Support to Study is an action planning process to help to support students with their studies, or other aspects of their University life. It is a way to formalise and record support agreed with and being offered to’ students who need more structure than a supportive conversation or personal tutor meeting. This is a helpful tool for you to use to support your students and is not mandated.
Who may wish to use a Support to Study plan with a student?
- Wellbeing advisors, Mental Health advisors and other colleagues from Student Services
- SU Advice and Community colleagues
- Personal Tutors, Doctoral Supervisors, Directors of Study or Heads of Department
- Accommodation staff
When could you use a support plan?
| Circumstances where a support plan may be helpful | Intended outcome | Implemented by |
|---|---|---|
| When a student is struggling academically | To identify gaps in knowledge or skills and create a plan to address these | Personal Tutors, Doctoral Supervisors, Directors of Studies or Heads of Department. Wellbeing or Disability Advisors or SU Advice colleagues |
| When a student is struggling to engage in their studies | To agree goals and timelines for engagement and objectives | Personal Tutors, Doctoral Supervisors, Directors of Studies or Heads of Department. Wellbeing advisors or SU Advice colleagues |
| When a student is seeking multiple extensions or IMCS to manage their studies | To identify the difficulties leading to these requests and put a plan in place to mitigate or manage these difficulties to prevent studies becoming overwhelming. | Personal Tutors, Doctoral Supervisors, Directors of Studies or Heads of Department. Wellbeing advisors or SU advisors. |
| When there is a concern over a student’s Fitness to Study that is not serious, critical or potentially serious or critical* | To create an action plan to support the student to maintain their own fitness to study | Personal Tutors, Doctoral Supervisors, Directors of Studies or Heads of Department. Mental Health Advisors (when the concern is MH related) |
| For students under ‘Case Management’ within Student Services | To identify the steps and services needed to support the student and agree actions that will be taken | Student Services colleagues |
| For students struggling with living in University accommodation | To agree actions by both the student(s) and the University to facilitate harmonious living | Accommodation colleagues. Wellbeing advisors or SU Advice colleagues |
| For any student who would benefit from structured support | To identify the steps and services needed to support the student and agree actions that will be taken | All colleagues |
*Call 4321 for advice for staff on how to support students when there is a concern over their fitness to study.
Using the Support to Study tool
- Contact the student and arrange a time to meet.
- In your meeting with the student, work through the first page of the Support to Study tool. This will help you to better understand their situation and support needs.
- Use this conversation to start to develop an action plan for the student. This will include their goals and the actions that they, and you, commit to in order to meet these goals.
- Record the action plan using page 2 of the tool.
- Arrange with the student a time for your next meeting and if/how you should maintain contact until their next meeting.
- Email a copy of the Student Support tool to the student for their records.