal Tutor. You can find details of your personal tutor on your Tabula profile. Every member of academic staff has their contact details and office hours available on their staff webpage.

Your Personal Tutor is a member of academic staff whose key responsibilities in this role are to be an accessible and approachable departmental point of contact, providing responsive academic and routine wellbeing support and guidance to facilitate your learning development and experience. The Personal Tutor is also the most obvious person to provide a reference for you for any internships, graduate programmes, or job applications, so it is worthwhile investing time into developing your relationship with your Personal Tutor to support them in writing these references when the time comes.

The Personal Tutor can discuss a variety of things such as general academic performance, the feedback you have received, ideas you might have about study and or employability skills you need to develop, questions you have about the rules and regulations of the department and university, as well as queries about other sources of development and support across the University.

All students should meet regularly with the Personal Tutor to discuss their academic progress. Throughout the year, the Personal Tutor is available to discuss any queries about academic, personal or general matters. If a student is experiencing any problems, their Personal Tutor is the first person they should go to.

Recording Meetings

After meeting with Personal Tutors, students are encouraged to write a brief report via tabula (go to the ‘Personal Tutor’ tab, then click ‘Record Meeting’), which the personal tutor will approve. This encourages students to reflect on the meeting, and to be in charge of the information recorded. Personal Tutors will also record the meetings on Tabula. Monitoring points cannot be met without a meeting record on Tabula.

Health and Wellbeing

Your Personal Tutor is not an expert in health and wellbeing issues - which are best discussed with your GP/healthcare provider. Wellbeing Support Services (Disability Services, Mental Health, Counselling and Wellbeing) are available on campus if you need professional support with any issues. Your Personal Tutor’s role here is to signpost you to these specialist services and to discuss with you how to manage any impact issues are having on your academic studies and any adjustments that might be recommended. Once you have met with specialist services, it is a good idea for you to update your Personal Tutor so they are aware of the support you are receiving.

Subject Specialism

Personal Tutors are not experts in all subject areas within your department or degree course. You should contact module staff for questions about specific module content. Your Personal Tutor may be able to help you identify the most suitable person for you to contact with a specialist academic query if it is outside of their expertise.

Tutor Assignment

It is sometimes necessary for a student's Personal Tutor to be swapped to an alternative member of staff, often due to staff taking up research leave or general staff turnover, and usually taking place during the summer vacation. In such circumstances, the student will receive an e-mail from the Department confirming that their Personal Tutor has changed. You can ask to change your Personal Tutor but this is an exceptional rather than routine occurrence. If you wish to discuss this possibility, or any difficulties you are having with your Personal Tutor, contact the departmental Senior Tutor in the first instance.

Senior Tutor

The Departmental Senior Tutor oversees the Personal Tutoring system in the Department.

The Senior Tutor is an experienced member of academic staff and they manage complex issues that Personal Tutors refer to them. They are usually involved with the response to, and management of, mitigating circumstances and reasonable adjustments. They are also involved in absence monitoring as poor attendance is often an early indication of difficulties. Contact your Senior Tutor if you have issues affecting your studying that your Personal Tutor has not responded to or which you do not wish to discuss with your Personal Tutor.

Home

Department

• Induction
• Expectations and Departmental Information
• Attendance
• Communication
• Contacts
• The Library

Welfare and Support

• Mitigating Circumstances
• Personal Tutors
• Reasonable Adjustments
• Wellbeing

Course Regulations

• Course Structure
• Ethical Approval for Research
• Extensions
• Lectures and Seminars
• Associated Costs

Assessment

• Coursework
• Marking
• Feedback
• Dissertation
• MA Dissertation Supervision Request Form
• Academic Integrity
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Exam Boards

Personal Development

• Awards, Prizes and Funding
• Careers and Employment
• Events and Engagement
• Other

Student Voice

• Appeals and Complaints
• Feedback and Surveys
• SSLC