Appointments and contact us

Please note

Our advisors are currently working remotely, so appointments for students are available remotely via Zoom or email. In order to make most efficient use of staff time and reduce the wait time for appointments, the ASC allocate one skills advisor to one primary skill need (i.e. writing skills or referencing or note taking).

Please provide at least three working days notice when providing dates/times for appointments. For dissertation support we currently require five working days' notice due to extremely high demand for the service.

English language support for international students can be accessed through the Birmingham International Academy

Making an appointment

We offer confidential individual appointments for undergraduates, postgraduate taught and MRes students (for writing skills). Simply book using the form at the bottom of the page. If you are a Birmingham Scholar, please use the booking form which can be accessed through your Birmingham Scholar Canvas page.

We can help with:

writing skills
study strategies
referencing
searching for high quality sources for your assignments.

For help with understanding and acting on feedback, see our Canvas course.

For help with Office, SPSS, Photoshop, etc contact the Digital Skills team.

If you are a postgraduate research student (i.e. MRes or PhD), contact our Research Skills team, although we also provide writing skills support for MRes students.

Appointments are available throughout the academic year from Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00, with a reduced service outside of term time. We can offer you four appointments per academic year. Please note that direct emails to ASC staff, especially if they involve lengthy queries such as detailed referencing or literature searching points, may count towards your four appointments. For students in Singapore, appointments are available Monday to Friday 09:00 to 12:00 UK time (17:00 and 20:00 Singapore time) via Zoom. Please book five working days in advance wherever possible. Due to demand for the service it is important to plan appointments in advance.

Please look at our guidelines before booking. This will help us to identify the strategies that you need to develop. We are here to develop your skills rather than proofread or check your work. If you’re looking for help with writing skills, you may wish to bring along your past assignments, and the feedback you’ve had, to discuss how you can improve in the future.

Please note that we do not provide a proofreading service and are unable to provide comments or support on work being submitted for online assessment. For support in preparing for online assessment, please enrol on our canvas course

We can only read one paragraph of work that has not yet been submitted or assessed. We can look at an assignment plan, and discuss your general approach to the piece of work, but we’re unable to read whole drafts before they have been handed in. If you bring in work that has already been assessed, with your tutor’s feedback, we can read the marked assignment and help you to reflect on the feedback you’ve received and how you will build on it in the future.

Fill in the form below to book. We are very busy during term-time, so please book in advance, especially if you need help with a particular assignment. Please provide at least three possible appointment times in the form below. Please note that any forms submitted after 16:00 on a Friday will not be looked at until the following Monday. If you wish to submit more information in addition to your form, please email asc@contacts.bham.ac.uk

Book an appointment

Name

First name

Last name
Preferred name
Student ID number
University email address
School/department and course
Are you currently studying on the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson programme?
YesNo

If yes, please send your query to hsmc-library@contacts.bham.ac.uk
Your year of study
Brief outline of primary skills support required e.g. writing skills, referencing, searching library resources, time management, revision and exams skills, reading and note taking, systematic/literature reviews
Essay/assignment title if applicable.
Please give at least three dates and times when you are available to attend. Please note that if you require help with dissertations we require at least five days' notice due to significant demand for the service.
Where did you find out about us?
Is there anything else you’d like us to know before we meet?

Contact us

For questions or feedback, email asc@contacts.bham.ac.uk

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