Students come to us in very stressful times, and that’s exactly what we’re here for. The thing is though; we don’t want students to have to be in these stressful situations. So, we’ve made the following list to help you out - hopefully to pre-empt these issues.

Without further ado (despite ado-ing further): 

Save Drafts of Your Work: This is for online work, and for physical, hand-written plans or notes. Not only does it mean you know exactly where all your work is from (a lifesaver if you’ve not saved an updated draft), but it can be used as proof and evidence of your work being your own. Viewing writing history is a tool on Microsoft Word - other people and big chunks of texts popping up in your history could be seen as AI or collusion - keeping updates of your own work can prove it’s not. Submitting an assignment is not the end of it, sometimes there will be questions on what you’ve written and how you sourced your information.

Apply for Mitigating Circumstances (MCs): Yes, tutors say that they need to be serious, yes, they sound very serious, and yes, you can apply for them no matter what the situation is (RIP Jaws the Goldfish). There’s no shame in asking for help, and there’s no shame in applying for MCs at any inconvenience.

Ask Ask Ask: If you’re not sure on what you can and can’t do with an assessment (using AI for planning, working with friends, paraphrasing vs citing etc), then ask your tutor. They won’t judge you - they are there to support you and will let you know if what you’ve done is acceptable or not and advise you on how to move forward in the future.

Disclose any Disabilities or Long-Term Impairments to the University: You can disclose any type of disability to the University, even hidden ones, and get support for them. Even if you feel you don't need extra help, if your disability affects you or your studies in any unexpected way, then the university is readily aware and can support you where needed. Don’t hide things that you don’t need to be ashamed of (this is written by someone who is autistic by the way - the university does help).

Ask for Help Early: Be that from us, your tutors or the University Wellbeing Service - if you can sense that something isn’t going well, or is going to get worse, get in touch. Come prepared with any documents sent to you, or emails between you and others.

For the Learning Professionals: Attend your placement and have all work signed off by the right people, not yourself. You will have to use these skills and knowledge again, if you haven't been appropriately checked and signed off, you won’t know your own knowledge base and if you'll be able to apply your learned skills the next time they're needed.

Take Advantage of all Services Available to you: The University careers team can help with CV development, interview preparation and assessment writing.