Student support
Our strategy for student support and guidance is based on the Personal Tutor System. Overall responsibility for the Personal Tutor System rests with the Assistant Warden for Student Affairs, who works closely with the Senior Tutor for Dentistry. To make access easier for first year students who spend the bulk of their time at Mile End Campus, there is another Senior Tutor based there.
The Personal Tutor System is a keystone in our undergraduate programme and is valued by students and staff. From the start of Year I, students have a Personal Tutor at Mile End Campus where they spend most of the first year and a Personal Tutor in the Dental School at Whitechapel Campus, who remains with them for the rest of the course. The close co-ordination of student support between campuses is very important and is facilitated by the Personal Tutor System and the Senior Tutor based at Mile End for the first year students.
Personal Tutors and tutees meet at least twice a year, but informal meetings at other times are welcomed. The most important function of the Personal Tutor is that of the 'student's friend' who is there to provide positive pastoral and academic support. A Confidential Student Counselling Service at Mile End provides additional support.
The Personal Tutorial System relies on the Progress File for recording student learning, reflection and achievement. Each student is issued with a Progress File, which s/he keeps for the duration of undergraduate study. During the Induction Week, the students are shown how to use the Progress File to their best advantage. A complementary file is given to the teachers and tutors who use it to record achievements of the students they teach and tutor. These records form the basis of their reports to the Senior Tutor (Dentistry) twice year. The tutors are advised not to rely on memory but to use contemporaneous records entered in the Progress File when reporting on student achievement, conduct and learning.
Each Personal Tutor receives reports from the students' teachers twice a year and the progress and achievements of each student are taken note of. The Personal Tutors then report to the Senior Tutor (Dentistry). These reports and achievements at in-course assessments and examinations form the basis of twice yearly Progress Reviews carried out by the Dean of the Dental School and the Senior Tutor (Dentistry). General and specific recommendations often follow, and these are forwarded to the respective Personal Tutor who will discuss these with the tutee and agree specific tasks and actions. Our students find the system most useful and value the support of their Personal Tutors.
A student who receives an 'unsatisfactory' assessment following a Progress Review or who fails a Part Examination receives personal advice from the Dean of the Dental School and the Senior Tutor (Dentistry). The student's Personal Tutor is informed of the main points agreed, for example this may be a recommendation to keep a Log-Diary recording academic activities. Occasionally the Dean of the Dental School may require the student to repeat a year of study. The School's Progress Committee deals with academic failure, which may lead to de-registration as a student.