Getting back into your studies
It's important to start the year off on the right track. Find out what you need to do before you come back in September.
At St Mary’s we are committed to creating an inclusive, safe, supportive environment for all our students, staff, and visitors. Our values of Inclusiveness, Generosity of Spirit, Respect and Excellence set the tone for the University and the expectations of how we behave as a University community, both as individuals and as an institution. To provide you with a better understanding of our culture and the behaviours please complete the two mandatory learning modules.
Academic skills support at St Mary's is delivered online and in-person by the Library and the Learning Development Lecturers, and English Language support is provided by English for Academic Purposes Tutors.
Online resources
Take a look at the Library online resources to see how these can support your learning and check for Library drop-in clinics and other sessions.
Drop-in support
Learning Development Lecturers (LDLs) offer support via drop-in clinics. LDLs can help with the following topics:
- Library research, including finding resources, search strategies and more for your assignments
- Referencing
- Planning/structuring an assignment
- Understanding assessment criteria
- Academic writing
- Critical thinking/critical analysis
- Presentation skills
- Time management
Your LDLs:
Melina Healy
- Email: melina.healy@stmarys.ac.uk
- Primary responsibility: Primary responsibility: Sport, Applied Health, and Performance Science. Education
William Pittam
Paul Gascoyne
Your lecturers are able to refer you for a one-to-one appointment with one of the LDLs to develop your academic skills.
As a new undergraduate student, you will be allocated to a Personal Tutor and Tutor Group. These groups are led by a member of academic staff that acts as designated personal tutor throughout your entire period of study.
You will meet with your personal tutor twice as a group and twice individually each semester. Personal tutoring plays an important part in enabling you to fully engage and have a successful learning experience at university. The role of the Personal Tutor at St Mary's is to:
- support your knowledge and understanding of feedback on assessed work
- signpost you to relevant support and advisory services
Having a Personal Tutor provides you with the opportunity to reflect on your learning and academic progress, and to discuss and formulate appropriate strategies to fulfil your potential.
In addition, Personal Tutors will be able to advise you on the facilities and services available to support your pastoral welfare. You will have access to our career development service and receive guidance on skills development throughout your studies.
After enrolment, your student timetable will be automatically provided into your St Mary’s Office365 account. This means that you will be able to log into your email on almost any device and see your timetable.
Your individual timetable will show you the date, time and location of classes taking place on campus, and will also indicate if the session will be online pre-recorded or live using Zoom or Teams or. Your programme team will provide information on how to engage with online learning and will create and supply the links you need to access your live sessions.
Please make sure to check your timetable daily especially for the first few weeks as it can be subject to change.
For more information about your timetable, visit our timetable FAQ page.