Academic Writing Advisory Service
This is a dedicated service for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the College of Arts and Law, developed in response to student feedback and tailored to the needs of undergraduate and postgraduate students registered on our programmes.
Areas of support include:
- Producing different types of writing - from your first undergraduate essay to your final PhD thesis
- Organising your ideas and structuring an argument
- Being clear and coherent, precise and concise
- Editing your work for academic style and linguistic accuracy
- Referencing what you read and avoiding plagiarism
- Developing your own academic voice
Advice and support is provided through:
- 1-1 tutorials with a professional academic writing advisor or experienced AWAS tutor
- On-line activities and exercises designed to help you develop your academic writing skills
- Bespoke workshops and lectures delivered in collaboration with academics in your department
Feedback
Student feedback
"I really enjoyed looking more clinically at my essay, it forced me to look at my piece in a new way and encouraged me to think more creatively and analytically. So useful!"
"I liked that my AWAS tutor assumed that I was going for the highest marks - it was nice to see that she wants to help everyone get to the top. I will definitely return"
"Great email AWAS session - My tutor provided in-depth comments on my work and it's really nice to see how engaged she is with essays we submit to her. Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to make their work stand out"
Academic feedback
"Specialist writing advice is an invaluable resource. Teaching this properly is a skill in itself, and not something that most academics are trained in or could do with any effectiveness. Full-time permanent advisors with specialist training, skills and qualifications in this field are pretty much essential these days"
To contact the Academic Writing Advisor, please email awas@contacts.bham.ac.uk.