Iwas delivering some training for some student reps the other day when the objective of “improving academic support” emerged on a post-it note.
The officer that had scratched it out told of enrolling late (visa issues) and never getting any sort of academic induction, either on stuff like “what the UK means by critical evaluation” or more basic stuff like the rules around academic misconduct or extenuating circumstances.
He then described a litany of subsequent issues – poor to non-existent supervision on his dissertation, “personal” tutoring being run in groups of 35, endless waits for answers to emails and a curriculum overly focussed on theory – in sharp contrast to the implied employability promises outlined by his agent.
There was also mention of a racist incident involving a tutor that he’d been encouraged to “resolve” “informally” – but that’s another article for another day.
