Personal Academic Tutoring

The Role of PAT and how it works at UON

Management of PAT approach and tutee allocation

The administration of the PAT approach is managed locally by Faculties. Each Faculty will allocate tutees to PATs within 2 weeks of the student enrolling at UON. The Head of Learning and Teaching Enhancement works closely with Faculty contacts to support the implementation of PAT provision. For more information about this please contact your Faculty Manager or LTE@northampton.ac.uk

The Personal Academic Tutor Role

At UON, we have a specific Personal Academic Tutoring policy which outlines our expectations of the role. The Personal Academic Tutor is integral part of the UON’s approach to its Integrated Learner Support model, which provides a holistic approach to supporting student success. PATs encourage academic and social belonging to their course and can support their students in their academic studies and in their wider student experience.

The PAT role at UON is directly aligned with Principle 10 (Supporting Students To Achieve Their Potential) of the QAA’s UK Quality Code for Higher Education 2024, which includes students having support throughout their learning journey and being made aware of opportunities to enhance their experience and studies.

The PAT at UON works closely with our Student Support teams to support student progress and engagement, and to provide personalised interventions for success. In this way, the PAT serves as a central figure in a student’s university experience. The areas of responsibility outlined below are indicative of the role of the PAT at the University of Northampton, although the emphasis on each area will vary depending on the individuals involved, the subject/programme studied and the level of study.

1. Pastoral work
PATs are often the first point of contact for students who need additional personal support and the need for specific interventions will also often be surfaced through regular PAT meetings and activities with the student. It is important PATs do not feel total responsibility for the welfare of students: they are one part of a much wider team. See here for Student Support and Advice teams.
What is important is the PAT knows how to refer and/or greenlight students to the teams of experts we have in UON.

The following guidance documents are good places to start:

• What if? A guide for staff – PDF and
• Supporting a student in distress staff guide 21_22 – PDF

2. Building Community
PATs can encourage a sense of belonging for students. Belonging and mattering are integral to student success. PATs can encourage students to think about what communities they already belong to and what new communities they could join (for example Northampton Students’ Union Find A Society). PATs can also help students think about cultural and other differences within those communities and to encourage engagement with activities that strengthen understanding and bonds. Awareness of university support teams and networks make up an important element of this strand.

3. Academic Development and Progress
PATs should use MyEngagement to inform conversations about academic engagement, development, and achievement. They should also encourage students to reflect on their academic skills (including academic, digital and information skills) as these are important contributors to student success. All students should have embedded support for academic, information, digital and employability skills as part of the ILS but reflection on individual needs can be part of the PAT conversation, especially around assessments (preparation and results) and study choices during and beyond current study.

You can learn more about MyEngagement here: The MyEngagement Student Engagement Dashboard
Staff can attend training sessions on MyEngagement via LibCal: LibCal – University of Northampton (type in ‘MyEngagement’ in the LibCal search bar).

4. Employability, personal development and supporting aspiration
PATs should encourage students to reflect on social and community engagement, social enterprise and social impact. They should support aspiration through discussions of routes to and transition into employment or further study, which may be subject specific or more generalist. The Student Futures expert team provide opportunities for student enhancement, employment and the development of employability skills.

5. Attendance monitoring
PATs need to pay close attention to attendance as a result of UON’s Student Engagement Policy (4) – PDF. Guidance can be found here: Attendance Intervention Supporting Document for PATs – DOCX.

CPD and the PAT

If you are new to the PAT role and/or new to UON, it is expected that you attend the Core Essentials training. This will give a firm foundation of what the role is (and isn’t), and what UON’s expectations are for staff and learners. Your Dean has agreed that this is an important aspect of your professional development.

Staff new to the PAT role should undertake this training within their 12 months’ probation, with Session 1 of Level 1 within your first 3 months. Sessions 2,3 & 4 of Level 1 completed within your first 12 months.

