Student appointments
Get personalised advice, tips and feedback to help you develop your academic skills. Book an Individual appointment or contact our Writing advice service.
Writing advice service
Between week 4 and exam week 2 of each semester, you can fill out the online form and attach a short piece of your written work. Writing Mentors can provide feedback on your work, and advice on how to further develop your writing skills.
Individual appointments
Book a time to meet on Zoom. Academic Skills Advisers can go through a section of your writing with you, discuss strategies for key study areas, or help you access relevant resources.
Compare our services
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Writing advice service
Writing Mentors: fellow students, recent graduates, tutors – all trained by Academic Skills Advisers
Individual appointments
Academic Skills Advisers: qualified language and learning professionals
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Writing advice service
- 15 minutes for the Writing Mentor to review your paper*
- One submission per assessment
- Unlimited number of submissions per semester
- The service is offered online.
Contact the service (see below), fill out a short form with details and attach your paper/task. We email you with feedback usually within 1-2 days.**
* Due to time constraints, we can only look at a short section of work–if you would like longer papers looked at, choose the Individual Appointment service.
** Closed on weekend and University holidays; waiting time may be longer in peak periods e.g. SWOTVAC.
Individual appointments
- 30-minute* 1-1 appointment with an Adviser
- 4 sessions per semester
- No more than 1 appointment per week
- No more than 2 appointments on the same piece of writing
- The service is offered via Zoom**
- Book the service (see below). After choosing your date / time, we will email you a Zoom link.
* Graduate researchers are able to book 1-hour appointments.
** Appointments can be offered in-person, if needed, contact Academic Skills at the email below to arrange this.
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Writing advice service
- A quick focus on short, specific parts of your writing, e.g. selected paragraphs of your draft work, to provide advice and developmental feedback
- Answers to specific questions you have about a particular piece of writing, e.g. referencing, a particular grammar point, development of an argument in your introduction etc. NOTE: you can email sections of work or whole drafts, but the Writing Mentor can only spend 15 minutes with it – this service is not suitable for checking longer pieces of work. If you would like longer papers looked at, choose the Individual Appointment service.
Individual appointments
- In-depth focus on study and communication skills
- Answers to questions you might have about academic work, e.g. incorporating sources, academic voice, critical analysis
- Advice on broader academic skills such as time management, managing reading, strategies for revision and taking exams.
- Advice on improving your English NOTE: your work does not need to be complete, you can send unfinished drafts, finished drafts or sections of work. We are happy to talk to you at any stage of the writing process.
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Writing advice service
This service does not offer:
- A review of complete papers unless they are very short. 15 minutes allows Writing Mentors to review short sections of work only.
- Proofreading or editing
- Reviews of anything outside of written work for the University of Melbourne.
Individual appointments
This service does not offer:
- Management of one particular piece of academic writing from draft to finished product over several sessions. We can see students about the same piece of writing no more than twice*
- Proofreading or editing: we want to help you become a better self-editor, so will work with you to develop the skills to do this
- Advice on:
* Graduate researchers are able to see Advisers on a longer term, ongoing basis more than twice for the same piece of work due to the nature of Doctoral / research writing.
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Writing advice service
Undergraduate and graduate coursework students only
Individual appointments
Any enrolled University of Melbourne student*
*If you and a small number (3-4) of classmates or group members have similar questions, you are welcome to join together. Please raise this with Academic Skills before the appointment using the email address below.
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Writing advice service
- Starts Monday, week 4 of the semester
- Finishes on the Friday of Exam Week 2
- Available during office hours – 9am-5pm
- Not available on days when the University is closed
Individual appointments
- Available all year (except for days when the University is closed)
- Available during office hours – 9am-5pm
- Note that availability may be limited between semester periods
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Writing advice service
- No booking required
- Access via Contact button below
Individual appointments
- Booking required
- Access via Book button below*
- Book up to 2 weeks in advance
* You can cancel the booking at the same website
Please note that any written submissions to Academic Skills must conform to University of Melbourne regulations and guidelines on Academic Integrity.
Further questions about these services? Email academic-skills@unimelb.edu.au