Your Academic Tutor 

All undergraduate and postgraduate taught students are allocated an Academic Tutor - a member of academic staff in your School or Department who acts as a key point of contact throughout your degree. 

Academic Tutors work in partnership with students and the University’s wider support services to support your academic, personal and professional development. 

You and your Academic Tutor should meet at least once a term to discuss your academic progress and development. Your Tutor will have multiple tutees therefore they may invite you to meet as a group, however, you can always request a one-to-one meeting if you would prefer to speak in private. 

Your Academic Tutor works with you to:

• Formulate plans to support your academic and personal development. 
• Help you make decisions in relation to your course. 
• Connect you with other academics in your field of study.
• Help you make the most of the wide range of development opportunities on offer.
• Direct you to other University support services as appropriate.  
  
  

How do I find out who my Academic Tutor is?

Students are allocated an Academic Tutor in Welcome Week when they first join the University. If your Academic Tutor leaves the University or changes role, your School will contact you to let you know who your new Academic Tutor is. 

If you’re not sure who your Academic Tutor is, you can find out on the RISIS portal (select ‘Programme and Modules’, then ‘Programme Information’). Alternatively you can contact your Support Centre.

Listen to Dr Alastair Culham talk about the new School Directors of Academic Tutoring roles, put in place to help give you better support.

How are Academic Tutors different to Personal Tutors?

The Academic Tutor system was introduced in September 2018 to replace the previous Personal Tutor system, following extensive consultation with both students and staff. If you are a returning student, your Academic Tutor will most likely be the same member of staff who acted as your Personal Tutor previously.

To complement the new Academic Tutor role, the University has introduced a new Student Welfare team which will work alongside existing student support services to provide help and advice on any personal non-academic challenges that you may face during the course of your studies.

The new Academic Tutor system will ensure that you are supported by specialist members of staff depending on your individual needs.