Academic Skills Support

Our Academic Skills Unit (ASK) offers free academic support throughout your studies. We can help you whatever course or level of study.

Our team of friendly tutors can help you develop your academic skills, from your thinking and approach to tasks, to writing styles and managing your assessments. We aim to help you improve as an independent learner, in a challenging but kind environment that gives you the abilities you need to succeed.

We are available to all University of Portsmouth students including undergraduate, postgraduate and research students.

Distance learners

You can access this support and guidance if you're a distance learner too. We can help you to use our online platforms, engage with your tutors remotely and manage your learning alongside your other responsibilities.

Contact the ASK team to work with one of our tutors and choose what works best for you. We can offer you remote 1-to-1 sessions by phone, email, or platforms such as Zoom or Google Meet.

Mature students

If you're a mature student beginning higher education we can help you get up to speed with studying and scheduling at uni. We can offer guidance on how teaching and learning has changed since you last studied, and what learning strategies and approaches are the best fit for you and your course.

Faculty specific support

For help with course related skills, techniques and challenges, your Faculty's dedicated learning support and development tutors are the best people to speak with.

If you get in contact with us we'll be able to assess who would be the best fit to support you. If we think your Faculty specific tutors can provide you the support you need we'll put you in touch with them.

Book a tutorial

If you'd like to book a tutorial with a tutor from the ASK team, you can book one yourself or ask your Personal Tutor for our details. You'll be offered one-to-one tutorials, group-based skills sessions or workshops.

We're open from 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Thursday, and until 4.00pm on Fridays. We also offer appointments during the holiday periods apart from the Christmas to New Year closures.

Book a session by emailing us at academicskills@port.ac.uk, calling +44 (0)23 9284 3462.

Learning resources

Our online resources will help you to improve and develop reliable study habits at your own pace. You can download most of these resources as PDFs so they're easy to add to your notes.

Develop your skills

Improve your assessments