If you have been a PAT for a longer period, and you feel you have the time to attend, then you are more than welcome to come along. We will be working during 2025-26 on developing online resources which will be of benefit to colleagues who have been PATs for a while and who would like some refresher sessions. Watch this space!

If you are on a course where key metrics (for example, withdrawal, continuation, award gap, extension requests, attendance tracking etc) are deemed lower than desirable, you may be asked to undertake this training, or certain parts of it.

Attendance at this level is recorded and shared with line managers.

Level 1 training may well become a probation target and /or a PDR objective, but this is not mandatory.

Level 2 – developing yourself as a PAT *under development in 2025-26 *

This set of training builds on the essentials and will give you deeper insight into the role. It aims to build your confidence and enjoyment of the PAT role.

If you are on a course where key metrics (for example, withdrawal, continuation, award gap, extension requests, attendance tracking etc) are deemed lower than desirable, you may be asked to undertake this training, or certain parts of it.

Level 3 – enhancing your practice *under development in 2025-26 *

If you are a more experienced PAT, this set of training will give you space to reflect on your practice and to excel in the role. We also support and encourage you to apply for external professional recognition through our institutional membership with the UK’s Academic and Tutoring association UKAT
Please speak directly to your line manager about these training opportunities.

2.Compulsory training

Staff who are student-facing (i.e PATs) need to undertake the following: E6 Staff Training Module

3.UKAT professional accreditation

UON encourages staff to gain external professional recognition from UKAT: UKAT – Higher education academic advising and personal tutoring | Professional Recognition.

UON has institutional membership with UKAT and is a participating member of the UKAT Professional Recognition scheme. Members of UON are eligible to make an application for free.

There are 3 levels of recognition:
1. Recognised Practitioner in Advising (RPA) – aimed at front-liner tutors.
2. Recognised Senior Advisor (RSA) – sustained effectiveness through organisation, leadership or management of personal tutoring.
3. Recognised Leader in Advising (RLA) – sustained record of impact on student success at strategic level.

Please contact emma.heron@northampton.ac.uk to discuss a potential application.

Resources to support you being a PAT

Our PAT handbook – DOCX is the starting place for all PATs. Please take a look at this.
It is also worth noting the Student Handbook, which is where students will access a lot of information.

Supporting the Student Experience – Your one-stop shop for academic and support services available to students.

Other Resources

Personal Academic Tutoring policy

Integrated Learner Support model

PAT Handbook – DOCX

Student Hub

PAT Literature

Useful Read: the following article in which three scholars explain why, despite its faults, the pastoral role remains crucial.
Allison, L., Bassnett, S., & Yale, A. (2022). How to be a personal tutor | Times Higher Education (THE). The Times Higher Education Supplement. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/are-personal-tutors-anachronism
Available online: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/are-personal-tutors-anachronism

Lochtie, D, Stork, A & Walker B (eds) (2022) The Higher Education Personal Tutor’s and Advisor’s Companion: Translating theory into practice to improve student success. UKAT

Yale, Annabel T (2019) The personal tutor-student relationship: student expectations and experiences of personal tutoring in higher education. Journal of Further and Higher Education Vol 43(4): 533 – 544

UON’s PAT Community

Our PAT Community of Practice: PATConnect

These are online safe spaces for any PAT to come along and share worries, things that have gone well or just want to meet other PATs. They are facilitated by experienced PATs. These take place at intervals through the year. You will need to sign up for these via LibCal: LibCal – University of Northampton. Type in ‘PAT’ into the search bar to find the appropriate session.

We will have a key theme / topic per session (see PAT Handbook) but always have space for general questions and discussion. We split the time evenly between these, unless we as a community decide otherwise. There will be a podcast to listen to before each PATConnect to help generate discussion.

PAT Steering Group

UON has a Steering Group consisting of academic and professional service staff with responsibility and /or activity related to PATs.

Our Terms of Reference and named membership list for this academic year will be posted here once they have been approved at the end of September 2025. Any questions about the PAT Steering Group can be directed to emma.heron@northampton.ac.uk