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Discussing progress

Talk through your student's academic and personal progress, discuss their feedback and assessment scores and help identify opportunities for them to develop their personal skills.

Most supervision sessions with students are about telling them how well they are doing and encouraging them to keep at it.

Session checklist

To help support your supervisee with their progress we advise:

• Discussions about academic and personal progress should be standard items on your agenda. View your supervisee's academic progress on e:Vision.
• You are clear with the supervisee that you are able to discuss marks and feedback in general terms, but students seeking more detailed advice on individual pieces of work should see module or programme leaders. 
• You are specific with praise or improvement recommendations so your supervisee understands what they are doing well and where they need to make adjustments.
• You are familiar with the help and support available to students who are struggling with their studies, including student safeguard and academic skills support. See also Helping with problems and, for larger issues, Signposting.
• You help students understand the importance and value of fully participating in formative assessments, if applicable.
• You are familiar with policies and procedures if your supervisee:
  • has a complaint about their learning and teaching experience at the University;
  • wishes to make a claim about exceptional circumstances;
  • wants to resit or repeat work or study time.
• You are able to advise your supervisee of their options if they are dissatisfied with a grade or piece of assessment feedback.
• You are familiar with the rules and regulations around academic progression and rewards as laid down by the University and your department.
• Discuss study abroad options in the Autumn, as annual application deadlines are usually in January. Your supervisee may ask to list you as their referee as part of the internal application for Study Exchange or Summer Abroad programmes. If your supervisee plans to undertake a period of study abroad, remind them of the key people in their department they should engage with before their departure, during their time abroad and on their return.
• You should discuss a students’ personal progression in terms of skills development and experience beyond their academic studies. Be familiar with the types of non-academic activities on offer to students at York.

Outcomes

By discussing academic and personal progress with your supervisee you can help them to achieve the following outcomes:

• You can help set expectations in marking, grades, progression and awards for supervisees who are new to studying at a higher level or are new to HE in the UK. This will help with their transition and enable earlier constructive engagement with their studies.
• Challenging and inspiring your supervisees to see the breadth and depth of their subject will encourage them to go beyond their current state of progress and achieve their full potential.
• Help your supervisee to understand and reflect on behaviours and academic approaches that are contributing to their success or understand where improvement can be made, enabling them to progress more effectively.
• Your personal interest should mean students will be more likely to present earlier with any problems, thereby benefiting from timely help or support. This should improve student retention rates and help students achieve the best results they can.
• By signposting supervisees who are dissatisfied with their grades or their learning and teaching experience to the correct source of support, issues can be identified early and action can be taken to find a resolution before any problem escalates. This will benefit both the University and the students if the lengthy process of complaints and appeals case work can be avoided and students feel confident they have been heard and taken seriously.
• By encouraging supervisees to explore skills development and experiences gained from non-academic activities, you are improving students' employability prospects by helping them to become a more rounded and capable graduate from the University.