A Guide to Reviewing Academic Skills Provision in Colleges

This guide presents ten prompt questions to support colleges in reviewing their academic skills provision.

It is focused on academic skills provision that is in addition to the academic skills support embedded in teaching by subject tutors in colleges, and underpinned by .

• collaborative work with colleges as part of the Centre for Teaching and Learning's academic skills development consultancies in 2023-24 and 2024-25
• sector-wide principles identified by a Benchmarking Exercise on Academic Skills Development in Higher Education (PLEASE PROVIDE URL)
• the findings of a report produced by students at Oxford.

To help colleges engage more deeply with the ten prompt questions, the Academic Skills Provision Toolkit offers three practical tools – the Mapping Tool, the Reviewing Tool, and the Role Profile Tool. These tools are designed to facilitate discussion with colleagues and students and contain additional resources and activities.

You can view the ten prompt questions below. You can also download this guide as a Word file (CT TO ADD URL LATER).

1. What academic skills provision does your college currently offer to students?

Understanding the full range of academic skills provision available to students, both in college and across the wider university, will enable you to identify more effectively any gaps in college support, pathways to support that might be improved, and other ways to enhance academic skills provision.

• Identify all sources of support currently provided for students, including: 
  • Individuals in college with specific responsibility to support academic skills development
  • Relevant college events, activities, and communities
  • College academic skills resources or hubs
  • University-wide resources and services supporting academic skills development.
• Map the connections between these provisions, including pathways or referral processes and timings (eg induction in Michaelmas term).
• Use the Mapping Tool to create a visual overview of current provision in your college.

2. How is current academic skills provision in your college tailored to meet the needs of different student groups?

Targeting provision to meet the varying needs of students ensures that it is relevant and may encourage greater engagement with the provision in a timely manner. It will also help the college to prioritise resources and increase impact of the provision.

• Consider the needs of specific student cohorts (eg by discipline, level of study, mode of study; background etc)
• Align provision with key transition points; formative and summative assessment tasks; and appropriate stages of the student journey (ie not just Fresher’s week/early in Michaelmas term)
• Use the Reviewing Tool to design a student survey exploring the relevancy, content and timings of current provision.

3. Can students engage flexibly with academic skills provision in college?

Offering a variety of formats and delivery modes provides choice for students to take up developmental opportunities and makes provision more inclusive and accessible. This approach recognises that academic skills development is an individual process for each student, and that students’ needs may vary over the course of their degree programme.

• Provide options within your academic skills provision, for example group and 1:1 sessions; online and in-person support; sessions at different times and locations to ensure provision is more accessible
• Repeat academic skills events throughout the year, recognising that students progress at different rates, or may have clashes with other commitments. Students have reported experiencing information overload during Freshers’ week; providing information and opportunities for academic skills development in various formats and at different times helps reduce access barriers
• Use the Reviewing Tool to design a student survey to explore barriers to engaging with academic skills provision, and suggestions for more inclusive approaches.

4. How does your college inform students about the available academic skills provision?

Effective communication with students is essential – students cannot engage with a service or resource they are not aware of or do not know how to access. Using a variety of communication modes is important because some communications will inevitably get missed, meaning students potentially miss out on learning about available skills development opportunities.

• Communicate opportunities consistently throughout the year using multiple channels (eg verbal signposting by staff, timetabled sessions, emails, posters, digital platforms etc)
• Use the Reviewing Tool to develop a survey to assess students' awareness of existing provision in college and the effectiveness of current communication methods
• Map communication channels and timings on the academic skills provision map created with the Mapping Tool. This may highlight opportunities to enhance existing communications
• Use the Role Profile Tool to clarify who is responsible for communication for each aspect of provision (resource, event etc) or method (e-mails, portal communications, posters etc)
• Ensure both academic and support staff are fully informed about current provision and ways of accessing it, so they can advise students accurately. Consider sharing the academic skills provision map with them.

5. How do college communications convey that academic skills are integral to academic success for all students?

Beyond simply informing students about available provision, communication should emphasise the value of academic skills development as a core part of the student experience, not just remedial support for students who are struggling. Articulating academic skills development in this way, and avoiding a ‘deficit’ approach, can increase the likelihood of students engaging with provision and mean that more students are supported to improve and develop their skills.

• Review the tone and messaging of current communications. Do they frame academic skills as relevant for all students, regardless of background or performance? Consider how communications can normalise and encourage engagement with academic skills provision (eg through testimonials, integration into academic milestones or endorsement by Tutors).
• Use the Reviewing Tool to develop surveys to find out how students and staff perceive academic skills provision, and whether this confirms or challenges the ‘deficit’ model. This can inform any changes to future college communications
• Add academic skills provision to the agenda at relevant college committee meetings or boards, so all those involved in teaching are included in a conversation about how to articulate the college’s vision of academic skills development as an integral component of learning at Oxford.

