To help you make the most out of your time at the University of Brighton, you will be assigned a Personal Academic Tutor (PAT) at the beginning of your degree to help you develop skills to achieve your goals, such as guiding you through assessment feedback from all of your modules.
Your PAT will be one of the academic staff within your schools and will be your support for all academic aspects of your degree which isn’t related to the content of any individual modules.
PATs work closely with your Student Support and Guidance Tutor (SSGT), who will prove support on a range of issues such as homesickness and loneliness, problems with accommodation, transition to Higher Education, stress-related issues and mitigating circumstances.
PATs are also able to support you with planning for your future and can refer you to a Career Development Adviser for your school if you would like to talk through your ideas or get support with developing your skills and your career.
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You will meet your tutor during induction week or soon afterwards, and will then have one or two scheduled meetings a year to review your academic progress. You can also contact your tutor whenever you need advice on any matter, or if you’d like support on issues affecting your studies or wellbeing. The details of how you can contact them will be provided to you at your first meeting.
Your Personal Academic Tutor will support your overall academic and personal welfare and signpost you to additional areas of help within the university if you need it, such as Student Services and the Students' Union.
Your PAT is there to help you identify the skills you wish to develop to make the most of your degree. They will offer guidance on how to act on feedback from modules, lend a hand when you’re creating plans to help achieve your academic goals and will help you identify how you can enhance your future career prospects by supporting your personal development.
It is a good idea to get to know your tutor as early as possible to discuss any early concerns you may have and nip a problem in the bud.
Although your tutor may be super supportive, it is always best to think about what you want to get out of the meeting, write notes and agree a short list of what to do next by the end of your tutorial. These will help you make practical steps towards reaching your goals and by writing them down, you can review your progress down.
Your tutor is there to support your personal, academic and career development throughout your degree and can be utilised for catch-ups or to address something more serious.
At the end of your degree, your PAT will often be your go-to person for references which will help you in future employment or further study.
If your academic performance is adversely affected by ill health or serious personal difficulties, your tutor may suggest that you submit an Additional Consideration request.
Find out more about Additional Consideration on the problems with your course page.
For more depth, you can take a look at the Personal, Academic Tutoring Policy. How the policy is delivered varies by school – please read the advice here in conjunction with your school guidelines.