Academic Personal Opinions- Students Opinions
JJ Clark - [email protected]
University of the West of England
In an effort to discover exactly what those students for whom the UWE Academic Tutoring Scheme
was designed thought about it we recently conducted a survey through the Student Representative
structure. The feedback was gathered from the November 2014 round of SU (Students' Union)
Forums (departmental level meetings for Student Representatives). All Student Reps were invited
to these forums and a total of 148 comments were gathered regarding the topic. Each Student Rep
was given information on the APT scheme, asked to gather opinion from the students they
represent, and to bring this to their SU Forum
The feedback demonstrated that there is widespread inconsistency with students' experiences of
the APT scheme. Some students are unaware of its existence and some confuse it with the
Graduate Development Programme (GDP), or even other tutorial groups. APT models range from
1:1 sessions, vertical tutor groups led by other students, to 'Town Hall' meetings with up to 100
students attending a session. Through a student consultation via Student Representatives it is clear
that one consistent model does not exist and students' experiences vary widely depending on
department and discipline. There is confusion over whether postgraduate taught and post-graduate
research students are entitled to Academic Personal Tutoring, as there are conflicting views on
this.
Student feedback indicates that the most useful engagement with APTs is at undergraduate level
1; whilst students settle in to the adjusted environment of HE,
Representatives from the faculty of Business and Law indicated this is also true for mature students
or those returning after a gap in education. Final year students explained the need for 1:1 support
with their dissertation and discussing life after university. Meanwhile finding placements is a cause
which level 2 students say they use their APT for.
Further details of our finding are presented below as they were highlighted at different levels
LEVEL ONE
Setting expectations
Students would like to start the academic year with one group session (all tutees with their APT),
where clear expectations of the scheme can be outlined as well as how sessions will be structured
for the rest of the year. The start of the year was said to be the point where communication about
the scheme currently lacked the most, which was concerning to students, in the first year especially,
because this was when they needed support the most. Students asked for more transparency over
how APTs are selected and trained to support students.
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