The Skills for Success sessions, available in semesters 1 and 2, are designed to support you to develop your confidence and enhance your academic and employability skills. There are four areas of support for all students:

• Writing toolkit
• Communication skills
• Communication and employability skills
• Public speaking

Below is a summary of what each session covers:

Writing toolkit

• Better report writing: This session will cover the nuts and bolts of report writing, whether technical reports or lab reports.
• Improve your academic style: Discover how to write in the appropriate way and follow correct academic conventions in your assignments.
• Strategic reading and note-taking: Explore a range of techniques to help you read and process large quantities of materials efficiently.
• Planning your assignment: Discover how to begin the assignment-writing process by analysing your title and creating a content outline and plan.
• Summarising and paraphrasing: Discover how to write critically and safely about the ideas of others in your work.
• How do I write introductions and conclusions?: Learn how to make an excellent first and final impression in your assignment with a powerful introduction and conclusion.
• Referencing and citation: Recap on how to reference sources correctly to avoid plagiarism and be an ethical writer
• Writing that is clear and well-organised: Learn some helpful hacks to make your writing ‘flow’ and guide your reader clearly and easily through your work.
• Structuring your body text: Learn how to write well-structured body paragraphs, the foundation of all clear and compelling academic writing.
• Editing and proofreading: Refine your editing and proofreading skills to polish your work, avoid embarrassing errors, and make an overall positive impact.
• Criticality - Certainty versus caution in critical writing: Learn about the principles behind argumentation and how to approach developing the critical voice in your writing.

Communication skills

• Email and communication etiquette: Learn the do’s and don’ts of communicating by email at university and beyond.
• Peer review as academic practice: Find out how to give and receive first-class feedback to enhance your assignments.
• Making the most of feedback: Explore how to use your tutors’ valuable feedback to upgrade your academic performance.
• Taking part in seminars: Get some top tips on how to communicate your ideas clearly and listen actively so you get the most out of a seminar discussion.

Communication and employability skills

• Critical approaches to interpreting information: Explore the dynamics of knowledge production and the challenges of bias in today's information era.
• Presentation skills: Practice how to design and deliver effective and engaging presentations at university and in the workplace.
• How to be a critical listener in lectures and beyond: Develop sound listening techniques to ensure you get the most out of live and recorded lectures.
• How to take part in a meeting: Discover how workplace meetings work and what you might be expected to do before, during and after a meeting.

Exam skills

• Getting exam ready: Explore tried and tested techniques to stay calm and positive throughout the exam season.
• Devising your exam strategy: Learn how to approach exams strategically and how to tackle different question types.

Public speaking

• Confidence: Develop your understanding of how to overcome 'creeping dread' and use these feelings to positive effect. This workshop aims to give you some tools so that you can build your confidence in public speaking.
• Vocality: Learn how to control and improve the quality of your voice so that you feel able to communicate effectively, and with authority, in front of an audience.
• Working collaboratively: Learn how to get the most out of working collaboratively at university or work.
• Speaking to large audiences: Learn how to prepare, make an impact on the day, and speak so that people will listen and take you seriously. This workshop is held in a lecture theatre to also give you some experience of talking to larger audiences.

Certificates of participation

We offer digital certificates (non-fungible token) to recognise your participation in our programmes, which you can use in your skills portfolios going forward. There are two options:

Writing toolkit certificate

Attend and participate in all eleven of our writing toolkit sessions, spread across either one or both semesters of the academic year 2024-2025.

Complete skills toolkit certificate

Attend and participate in all of our writing toolkit sessions, communication, communication and employability, and public speaking sessions, spread across either one or both semesters of the academic year 2024-2025.