Academic Personal Tutor programme

About the programme

Having an Academic Personal Tutor for the duration of your course is an integral part of study at UWE Bristol.

All first year students will have access to a designated personal tutor. The tutor will be an academic member of staff who will have access to information on your performance and profile, allowing them to effectively support your personal and academic development.

UWE Bristol subscribes to the National Union of Students Charter on personal tutoring.

How tutors can help

Tutors are there to discuss your progress and provide ongoing support for you, in addition to the tuition on your course and modules. 

Tutors will agree with you at the first meeting how they can best support you through your studies according to your individual needs.

They will review your progress with you, identify goals for development, and signpost to opportunities that may help your personal development — the balance of these topics will be depend on your individual needs.

Meeting with your tutor

A meeting with an Academic Personal Tutor is designed to be flexible, allowing you to discuss academic concerns and queries that you wish to cover. Normally, you will agree the main themes of discussion for your first meeting.

Your tutor will encourage you to reflect on your progress on your course. They will identify where they think you need support and either provide that support or direct you to other support within the University.

The key role of a tutor is to provide support for your academic development.

Making an appointment

You will arrange how to meet with your tutor. Sometimes meetings will need to take place online.

You will be scheduled to meet your tutor at least 90 minutes in the first year (which could be three sessions of 30 minutes), then twice for 30 minutes each in the second and third years.

Changing your tutor

We hope that you will keep the same tutor for all of your years of study but this is not always possible. For example it may be appropriate to change tutors to better match your final-year dissertation.

If your academic personal tutor changes, we will ensure your the record of your appointments is handed over from one tutor to the next.

If you are not getting on with your tutor, arrange to see your Programme Leader/Manager, who will discuss a resolution with you, which could include allocating a new tutor.