L+W is run by the Students’ Union as a free support service for non-native speakers of English. From undergraduates to PhD candidates, any UCL student can join us to boost their confidence in academic writing and speaking.
Our peer tutors run three different types of activities:
- One-to-one appointments
- Coffee & Conversation drop-ins
- Workshops
The one-to-one appointments
The one-to-one appointments are our most popular service. After booking an appointment and submitting a writing sample, you’ll meet individually with one of our peer tutors for a 30-minute session (either online or in-person) where they’ll provide feedback on the English usage, fluency, and structure of your work. Our peer tutors can also help you on oral presentations. Appointments can be booked up to two weeks in advance, but they fill quickly, so be sure to visit our webpage (linked below) for more details!
Coffee & Conversation
Coffee & Conversation is an informal drop-in session that we offer on a weekly basis. The sessions are currently being held online, allowing you to meet with other international students both in London and abroad to practice your speaking skills. These sessions provide a friendly environment to build confidence in your spoken English.
Workshops
We have two workshops scheduled for Term 2, where our peer tutors will cover:
- Academic writing - including how to plan and structure an essay
- Oral presentations - including tips on strong presentations, the general structure of presentations, and creating clear slides.
The workshops generally combine both lecture-style and interactive components to allow you to practice the skills being taught. They conclude with a Q&A, where the peer tutors answer any questions you may have related to the topics covered. Previous workshop topics have included oral presentation skills, editing work, and dissertation-writing, but we are always open to new suggestions.
More details about the programme, along with links to our calendar and bookings page, can be found here.