6. How does your college learn about staff and students’ experiences of academic skills provision?

Both staff and students will have valuable insights into existing provision within college. Learning about their experiences of what is or is not working well and what could be improved can help the college to make informed decisions about allocation of resources and changes to provision.

• Review data collected routinely by dedicated academic skills staff on use (eg attendance, repeat visits, engagement with online resources) and users (eg age, sex, year of study, subject) of provision
• Collect feedback regularly from both students and staff involved in delivering academic skills development, via informal conversations, focus groups and surveys
• Add relevant questions to existing college surveys or use dedicated surveys. The Validated Question Sets and the Survey Question Bank in the Reviewing Tool contain questions you may wish to ask
• Consider how feedback is shared and acted upon – closing the feedback loop builds trust and encourages further engagement.

7. How does your college enable academic teaching staff to support academic skills development and provision?

This question is most relevant to undergraduate teaching, where subject tutors regularly engage with students through tutorial teaching. Subject-specific academic skills development is embedded in tutorial teaching as a matter of course. Many subject tutors, especially those new to teaching, value pedagogic support and development opportunities to enhance this aspect of their teaching practice. Increasing numbers of students also require specific, more specialist academic skills support due to learning differences or disabilities. Providing effective ways for tutors to signpost students to additional college academic skills provision can give tutors more tools for promoting academic skills development to their students. It can also enable students to make the most of their tutorials and take more responsibility for their learning.

• Use the Mapping Tool to develop a visual map of existing skills provision that can be shared and used by tutors. This will raise tutors’ awareness of available support and enable them to signpost students to appropriate provision in a timely manner
• Use the Reviewing Tool to design a staff survey to establish what resources, support, networks and updates tutors would find valuable in relation to the college’s academic skills provision
• Set aside some time in regular meetings (eg Academic Committee) to:
  • inform tutors about academic skills provision
  • receive updates about provision from those directly involved in delivering support (eg academic skills tutors)
  • provide opportunities for tutors to feedback on provision, make suggestions for future provision and share effective academic skills development practice.

8. How does your college support staff in dedicated academic skills related roles to develop and enhance their practice?

Where a college has dedicated posts providing additional academic skills development opportunities, considering the professional development needs of these individuals will enhance the experience of students seeking support, ensure practice in your college is up-to-date and evidence-informed, and may make these roles more professionally rewarding for colleagues.

• Use the Role Profile Tool to identify the specific responsibilities of colleagues with academic skills related roles. Consider what support they may need to carry out their role, and if any changes to their role description are required
• Encourage those with dedicated academic skills related roles to engage with continuing professional development opportunities WHAT URL? offered at Oxford.

9. How could academic skills provision be monitored and evaluated?

Implementing an evaluation strategy can enable the college to better understand the impact of existing academic skills provision, including the short- and longer-term impact on how students approach their learning, changes in students’ confidence levels, engagement with provision, and academic outcomes. It can also be particularly helpful when introducing an intervention – for example, to evaluate the impact of a new academic skills programme.

• Work with colleagues on one of the activities provided in the Reviewing Tool to identify priorities and key questions for monitoring and evaluation
• Review data collected by dedicated academic skills staff on usage of provision (eg attendance at events, year/subject of students attending) and feedback data from college surveys
• For new initiatives, ensure you collect data before and after the intervention to evaluate its effectiveness
• Conduct annual reviews of academic skills provision in your college, evaluating all relevant data collected from students and staff, as well as academic outcomes (grades, retention rates etc.). Consider inviting a ‘critical friend’ from another college or part of the university for a different perspective and external input.

10. How could academic skills provision be holistically integrated with other college services and structures?

Students’ academic progress and skills development often closely intersect with related areas of their life, including mental health and wellbeing. Ensuring that college staff in different teams and roles, including welfare, student support, and academic support, are closely connected can ensure that students are directed to relevant support in a timely manner.

• Invite colleagues from across the college community and student representatives to engage with activities in the Mapping Tool. This will enable a more comprehensive overview, help to identify any missing connections between parts of the college in relation to academic skills provision, and better integrate support by linking up services within college
• Develop a map or flowchart that different staff can use to confidently and accurately signpost students to appropriate skills development opportunities
• Provide opportunities in meetings or college events for different college teams to learn about each other's work and responsibilities in relation to academic skills provision.

> Download this Guide to Reviewing Academic Skills Provision in Colleges as a Word file.

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