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Personal Academic Tutoring
Access the Personal Academic Tutoring dashboard
All of our students have access to a range of support to maximise the outcomes of their time learning with us. Personal Academic Tutors should meet with their tutees each term to check-in on their academic progress and engagement, and to discuss things like study choices.
Any local support offered by you, as a Personal Academic Tutor, and your department is reinforced by a wide infrastructure of support services available across UCL. You should feel confident to signpost students to other specialist services, like Careers, Student Support and Wellbeing or the Academic Communications Centre, where appropriate. Personal Academic Tutoring forms part of the UCL student academic support structure, alongside programme and module leads and teaching staff in programme support.
The nature of the relationship means you will often deal with a range of situations that require a sensitive and informed approach. The most important thing you can do when a student comes to you for help is to listen.
All students on taught programmes at UCL are assigned a Personal Academic Tutor and can access student-facing information on the academic support pages.
Be an accessible point of contact
Aligning with our organisational values of care and respect, providing regular opportunities to check-in can help ensure student welfare and put in place support if needed.
You will offer and organise at least one meeting per term with your tutees. These can be individual (1-2-1) or in small groups, but at least one should be offered as a 1-2-1. They can take place in-person or online. You might wish to organise and book these meetings using MS Bookings.
You should not audio or video record meetings with your students. Instead, it is strongly recommended that you securely keep a set of written notes and a record of tutee meeting attendance.
Provide academic and professional development support
As a Personal Academic Tutor, you play a vital role in supporting students, the delivery of education and student experience.
Whilst it is impossible to list every topic that each tutee might ask you about, you might provide advice on the following:
- Academic (programme/disciplinary related) support – module selection, module and assessment marks, goals, and how to improve.
- Academic skills – study skills, time planning, revision/assessment skills, using previous feedback, writing, presentations, plagiarism and academic integrity awareness. Specialist support is also available on the Student Academic/Study skills hub.
- Professional skills – discipline specific career planning and networking, applying for further study and/or internships. For specialist careers advice, students should consult UCL Careers.
- Engagement and making the most out of their time at university and making friends - how to participate in department social activities; how to become an Academic Representative or join a Department Society or club in the Students' Union; how to find out about research, volunteering and other development opportunities.
Students can expect to receive academic references from their Personal Academic Tutor on request, in accordance with UCL’s Student Reference Policy (Chapter 14, Academic Manual).
Understand the wider support network available to students
You should be aware of support and resources from central UCL services to signpost students where appropriate. For example:
- The Student Triage and Referral Tool (STaRT) and local department/faculty Student Advisors for mental health and wellbeing support (immediate or ongoing).
- You are encouraged to check local support and escalation pathways with Departmental Tutor/Programme Leads.
- The Student of Concern form.
Support for Personal Academic Tutors
Whether you're new to the role or looking to refresh your practice, the Personal Academic Tutoring (PAT) Hub SharePoint will help you support students effectively. There you'll find practical tools, guidance documents, example activities, and development opportunities.
UCL HEDS (Higher Education & Development Support) offers a range of training, workshops and resources to staff who are involved in PAT.
You can also join colleagues on the Personal Academic Tutoring at UCL Community of Practice on Microsoft Teams.
Your wellbeing
Personal Academic Tutoring can be difficult and it is important to look after your own wellbeing.
We provide guidance about how to look after your own mental health and wellbeing, as well as training on mental health first aid on the Resources for Personal Academic Tutors page.
Personal Academic Tutoring Dashboard
The dashboard is one of several recommendations arising from the Personal Academic Tutor Review. Read the Personal Academic Tutor Review conclusions and recommendations in full. We anticipate that, in time, the dashboard will also monitor Personal Academic Tutoring meeting attendance, store meeting records and student references.
Personal Academic Tutor/tutee allocations are managed through Portico. Speak to your departmental professional service education team to check your tutee assignments are correct to get access to your tutee dashboards.
The video below provides a short demonstration on how to navigate the dashboard.
Additional resources
Personal Academic Tutoring Community of Practice
Join the Personal Academic Tutoring at UCL Microsoft Teams site where colleagues who are new and experienced in the role can share examples of practice/activities for engaging with and supporting their tutees.