Personal Tutor Statement

Your Personal Tutor will:

• help you to review your academic progress and performance regularly;
• help you to think about your learning and how it will prepare you for your time at university and your career;
• help you to become a confident, active member of a community of learners;
• help you to deal with any concerns or problems that might affect your studies and refer you to other staff in the School and support services as appropriate.

You can find out who your Personal Tutor is via MyEd.

Your School will schedule meetings with your Personal Tutor to enable you to settle in and build a relationship.  You are actively encouraged to request meetings with your Personal Tutor as required throughout your time at the University. 

You will meet your Personal Tutor for scheduled meetings planned in advance.  Your Personal Tutor will contact you by e-mail to arrange a suitable time and location for your meeting.

You may contact your Personal Tutor to request additional meetings.   You can do this by emailing them directly, or by sending a meeting request via EUCLID. 

The purpose of this meeting might be to:

• discuss and review your academic progress and reflect on your learning;
• review your course choices;
• address any concerns or problems that might be affecting your studies and signpost you to other support services; or
• review your study plans.

Students taking 60 or more credits in a single year will meet with their PT for individual meetings at least 4 times in a year. These meetings will include:

• a one-to-one meeting, to be held in your first term or semester, which will focus on your study plans and course choices;
• a one-to-one, or group, meeting in term/semester two after the return of coursework, which will focus on making the most of feedback on assessed work. 
• a one-to-one, or group, meeting around the end of the academic year to review your learning and your next steps. 

Students taking fewer than 60 credits will meet with their PT at least once per year, with further meetings to discuss progress as required, depending on the timing and number of the courses being taken.

Your programme might arrange additional individual and/or group meetings. Please check your programme handbook for details.

If you are not on campus, then your meetings may take place by telephone, or online/digital tool.  Email exchanges are not considered to be meetings unless they take place within a pre-agreed timeframe to enable you to have a “conversation” (e.g. if you are overseas and emailing within a 24-36 hour period to take account of time differences).     

You should keep in touch with your Personal Tutor by email, and let them know quickly if your study plans change, or of any problems that are affecting your studies so that you can be supported and directed to other University support if needed. 

Your Personal Tutor will add a note of your meetings to the Personal Tutor area of MyEd.  These notes can be marked as ‘confidential’ and will only be available to a core small group of staff who are responsible for supporting you.  You should discuss with your Personal Tutor if you have any concerns about how an issue will be recorded or how confidential it will be.  You can find further information on this on your Personal Tutor area of MyEd. 

Within each School there are a number of other roles working in partnership with Personal Tutors to make sure the Personal Tutor system works for you. 

Student Support Team

Each School has a Student Support Team (SST) working with Personal Tutors to support you.  The SST can assist you with routine enquiries and non-academic issues such as:

• accessible teaching rooms
• personalised building evacuation plans in the event of emergencies
• specialist assistance in class (e.g. note taker)
• course materials in alternative formats, and in advance of classes
• personalised adjustments for examinations
• specialised equipment in class (e.g. induction hearing loop)
• signposting to qualified professionals (e.g. counselling services)

In order for us to help with disabilities, whatever their nature, it is important that you let us know as soon as possible after you have  enrolled on your course so that we can make appropriate arrangements well in advance of your study period and provide you with the best possible learning experience. 

Some of the support listed above can only be accessed if you have a Learning Profile with the University’s Student Disability Service. You can find out about this service by visiting the Student Disability website here.  Students who might need adjustments to be made are strongly encouraged to make an appointment with the Student Disability Service. 

Find out how to make an appointment with the Student Disability Service here

Your first point of contact with COL’s Student Support Office is Aga Pera. Aga may be contacted at COL.studentsupport@ed.ac.uk.

The work of the Student Support Team is overseen by COL’s Teaching Office. The Head of the Teaching Office is Claire Fox. Claire can also be contacted at COL.studentsupport@ed.ac.uk.

There are no specific drop-in times for COL’s Student Support Office. You may contact the Office during the University’s working hours, which are Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm.

Your Personal Tutor can assist you with academic matters associated with your studies, such as choosing elective courses, or helping you prepare a personal statement as part of your UCAS application. Your Personal Tutor can also help signpost you to appropriate sources of support for wellbeing and study support.

The Student Support Team and your Personal Tutor will aim to respond to your e-mail within three working days where possible. If your Personal Tutor is not available within this timeframe, and the matter requires urgent attention, you should contact COL’s Senior Tutor by e-mail, who will advise you further regarding whom you should contact. The Senior Tutor’s contact details are set out below.

Each school has a Senior Tutor who oversees the effectiveness of personal tutoring within your School. COL’s Senior Tutor is Deirdre Macleod. You can contact her at seniortutor.COL@ed.ac.uk

Should you wish to change your Personal Tutor, please contact the Senior Tutor.