What do my Tutors expect from me and what can I expect from them?

You are expected to take your academic work seriously and to perform to the best of your ability. We hope that we have selected students who will enjoy their academic work. You must always prioritise your academic work above your outside undertakings, whatever extra-curricular activities you may be involved in. 

Good Academic Standing

You are expected to remain in Good Academic Standing throughout your career in College. To be in Good Academic Standing you must attend all tutorials, classes and Collections (i.e. College examinations) in College along with any University classes (e.g. Practicals) which are a course requirement. You must submit all required work on time, and this work should be of an acceptable standard (generally 2.1 level). This is outlined in the byelaws.

Feedback to students

You can expect your Tutors to give you feedback on the work submitted for tutorials. This might be in the form of written comments on your essays and problem sheets or oral feedback given during the tutorial itself. If you are not able to understand how to improve your work from the feedback given by your Tutor, please approach them for elaboration. Tutors differ in their practice about giving a mark for an essay. Those that do not give marks do not see the essay as a ‘finished product’, but rather as a part of the tutorial process, your first contribution to a discussion. At the end of a tutorial, you should be able to write a better essay than the one you submitted and it is the understanding reached by the end of the tutorial which is more important.

After a series of tutorials or classes, your Tutor will complete a report about your work on the Tutorial Management System (TMS). These are then released to your Personal Tutor at the end of each term for a report reading and will be made available for you to refer to on TMS. Please see the TMS Home Page (ox.ac.uk). Your TMS reports should give you an idea of how well you are performing – if for any reason they do not provide you with sufficient feedback, you can request more.

Feedback on teaching

You will have the opportunity to provide feedback on all the teaching you receive from all your tutors each term. Tutors value your perspective and want to know what they can do to help support your learning.  The Academic Registrar will send an anonymous tutorial feedback questionnaire by email to you at the end of each term, and will review all tutorial feedback and will discuss any issue raised by more than one student with the Tutor concerned. Copies of all comments are sent on to the Tutors concerned. Feedback which is positive and serves to reinforce good practice is also welcome. If you have a problem with an Academic Tutor, you should contact your Personal Tutor. If you have a problem with your Personal Tutor, you should approach the Senior Tutor. 

Collections

Collections are termly College examinations set by your Tutors. Collection papers typically contain questions from recent University examinations, and they are completed under examination conditions on Thursday and Friday of 0th week of each term. Collections will help you to evaluate your progress relative to any upcoming examinations and give you valuable practice in writing under timed conditions. You are expected to attend and to prepare well for these examinations. You can expect your Tutors to mark and return papers by the end of 3rd week of that same term. You can also expect feedback in a form that allows you to predict how well you will do in (or how much more work is required for) University examinations. 

Personal Tutors

Your Personal Tutor is responsible for organising your academic programme and for keeping your progress under review. You can expect to meet your Personal Tutor routinely twice a term: once at the beginning, and once at the end of term. Your Personal Tutor will meet with you at other times on request. The start-of-term meeting (normally in 0th week) will ensure that you know which tutorials and classes have been arranged for you in that term, whom your Tutor(s) will be and which lectures and classes you should attend.

The end-of-term meeting (normally in 8th week) is a report reading meeting. Your Personal Tutor will read all your tutorial reports from that term, and there will be an opportunity to review your academic progress and prospects. Tutors will also discuss any Collections that will be set for the following term and set you work for the vacation. 

Personal Tutors are there to help you in a pastoral as well as an academic capacity.  More information on the pastoral roles can be found in the Health and Wellbeing section.

Academic Review

You will have an individual Academic Review meeting with the Principal, the Senior Tutor, your Personal Tutor and your other College Tutors during your second year. This is an opportunity to review your performance up to this point and to identify any support you might need to help you fulfil your potential in your final year. 

How is academic success rewarded?

LMH encourages excellence in academic work and supports the highest achieving students with Scholarships and Exhibitions. These awards are typically – but not only – awarded for performance in the First Public Examination. Scholarships (worth £350 per year) are normally awarded to those who achieve a First in Mods or a Distinction in Prelims. Exhibitions (worth £200 per year) are awarded to those who are very close to this level. The awards are made for one year in the first instance and are renewed on the basis of continued high-level academic performance.