During enrolment week, you will be allocated a personal tutor. Much like your form teacher at school, their duty is to guide you through your time at university. You will be encouraged to visit their office at least once per semester in order to have an academic progress meeting (APM). It is essential that you attend these fifteen minute sessions, as they allow you to analyse your progress after receiving exam and coursework feedback to gain an understanding of your mistakes. You can assess your strengths and weaknesses and discuss how to improve essay and exam technique, which will improve your grades. They will give you honest and useful advice to help bring out your academic best.
If you are having any problems with any aspects of student life, their doors are always open for a chat. Remember, they have been in your position so know a great deal about the stresses of the university experience. If they aren’t sure how to help you, they certainly know someone who can answer your questions.
When it comes to making important decisions, your first port of call should be your personal tutor. Be sure to call in often to update them of your progress or just to say hi. The better they know you, the better they can advise you on what topics would suit you when selecting your second and third year modules. At the end of your second year, you may want to discuss the possibility of doing a dissertation and will therefore need to discuss ideas ready for your dissertation proposal. Your tutors will be able to tell you whether your ideas have been previously written on and can suggest readings that may be of interest to you. In addition, if you are unsure of your career path, why not book an appointment with them. Your tutor can help you with an application for further study and will write you a reference for your first graduate job. With this in mind, you should make an effort to update them regularly on your progress as you want them to get a good impression of a hard working and highly motivated student.
So Freshers, make sure you go and introduce yourselves to your new tutor as early as possible. You can do this by either emailing them for a meeting, or why not locate their office and sign up on the sheet outside. Remember, if you are a joint honours student or if you study single honours English language and literature, you will have two personal tutors (one for each subject of study). Make sure you see both tutors as they will be experts in separate areas and therefore will be able to help you with different aspects of your degree. Plus you will have the advantage of leaving university with two references from respected academics. Don’t forget folks, your personal tutor is arguably one of the most important members of staff that you will interact with. Make sure you help them to help you!
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