Assessments and exams before university may have looked different from what is now expected of you. If you find academic writing tricky or would like to improve your academic skills in general, here's a guide to the services across the University that can help.
If you were to look around your seminar room or lecture hall, you would see yourself and your peers doing the same course, consuming the same teaching and learning, and tackling the same assessments. But what you can’t see are the many different routes that each of you has taken to lead you there.
Our Advice Centre helps hundreds of students with academic issues every year and knows what a difference it makes when the right support is accessed. Our advisors want to encourage you to assess your writing skills now (especially if you find writing tricky) and make the most of all the support offered across the University.
The different routes that lead to university can mean that students come equipped with a diverse range of skills and experiences. As a result, when it comes to submitting your first essays or taking your first exams, you might approach the questions in front of you differently from your peers. This is normal, and it’s okay.
Assessments and exams before university may have looked different from what is now expected of you; this can sometimes be daunting. If you would like to improve your academic writing skills or are finding the prospect of your upcoming assignments a little intimidating, the University has a service that can help.
The Centre For The Development of Academic Skills (CeDAS)
CeDAS aims to enable all taught students at Royal Holloway to achieve their full academic potential.
That’s why they offer a wide variety of free courses, workshops and resources to help you develop your academic writing, referencing, maths, stats, numeracy and general communication skills. Their goal is to help you develop your ability to study independently.
The CeDAS team also provides a range of group sessions, 1:1 tutorials, drop-ins, and resources tailored to studying in your specific subject area. These activities address key aspects of academic writing and communication, as well as maths, stats and numeracy. Find out more about the support available via the CeDAS Moodle page.
For postgraduate students, CeDAS facilitates a Proofreading Scheme. This fee-for-service scheme is for postgraduate students who want to have the final draft of a dissertation or project proofread before submission. Work is carried out by private arrangement with professional proofreaders listed on the scheme’s register.
CeDAS Contact Details
For all general enquiries, please email or phone CeDAS on +44 (0)1784 443368.
The CeDAS Helpdesk is located in Founder’s West 139. It is open Monday to Friday from 10:00-12:00 and 14:00-16:00, except Wednesdays, when it opens from 10:00-12:00 only.
Avoiding Plagiarism: An Online Learning Resource
Royal Holloway has invested in a high-quality, multi-media, 'always-available' online learning resource.
This 60-minute interactive online course ensures that students across all disciplines follow best practices in referencing, paraphrasing, and using citations. Many departments will require students to participate in this interactive course as part of their studies, and this participation can be tracked and reported.
Turnitin and How to Use It
In addition to the online plagiarism course content, Royal Holloway makes widespread use of Turnitin, the world-leading originality-checking and feedback service.
This compares a student's essay with web-based resources, other students' work as well as their own, to provide academic staff with a detailed 'originality report' containing links to resources with similar content.
Further Support
The Advice Centre is a free, independent and confidential service for all students here at Royal Holloway. Our friendly, experienced and professional staff will provide a listening ear and offer general and specialist advice. We’re here to support you with a whole range of issues, big and small, and if we’re not the best people to help you with a particular issue, we’ll point you in the right direction.
Our advisors hold drop-ins on Zoom every Tuesday and Thursday from 13:30-15:30. You can find more information on our Events Calendar.
Email us at advice@su.rhul.ac.uk with any questions or to ask for a different meeting time.