Specialist Study Skills Tutor

Our Specialist Study Skills (SpLD/ASC) are trained professionals who provide one to one support for students. 

Role of a Specialist Study Skills Tutor

A Specialist Study Skills Tutor (Autism Spectrum Conditions) may be recommended if you have Autism, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

A Specialist Study Skills Tutor (Specific Learning Differences) may be recommended if you have a Specific Learning Difference (SpLD) for example: dyslexia or dyspraxia, or another similar impact on your learning like that of a SpLD (e.g. a brain injury).

Specialist one-to-one Study Skills Support is specifically tailored to your learning differences or disabilities; to give you the necessary tools and support to enhance your academic performance and approaches to learning. Empowering you to become a more independent learner and achieve your academic goals.

This support can assist you with:

A student Nurse with University of Derby lanyard and in Nursing uniform.

My Study Skills Tutor is extremely knowledgeable in supporting those with educational needs, such as ADHD. Without my Study Skills support, I absolutely would not be in the position I am now (due to qualify in Nursing). In my first year, where I had no support, I failed every assignment and had to resit. In my second year, with study skills support, I achieved 70%.

Milly
2024 Nursing student
Building blocks stacked up.

I’d definitely recommend this service! If it doesn’t feel right for you, it’s very easy to stop so for people like me who are anxious about confrontation, you don’t even have to tell you support worker directly if you want to stop. I have found it very valuable to my studies and I have methods of working that I wouldn’t otherwise know about if not for my Specialist Study Skills Tutor.

Student feedback about Specialist Study Skills Tutor
24/25 academic year

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have funding through the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and the University of Derby is your provider, you can book your support with us directly. 

For students who are eligible for DSA, but have not yet applied, read our Applying for DSA webpage or Contact Us at Student Services. 

For students who are not eligible for DSA, please speak to your Disability Advisor for Disability Support. 

To book your first Specialist Study Skills session, please contact the Student Support team on nmh@derby.ac.uk. 

Visit our Applying for DSA page for support in how to apply for the Disabled Students Allowance prior to starting university. 

Once support is in place, you will receive a DSA2 letter outlining the provider of your Non-Medical Helper. 

If your Non-Medical Helper provider is the University of Derby, please email nmh@derby.ac.uk. Once you have completed enrolment, we can put your support in place.

Organising my support

  1.  Please contact the Student Support team on nmh@derby.ac.uk to be allocated a Specialist Study Skills Tutor. 
  2. One of the team will get in touch to send you an availability online form to your Unimail account to share the days, times and your format preferences (try to give the widest possible availability as this will expedite the process).
  3. You will receive a calendar invite for your first session(s) with your Specialist Study Skills Tutor.

Specialist Mentor support is usually in place for students  with mental health conditions, ADHD and/or Autism. Study Skills Tutors are usually in place for students with Specific Learning Differences (SpLD), ADHD and/or Autism. 

Specialist Mentors can help with feelings of overwhelm, mental health experiences affecting your studies, self-esteem and image. Whereas, Specialist Study Skills Tutors can help with developing your academic skills including assignment structuring, researching, planning and time management. 

No, your Study Skills Tutor will not be able to provide subject specific support as this will be provided by your academic team. 

If you require additional numeracy, statistics or financial literacy support, please check out Develop@Derby. 

Preparation for my first session

Your Specialist Study Skills Tutor will meet you online on MS Teams or in-person for your first session. The location of your session will be detailed on your calendar invite.

Your first session will be individualised to you but likely to cover:

  • Practical arrangements: agreeing where, when and how often to meet. Your Specialist Study Skills Tutor will explain the boundaries of the role and ask you to complete your Student Agreement Pack.
  • Support arrangements: talking through the support you would benefit from over the coming weeks. To understand the support you may need they will work through an Individual Support Agreement. 

No. If you have requested a face-to-face meeting, your Specialist Study Skills Tutor will book a room for your meeting and contact you to agree a meeting place for your first session. 

Your number of support sessions will depend on the number of hours you have been allocated through the Disabled Students Allowance or funded by the University of Derby. Usually, sessions are weekly throughout the term. Support can be arranged during the holiday periods, with the exception of the University closure dates (bank holidays and Christmas break). The frequency of your appointments can be increased or decreased through a discussion with your Specialist Study Skills Tutor. 

If you feel your support is not meeting your needs or you feel you need additional hours, please speak to your Disability Advisor.

After my session

Support sessions provided by the University of Derby are recorded using a platform called Connect. You will receive a weekly email to your Unimail account from Connect asking you to confirm whether your session took place or not. This allows the Student Support team to let your funding body know if the support has taken place. To ensure that the Disabled Students Allowance continues to offer you support, you must confirm your sessions. 

If you do not confirm your support in over three weeks, your support will be paused until you have confirmed the sessions. 

To confirm that your sessions either took place or not, please log on to your Connect platform. 

No, the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) will fund the amount of hours agreed on your DSA2 letter. If you have given consent to the DSA, the Student Support team are responsible for invoicing for your sessions directly from your funding body to inform them how many hours have been used. Your only responsibility is confirm your sessions on Connect. 

Please email the Student Support team on nmh@derby.ac.uk who will send you a link to reset your password on Connect.  

The Disabled Students Allowance terms and conditions state that they will only fund two missed sessions at short notice (less than 24 hours' notice) or not attended at all in a DSA term. 

The DSA terms run from:

  • 1 September - 31 December
  • 1 January - 30 April
  • 1 May - 31 August

Support can restart at the start of the next DSA term. 

Other forms of specialist support can still continue even if Specialist Study Skills Tutor support has been paused. 

If you urgently need support and your support has been paused, please contact your Disability Advisor to discuss options. 

Making changes to my support

You can email your Specialist Study Skills Tutor directly to cancel a session. Wherever possible, please give over 24 hours' notice to reschedule your support. Please note your Specialist Study Skills Tutor may not work every day of the week but will reply to your message as soon as they can. 

Alternatively, you can email the Student Support team on nmh@derby.ac.uk who will pass on the message to your Specialist Study Skills Tutor. 

Yes, please contact your Specialist Study Skills Tutor if you need to change the format of your session from in-person to on MS Teams. If you need any help in contacting them, please email nmh@derby.ac.uk. 

You can continue to receive support whilst you are on placement if you have more than 10 weeks on campus in the academic year. 

We do have Specialist Study Skills Tutors who can offer evening and weekend support. Please discuss your availability with your Specialist Study Skills Tutor to see if they can facilitate this. If not, please email the Student Support team on nmh@derby.ac.uk.

 

If you run out of your DSA or University funded hours, you can discuss your ongoing support needs with your Disability Advisor. Your Disability Advisor can process a request for additional funded hours. 

Please note this process can take some time, so please check your used hours with your Specialist Study Skills Tutor regularly to put in the request as soon as possible. 

We recommend you try a few sessions with your Specialist Study Skills Tutor to give you time to build the relationship.

We recognise everyone's personality is different and you may decide the relationship is not working for you. If you would like to make a change to your Specialist Study Skills Tutor please contact the Student Support team on nmh@derby.ac.uk or visit the team via the Student Hub. Please be open and honest about why support is not working to allow us to re-allocate you with a new Specialist Study Skills Tutor effectively.