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The Learning Centre offers academic support services to students at The University of New South Wales. We assist students adjusting to academic culture and to new approaches to learning and teaching. The Centre also offers a range of learning and language assistance programs.
To improve their academic writing and communication, so improve and polish their academic progress.
Some students use our services because they are finding their assignments a challenge, others because they want to improve an already successful academic performance. We can assist.
The Learning Centre at The University of New South Wales has two locations: Kensington campus and CoFA campus. Further information about contacting us is here.
Assistance is available through:
Our academic skills workshops focus on, or explain, different tasks such as essays, oral presentations, reports and research papers. Other workshops develop skills essential to academic study such as avoiding plagiarism, critical thinking and referencing.
Workshops are designed for undergraduate and postgraduate students. A small selection are also specifically designed for students whose first language is not English.
The Learning Centre offers workshop programmes throughout semesters 1 and 2. Programs vary from Semester to Semester. Some workshops may be repeated, depending on demand and previous attendances
For help with academic writing on an individual basis, or assistance with any study-related concern, students can make an appointment with a Peer Writing Assistant. Students can arrange appointments online using our Consultation Booking System.
The Learning Centre’s resource collection was developed to assist university students in the reinforcement of a wide variety of the academic and communication skills required for successful study.
This website includes a large range of academic skills resources to help you improve your work. These simple guides are available for downloading. Visit our on-line library
Students can also visit The Learning Centre to access our collection of resources. The Centre has a collection of books, dictionaries and style guides to aid students in developing their academic writing ability, study and research skills, and improving their communication skills. A number of books on thesis writing are also available for loan.
For international students, there are:
All resources (except dictionaries and style guides) are available for loan to enrolled students, staff and visiting academics. Loans are for one week and may be renewed if necessary. Student or staff cards must be presented before resources may be borrowed.
The Learning Centre also offers courses in various faculties and schools. These courses focus on the specific academic skills required by the discipline and draw on materials from the subject areas. Programs for faculties and schools are usually arranged by request through The Learning Centre's Director Dr. Sue Starfield.
The Peer Writing Assistant Program focuses on helping students to develop and improve their academic skills. Peer Writing Assistants (PWAs) are peer or graduate students who are chosen because of their broad experience with academic skills.
PWAs meet individually with students in The Learning Centre for 50-minute appointments. They offer feedback on developing drafts of papers, listen and ask questions and help student writers gain a perspective on their writing.
PWAs help students become better writers, to learn how to use the conventions, the rules, and the processes of writing. They help individual students with the development and organisation of assignments, clarity and style, and aspects of writing like paragraph structure and academic writing style.
The Learning Centre on Kensington campus (located at C22) is open:
Opening hours for the COFA Learning Centre are sessional.
The Learning Centre is not open on Saturday or Sunday.
All students enrolled in award programs at the University of New South Wales can attend workshops and consultations and access the resources at The Learning Centre. Staff and students from other educational institutions are welcome to make use of our online resources.
Our consultations and workshops are offered free to students enrolled in award programs at UNSW.
All our services are confidential.
We ask students attending individual consultations and workshops to complete Student Record forms. Apart from information that allows us to contact you in exceptional cirumstances, these forms are a record of the work done in a consultation. Information provided in these forms is used by The Learning Centre only for the purposes of analysing our services. No personal details are divulged to any third parties and any information collected remains confidential.
Individual consultations can be booked online. For further information, see our appointment procedures and contact information.
While The Learning Centre helps students improve their academic language and communication, we do not teach English. Students who require English language tuition should inquire at The Institute of Languages UNSW.