Guidelines for HSK Academic Skills Service one-to-one appointments
What you can expect from us:
- One-to-one support from an academic tutor to support your general study skills for up to 20 minutes (Levels 4-6) and up to 45 minutes (Level 7+).
- We offer up to 3 appointments per student in any one academic year. Additional support will only be considered for students with Study Needs Agreements (SNAs) and we will require a copy of the SNA to better understand how we can support you.
- Where relevant, we will look at up to 2 paragraphs (maximum 500 words) of an essay to comment on style, structure and criticality (as appropriate).
- We can support general study skills such as planning an assignment, essay structure, checking your referencing style, time management techniques, revision tips and study skills.
- We are here to support your learning but we cannot guarantee that you will pass your assessment.
What you cannot expect from us:
- We are not subject specialists, so while we provide focused support, we are unable to comment on the quality of the content of your work.
- We are not able to act as a proofreading service, including proofreading of references (e.g. we will not be able to check for spelling mistakes or incorrect issue numbers for journal articles).
- We will not be able to comment on whether an assessment will pass or fail, this is up to the marker.
- We are not part of the School or university’s wellbeing service and so cannot provide counselling advice/services. If you require this type of support please look at this link
What we expect from you:
- You need to check your timetable and diary to ensure that you can attend the appointment before booking it in.
- Be on time! If you arrive late this cuts into your appointment time e.g. if you are 10 minutes late your appointment will only last 10 minutes.
- Check in advance how to access your appointment. If you are unsure of how to access the appointment or have not received any information about it contact the SSAS team at least 24 working hours in advance. You MUST use your university email address for this – so make sure you check it.
- Log into online appointments using your university account.
- If something happens which means that you are unable to attend – cancel your appointment. This should be done a minimum of 24 hours in advance. (Please note – if you don’t cancel, this counts as a ‘strike’ – after three strikes you will not be able to book any further appointments).
- Appointments are up to a maximum of 20 minutes (Levels 4-6) or 45 minutes (Level 7+). We cannot extend this as other students are booked in after you. When preparing for the appointment make sure you focus on your priorities so that we can help you most effectively within this timeframe.
- If you are coming for some support following feedback on a previous assessment, make sure you have read this carefully in advance and select one or two areas that you would like to focus on during the appointment.
- You are expected to make your own notes during the appointment, we will not be making notes for you.