Supervisions Information
Also see the FAQ for additional information.
Graduate and MMath Students form an essential and respected part of the undergraduate teaching force at Warwick. Our students are of the highest calibre: most have 3 or 4 A*’s at A-level, and a good grade in TMUA. They expect and deserve good teaching. They also need the support and encouragement of people who vividly remember how challenging undergraduate mathematics can be.
What do supervisors do?
Supervisors meet groups of 5 students twice a week to answer questions, discuss assignment problems, and stimulate participation and debate. You will typically be asked to mark three assignments per student per fortnight. This must be done responsibly and promptly, as in most subjects assessed work is worth 15% of the final mark. At the end of each term you will be expected to complete a student report form on each of your students.
Students on joint-degrees meet with their supervisor once per week, and typically have one or two marked assignments per fortnight.
What’s in it for me?
• The rate per contact hour varies depending on your experience in the role; undergraduates are typically employed as FA4 employees, starting on spine point 16 (university pay scales can be see hereLink opens in a new window). Supervising a Maths group will typically mean payment for 2 contact hours and 4 preparation/admin/marking hours per week. Supervising a joint-degree group will mean payment for 1 contact hour and 2.5 preparation/admin/marking hours per week.
• You gain teaching experience and some valuable lines on your CV.
• You have the satisfaction of helping others learn a subject you love.
• You learn while you teach – not just about teaching, but about mathematics too.
Whom will I teach?
Supervisors are assigned groups of (usually) five first year students; these might be maths students, but may be joint degree students from stats, physics, philosophy, and computer science (all students in a group will be from the same course). If you have maths students, you will be given the option not to supervise in the third term at a later date.
What will I teach?
Supervisors teach first year students who take courses in Foundations, Analysis, Algebra, and Methods of Mathematical Modelling. You may be asked to help with other modules by your supervisees, but you would be under no obligation to do so and should concentrate on the core maths modules first.
How much will I teach?
There is a menu on the form for you to specify your preferred number of (contact) hours a week, you should remember that there is preparation and marking on top of this. We do not know the exact student numbers, so we cannot guarantee that everyone will be allocated their desired number of supervisions
Eligibility
To be eligible to become a supervisor, you should fall into one of the following categories:
- Postgraduate student (PGR or PGT)
- 4th Year MMath student (having achieved at least 2:1 grades in your third year)
- 3rd Year MMath student
- 3rd Year BSc student (with 2nd year grades that would have allowed you to be on the MMath course)
Students on a course with an intercalated year are applicable if they satisfy the above requirements for the equivalent year of their course (e.g. G105 Y5 is equivalent to G103 Y4).
Joint-degree students may apply if they satisfy the equivalent requirements for their course, and have results that demonstrate a strong performance in mathematical modules.
Training
There will be a training session for all new supervisors at the start of Term 1; this is expected to take place on the Wednesday afternoon. Details will be provided nearer the time.
You should not make any financial decisions based on being given supervisions.
Applying to become a supervisor:
You should fill in the application formLink opens in a new window. This must be completed in order to be added to payroll. The current application form has a deadline of 1st August, although there will be a second round of recruitment afterwards.
(note: we do not receive a list of applicants until after this deadline)
Additionally, to indicate your preferences for teaching, please also fill in this form.