QA’s Safeguarding service closes for Christmas on Friday 20th December, reopening on Thursday 2nd January. During this time the Safeguarding mailbox will be unavailable, and the Safeguarding line will only be available at limited times between 12pm-2pm, Monday to Friday. If you are unable to reach us, please leave a message and we will call you back. Click here for advice and help during the Christmas break
The Academic Community of Excellence (ACE) team
The Academic Community of Excellence (ACE) team provide guidance for Degree Apprentices alongside regular classes on topics such as academic style, critical analysis, relating theory to practice, research skills, reflective writing, referencing, and much more.
We assist learners in three main ways:
- Academic skills resources for self-study, available here on the Learner Portal.
- Workshops to practise and develop academic skills - book your place here.
- One-to-one tutorials to discuss your assignments - book one here.
ACE Study Skills Inductions for New Learners January 2025
ACE Study Skills Workshops for All Learners January - March 2025
*ACE is currently a service for Degree Apprentices only*
Resource categories
The Academic Community of Excellence (ACE) Team have many years of experience providing academic guidance to students on subjects such as how to write in an academic style, how to read smarter rather than longer, and how to reference accurately. Find out more using the categories below.
Getting started
Study skills induction for new learners
Planning, reading, and finding sources
Getting started on your assignment
Reading critically and evaluating sources
Writing assignments
Critical analysis
Relating theory to practice and reflection
- Relating theory to practice - quick guide
- Reflective models - quick guide
- Advanced reflective analysis - quick guide
- Reflective writing 1: Introduction to reflective models - workshop slides
- Reflective writing 2: Advanced reflective analysis - workshop slides
- Reflective writing 2: Workshop texts and tasks
Structuring your work
Editing your work
Academic style and language
Paraphrasing
Coherence, being concise, hedging, and useful vocabulary
Referencing, appendices, tables, and figures
Referencing
Referencing (QA Harvard)
- QA apprenticeships Harvard referencing - full guide
- In-text citations (QA Harvard) quick guide
- Writing a reference list (QA Harvard) - quick guide
- QA apprenticeships Harvard referencing - workshop slides
Referencing (Solent University)
Appendices and tables and figures
Research projects and dissertations