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Academic study support

Academic skills support at St Mary's is delivered online and in-person by the Library and the Learning Development Lecturers.

Support from the Library

The Library team offer one-to-one appointments, drop-in workshops, and other activities.

You can find out what’s on offer or book a one-to-one by visiting Library and Student Hub Bookings. See below for some of the things that they can help with:

  • Library research, including finding resources.
  • Search strategies.
  • Citing and referencing sources using a range of referencing styles.
  • Critical thinking and evaluating sources

There are also a range of online Library guides that can support your learning.

Support from the Learning Development Lecturers

Learning Development Lecturers (LDLs) offer support via online or in-person tutorials. You may be referred by your Module Convenor, or you can self-refer. LDLs can help with the following topics:

  • Planning/structuring an assignment
  • Understanding assessment criteria
  • Academic writing
  • Critical thinking/critical analysis
  • Summarising, paraphrasing, basic referencing, and direct quotation
  • Academic integrity and academic misconduct
  • Presentation skills
  • Time management

Have a look at our information for users to see how Learning Development Lecturers can support you.

Learning Development Lecturers

The Learning Development Lecturers work with your programme lecturers to set up initiatives to support you:

William Pittam

Paul Gascoyne

Lauren Gurteen

Victoria Araj

Your lecturers are able to refer you for a one-to-one appointment with one of the LDLs to develop your academic skills.

Academic English support

If you need support related to English language, please reach out to Lauren Gurteen or, if unavailable, Paul Gascoyne who specialise in this area for students who speak English as an additional or second language. All undergraduate and postgraduate students can receive English for Academic Purposes (EAP) support.

Royal Literary Fund (RLF) Writing Fellow

All students (and staff) can also book a 50-minute tutorial session with our RLF Writing Fellow to help strengthen their writing ability.