The Courtauld employs staff who are here to assist you with academic, organization, time-management skills and more.
Library support
The Library offers a range of skill training and academic support. This includes 1-2-1 appointments with a Librarian, and online training videos. For further information check out the Library website or email library@courtauld.ac.uk
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Royal Literary Fund Fellows
Students can enlist the support of our two Royal Literary Fellows, Jane Rogoyska, and Ella Frears. Jane and Ella are both professional writers and offer support to Courtauld students thanks to the Royal Literary Fund’s Fellowship Scheme. The RLF website has a very useful guide to writing essays.
Students can book an appointment to see them by emailing Jane.Rogoyska@rlfeducation.org.uk or Ella.Frears@rlfeducation.org.uk
Please pick one of the fellows to contact rather than contacting both at once, this is because Fellows have independent booking systems.
The Royal Literary Fellows can help you to improve your academic writing skills, reading strategies, and organisation of material. If you would like to improve your style, clarity of argument, if you need help with structure, tone, or simply getting to grips with the writing process, please do get in touch with them. (Note: this is not an editing or proofreading service).
Ideally, they will look at some of your written work in advance and then discuss it with you in person at the meeting. Please state in your email the times you are not available so that they can allocate you a session that fits in with your schedule. It’s best to book well in advance, if possible. If you leave it until the week your essay is due, you may find there are no free slots.
If you find you can’t make the appointment, please email them as soon as possible so that they can use your time for someone else. Students can book one or two tutorials per term, and sessions are available for any Courtauld student, from BA to PhD.
Academic Skills Tutor
One to one support is available for students who feel they need some additional assistance with academic writing conventions, speaking for presentations, or any other academic skill.
How to book an appointment:
Email our Academic Skills Tutor, Anjali Thakariya (Anjali.Thakariya@courtauld.ac.uk), outlining the course you are studying, assignment details, and what you would like to focus on. You can choose to have your work looked at via email or if the appointment is in person send no more than two pages three days before the appointment. Please note appointment requests and support via email must be made no less than a week before deadlines. If you have a quick question this can be answered via email at any point in the writing process.
What to expect:
The aim is to help you to improve your academic skills. If you wish to focus on your written work, you will need to send a sample of your writing. This should be a maximum of 2 sides of A4. The tutor will be happy to look at your work or discuss any skills issues with you. At the end of the session they will try to summarise the areas in which you can improve future pieces of work. Please do not expect the tutor to simply correct and proof-read your essay or to improve the subject content.
What you can do before your consultation:
Please check your written work carefully before you come. For example, use your spell-check and grammar-check facilities on Microsoft Word. If you have lots of careless grammar and spelling mistakes, there will be no time left to discuss more important aspects of your work such as academic conventions, structure and your writing style. Also, try to identify areas of academic skills or language you have particular problems with, and come with some specific questions if possible.
Specialist Study Skills Tutor
The Courtauld also has a Specialist Study Skills tutor, who offers 1:1 study skills support to students with study skills recommended in their diagnostic report and/or medical evidence. This includes students with specific learning differences, mental health concerns, and autistic spectrum conditions.
If you have (or suspect that you have) a specific learning difficulty (Spld), such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia, or if your diagnostic assessment is more than five years old, you can contact wellbeing@courtauld.ac.uk or janet.harper@courtauld.ac.uk for advice about assessment and support. If appropriate, we can refer students to a partner organization for assessment and the cost of the test will be covered by The Courtauld.
How can the Specialist Study Skills Tutor help?
The support offered by Janet is student-centred, designed around individual academic needs, and complies with the social model of disability.
Specialist study skills can help with:
Understanding: how you approach challenges, how you learn best, and how you can succeed
Strategies: techniques to be effective in reading, writing, planning, and all other aspects of study
Assistive technology: how you can make the most of technology designed to make you an independent and effective student
Communication: develop the confidence to ask the right questions, stay in touch with people who can help you, and respond when you need to
Organisation and planning: learn to organize your time well so you have time for studying, writing, and wellbeing
Support for Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD)
If you have (or suspect that you have) a specific learning difficulty (Spld), such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia, or if your diagnostic assessment is more than five years old, you can contact wellbeing@courtauld.ac.uk or janet.harper@courtauld.ac.uk for advice about assessment and support. If appropriate, we can refer students to a partner organization for assessment and the cost of the test will be covered by The Courtauld. Find out more on the student VLE.
Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA)
You can apply for Disabled Students’ Allowances and more information about the application process and the evidence you need to submit is available on the government website.
Personal Tutors
If you want to address an academic or pastoral issue, you can also speak to your Personal Tutor. Please email them for an appointment.