Schedule 2: The Services  

Roles and Responsibilities 

1. Purpose of the role 

1.1 The Personal Tutor is responsible for delivering one-to-one pastoral support to web-supported students enrolled on the BSc Psychology programme.  

2. 1.2 Each Personal Tutor will be assigned a cohort of up to 50 students per study session. 

1.3 Students based at a Recognised Teaching Centre are not included in the scope of Personal Tutor support and should contact their campus Tutor for assistance and queries.  

1.4 The primary focus of the role is to offer students the opportunity to engage with a named academic contact, and, where appropriate,  to direct students onto the relevant University of London services, tools, and resources available to support them. 

2. General responsibilities 

2.1 Personal Tutors are expected to develop an understanding of the support services offered and to familiarise with any updates, new initiatives or developments as they arise.  

2.2 The University of London will maintain an up-to-date list of Personal Tutors by  liaising with the Programme Manager and will inform tutors of any updates, new initiatives or developments as they arise. 

2.3 As a Personal Tutor, you are required to have contact with students at least once a term and then make yourself available upon request to individual students if and when they ask.  

3. Reviewing pilot 

3.1 This role forms part of a pilot initiative for the April 2026 study session. 

3.2 Uptake, effectiveness, and impact on student satisfaction will be monitored and reviewed. 

3.3 Findings from the pilot will inform decisions regarding future delivery of Personal Tutor support for subsequent intakes.  

Below is a recommended outline of the key areas whereby students may require support. On the whole, personal tutors are expected to respond to student driven needs and requests as they occur.  

4. Overview of role 

Engagement with Personal Tutees  

• One group meeting with tutees (live interaction, not recorded) once per session, within the first 3 weeks of the session start 

• One follow up email communicating the same points to the tutee group, using BCC  

• If students do not engage/ attend simply record it. Continue to offer the opportunities.  

Points to cover in the first meeting & follow up email: 

• Say hello, get to know the student, be a friendly face, put them at ease.  

• State the main purpose of the role: to ensure that students feel able to approach you directly for support in future should the need arise. You are a friendly sounding board for advice/ suggestions/ directing onward 

• Set out your role as a pointer to other resources not the source of information itself 

• Set any personal boundaries & expectations  (e.g. time zone/ weekend working/ away times etc) 

• Manage students’ expectations around your role and availability.   

Expectations of tutors 

• Respond to student queries within 48 hours  

• Keep a record of your termly meeting and any other requested meetings  

• Group meetings should be between  45 mins – 1 hr min 

• For individual meetings allow 30 mins 

• If a student requests a fourth individual meeting in any one term, contact one of  the programme directors for support & advice. 

Resources and confidentiality 

• UoL will provide a cheat sheet list of links and resources where to direct student to covering all main categories of support.  

Confidentiality guidance: you should explain to students at the outset of every individual meeting that: 

• meetings are confidential and information shared will not be passed on except where the student requests it or where you ask and they grant permission. 

• an exception to would arise if a student discloses information indicating a risk of serious harm to themselves or others, or where there is disclosure of illegal activity or serious misconduct. In such circumstances, tutors have a duty of care take appropriate onward action, if necessary breaching confidentiality.  

• Tutors should, wherever possible, first seek the student’s consent to share the information of concern, but if that consent is withheld confidentiality can and should be breached in order to take appropriate onward action. 

5. Areas of support 

These are listed for contextual information to indicate the sort of areas that may arise and would be within scope for Tutors to address. Tutors are not expected to systematically cover each point with every student.  

Academic studies 

• Advise students on module assessment structure, study planning, and managing workload, particularly in relation to assessment deadlines and final Project.  

• Monitor students’ academic performance and identify early signs of academic difficulty based on data received from the Student Progress team. Work with Student Progress team on best methods of intervention.  

• Help students interpret and act on assessment feedback.  

• Refer students to their Online Tutor for any academic queries, and the Skills Hub on the Learn VLE for resources on academic skills.  

Wellbeing/signposting  

• Offer one-to-one check-ins for students to discuss any issues either directly related to their studies, or that can impact studies and ability to progress.  

• Signpost students to wellbeing services (Wellbeing support from the Student Life team and TalkCampus), as well as disability and inclusive practice support available.  

• Support students where they self-identify with challenges to learning, such as adjustment to pace of study and online education, or perhaps returning from interruption of studies to name a few.  

• Discuss long-term goals to maintain motivation and progress with the programme.  

• Foster a sense of belonging, promoting peer interaction and cohort-wide participation, encouraging students to engage with the UoL student community both within their programme, and more widely (via Discord, Student Ambassadors, Student Voice Group)  

• Signpost queries regarding employability, interview techniques, CV workshops and other personal development to the UoL Careers Service, accessed via the UoL Student Portal.  

Progress and retention 

• Discuss attendance to webinars, and continuously encourage students to engage with live synchronous sessions held by the Module Leader and Online Tutor.  

• Discuss engagement on the VLE, and assessment submission at key points.  

• Be aware of potentially at-risk students and work with the Student Progress team to consider early intervention.  

• Flag any other concerns re student progress to the Student Progress team to minimise student disengagement.  

• Help students set realistic academic and personal goals via one-to-one meetings, as required by students.  

• Provide encouragement after setbacks and remind students of support available.  

Guidance on UoL processes and procedures  

• Explain procedures related to coursework extensions, mitigating circumstances, resits, appeals, or interruptions of study, liaising with the Programme Manager as needed for information 

• Direct students to Programme Regulations, module running schedule, and how to log administrative queries through ServiceNow.  

6. Reporting  

• Maintain accurate records of meetings with students and intervention notes.  

• Communicate with programme team, Student Outcomes and Student Life when asked.  

7. Estimated time to be spent on Module:  

• An average of 25 hours per Module for the carrying out of the Module for personal tutor activities. The Module will run for 22 weeks with an additional period to include marking and examination board (anticipated to be about 8 weeks), though the Personal Tutor agreement for 22 weeks only.