One-to-one academic coaching
Our one-to-one academic coaching appointments are open to all Keele students, designed to help you to develop your academic practice in a focused way.
During your one-to-one appointment, a member of the Academic and Digital Skills team will spend up to one hour with you to help you identify your strengths and areas for development surrounding your academic skills. Our goal is to help you achieve your academic and professional goals. We can provide coaching support on a range of topics, including but not limited to:
- Academic writing
- Critical thinking
- Academic reading practices
- Revision techniques
- Academic presentation support
The one-to-one appointments are confidential and take place online using Microsoft Teams. You can access up to six appointments each academic year, with no more than two appointments per piece of work. You will receive instructions on how to engage with us remotely in your confirmation email. Please check your Junk email if you haven't heard from us after booking.
How to prepare for your one-to-one appointment
Aim: To provide one-to-one support to identify and enable you to achieve your academic and professional goals.
Your responsibilities will be to:
- Make and keep arrangements in good faith and punctually.
- Consider what you would like to work on before you arrive.
- Be prepared to experiment with new ideas, strategies and approaches at a pace that suits you.
- Take responsibility for your own learning and development.
- Be consistent and authentic to ensure that trust and honesty is established.
Our responsibilities will be to:
- Carefully explore and agree your specific areas for development.
- Enable you to consider your development and options for change.
- Be consistent and authentic to ensure that trust and honesty is developed.
- Encourage you, if appropriate, to keep people in the University informed of issues.
- Refer you to appropriate professionals for further guidance and support where identified needs exceed the boundaries of our skills, knowledge, qualifications and capabilities.
- Maintain confidentiality, unless there are exceptional reasons such as risk to health, personal safety or infringement of the law.
How many times can I bring the same piece of work to you?
We will see you about the same piece of work no more than twice. Your submission should be your own work, including the process of planning, research, understanding, thinking, organising, and writing. You are encouraged to think carefully about what you would like support with to maximise the benefits from your time with us.
How many times can I use the service?
You can request up to three appointments per semester (September – January and February – June). This restriction is intended to prevent dependent relationships from forming and to support the aims of our coaching service, which is to support you to become an independent learner. Therefore, we encourage you to think carefully about what you would like support with to maximise the benefits from your time with us.
Can I email you my work instead of a face to-face appointment?
We want to be well-placed to develop personal plans to support you, which is best achieved in collaboration with you during the appointment.
Can you proof-read my work?
We are not a proof-reading service and we advise you to read the University’s proofreading guide for students, which you can access on the Student Academic Conduct webpage. Instead, we provide feedback on how to improve your work, which might involve a detailed discussion about small sections of your work or more general discussion about an entire piece.
What happens if I miss an appointment?
Life is busy and unpredictable, so the occasional missed appointment is understandable. If you know you are unable to attend the appointment, please be courteous and let us know beforehand because we might be able to help someone else in that time. If you miss two consecutive appointments, then priority will be given to other students.
Can I get an appointment tomorrow?
Our coaching service is very popular and we offer as many appointments as we can. We strongly encourage you to plan ahead with your work to avoid disappointment. Our waiting list can be approximately 2 – 4 weeks during peak times (early October – mid-December and early February – mid-April), so please account for this waiting time in your planning. The waiting list is usually 1 – 2 weeks at other points of the year.
Can I book multiple appointments in advance?
You cannot book multiple appointments in advance so that everybody has a fair opportunity to access the service.