Maths support at the University of Hull: what we do and what we have learned

The University of Hull has been operating a support service for students, the Study Advice Services (SAS) [1] since 2001. This service offers support and guidance to students from all disciplines in academic writing, study skills and mathematics and operates both on the Hull campus and on the Scarborough campus. The mathematics branch of the service originated as the Mathematical Advice and Co-ordination Service (MACS) within the Faculty of Mathematics in 1995. Currently the service has 8 part-time tutors, of which 6 are dedicated academic writing and study skills tutors, one tutor is split between the writing/skills side and mathematics and one tutor deals wholly in mathematics. Support is offered in a number of ways: face-to-face individual support, group support, email support, workshops for departments, diagnostic testing and production of materials. Other than the workshops, all support given is confidential and we do not report back to departments, unless of course we see a large number of students with the same issue….