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Personal tutors

Students working in a tutoring group

Students have a member of academic staff allocated to them as a personal tutor who will be a key source of advice, guidance and support during your time at Heriot-Watt. Your personal tutor is your first point of contact if you need advice on any issue, both academic and non-academic, and can refer you to other support services where relevant for non-academic matters. Personal tutors provide a clear point of contact for you throughout your degree. Students studying online programmes can find information about personal tutoring here.

Student advisors and academic advisors

Note: for some Edinburgh campus students, an alternative advice, guidance and support system as an alternative to personal tutors will apply. Find out more and check if this applies to you.

Making the most of your personal tutor

Your personal tutor is an important source of advice, guidance and support, and can direct you to other University support systems and resources as required. However, as a student you have certain responsibilities to help make personal tutoring as effective as possible:

  • Make sure you check your Heriot-Watt email or Microsoft Teams for any message from your personal tutor and respond to it as soon as possible.
  • If you are unable to attend an arranged online or face to face meeting at the agreed time, then let your personal tutor know as soon as you can.
  • If you have any changes in personal circumstances which may affect your studies, let your personal tutor know as soon as you can.
  • Remember that your personal tutor is not just there if things go wrong, they can advise you on a range of issues and also direct you to other sources of advice.

Contact with your personal tutor

Your personal tutor will contact you at least once per semester, however, you don’t have to wait until your personal tutor contacts you to contact them. If something is urgent and you need advice, you can email them for a response or to arrange an appointment. Also, your personal tutor may contact you at other times too, so please make sure you respond if they do. New students will also meet their personal tutor during welcome week as part of their induction programme.

Meetings with your personal tutor may be online or in person. For online meetings, the University will be using Microsoft Teams as the key way for personal tutors and students to contact one another individually, as a group and for students to interact with each other. Note: Microsoft Teams is part of the range of software available free when you enrol as a Heriot-Watt student. The University also provides a wide range of support services – including Wellbeing, Careers and Hardship and you can contact these services directly. You can also use AskHWU on the myHWU student portal or drop into the Student Service Centre.

Contacting your personal tutor

You don't have to wait until the next contact point if you need advice from your personal tutor. Sometimes your personal tutor may be unavailable due to a planned absence or other University commitments, if so, you can contact your year co-ordinator, programme director or head of discipline (contact details for each will be in your programme handbook).

Changing personal tutor

Students can request a change of personal tutor and to do so by making an enquiry via AskHWU on the myHWU student portal.

Your personal tutor may change during your time at University. If so, you will receive an introductory email from your new personal tutor giving details of how to contact them and when they are available.