01
Explain concepts
Teach statistical, mathematical, computational and scientific concepts using examples, diagrams, discussion and guided practice.
Learn with integrityWe help you
We help you
do the work.
We don't do it for you.
My Academic Tutor supports teaching, explanation, feedback and skill development. Our aim is to make learners more capable of completing their own academic and technical work.
TeachingExplanationFeedbackIndependent learning
The distinction
Support the learning process. Do not replace the learner.
Academic support can be extensive and still remain legitimate when the learner retains responsibility for understanding, decisions, analysis and authorship.
✓Appropriate
“Teach me how to approach this.”
Explanation, guided examples, method discussion, debugging strategies and feedback that help the learner develop the capability to complete work independently.
×Not appropriate
“Complete this for me.”
Producing assessed answers, analysis, code, writing or other deliverables that the learner intends to submit as their own work.
What we can help with
Teaching, explanation and formative support.
These forms of assistance are consistent with the platform's purpose of helping learners develop their own understanding and technical capability.
02
Work through practice problems
Demonstrate methods on tutor-created, textbook-style or clearly non-assessed examples and help learners practise similar problems themselves.
03
Discuss methods
Explain when a statistical or computational method may be appropriate, what assumptions it makes and how its output should be interpreted.
04
Teach programming
Explain code, programming concepts, debugging approaches, software workflows and how to reason through technical errors.
05
Give formative feedback
Comment on reasoning, clarity, interpretation or approach so the learner can make their own improvements.
06
Support research learning
Teach research methods, analytical principles, reproducible workflows and technical skills required for independent research.
What we do not provide
Assessment must remain the learner's work.
We will not knowingly provide services whose purpose is to substitute external work for the learner's own assessed contribution.
Writing assessed answers
We do not produce answers, essays, reports or solutions intended to be submitted as the learner's own assessed work.
Completing assignments
We do not take an assignment brief and complete the required questions, analysis or deliverables on behalf of a learner.
Writing dissertations or theses
We do not author dissertation or thesis sections, produce original assessed analysis for submission or replace the learner's own research contribution.
Taking examinations
We do not provide answers during live examinations, online tests or other assessments where outside assistance is prohibited.
Impersonation
We do not log into academic systems, submit work, communicate with instructors or participate in assessment while pretending to be the learner.
Disguising authorship
We do not rewrite outsourced work merely to make it appear independently authored or help conceal prohibited external assistance.
Assignments & courseworkWe can teach the method.
We can teach the method.
You must produce the submission.
A learner may legitimately need help understanding a topic that also appears in an assignment. The boundary depends on whether the support develops understanding or substitutes for the learner's assessed work.
✓
Explain the underlying concept
We can teach the theory, terminology and method using independent examples.
✓
Discuss how to approach a problem
We can help the learner identify the reasoning steps they should work through themselves.
✓
Give formative feedback
We can identify conceptual issues or areas that need further explanation.
×
Produce the final answer
We do not complete assessed questions or create submission-ready responses for the learner.
✓
Explain statistical methods
Learn why a method is used, its assumptions, limitations and interpretation.
✓
Teach analytical software
Learn how to use R, Python or other tools through teaching examples and guided practice.
✓
Discuss analytical reasoning
Explore why certain approaches may or may not be suitable for a research question.
×
Deliver the dissertation analysis
We do not independently conduct assessed research analysis for a learner to submit as their own work.
Dissertations & research
Research support should develop the researcher.
Postgraduate learners often need substantial technical teaching. That can include statistical methods, programming, reproducibility and interpretation. The learner must still make and own the academic decisions required by their programme.
Explore postgraduate learningCoding & data analysis
Debug with the learner, not instead of the learner.
Programming and quantitative analysis often require hands-on support. The important question is whether the learner is developing technical understanding or merely receiving a finished assessed solution.
01
Explain an error
Discuss why code fails, how to interpret an error message and how to isolate the source of a problem.
Appropriate
02
Demonstrate a technique
Show a programming or analytical method using a separate example so the learner can apply it independently.
Appropriate
03
Review learner-written code
Explain conceptual problems, possible improvements and debugging strategies while keeping the learner engaged.
Appropriate
04
Build the assessed project
Creating a complete assessed program, analysis pipeline or submission for the learner is outside acceptable support.
Not provided
Your institution's rules matter
Permitted assistance can vary between assessments.
Universities, schools, examination boards and individual modules may impose different rules about external tutoring, collaboration, editing, software, artificial intelligence and other forms of assistance.
01
Check the assessment instructions
The learner is responsible for understanding the rules that apply to their own work.
02
Follow stricter local rules
Where an institution prohibits assistance that might otherwise appear reasonable, the institutional rule should be followed.
03
Tell us when work is assessed
Learners should make the assessment context clear so support can be kept within an appropriate boundary.
04
Ask when uncertain
If the permitted level of support is unclear, we may limit assistance or ask the learner to confirm the applicable rules.
Shared responsibility
Integrity requires cooperation from both sides.
We design our support around legitimate learning, but learners also need to be transparent about the context in which assistance will be used.
Our responsibility
Keep support educational.
Explain rather than impersonate.
Teach rather than outsource.
Encourage independent reasoning.
Decline inappropriate requests.
Avoid misleading claims about authorship.
Learner responsibility
Use support appropriately.
Tell us when work is assessed.
Follow your institution's rules.
Produce your own final submission.
Make your own academic decisions.
Declare assistance where required.
!
When we may decline support
Some requests need to be reframed before we can help.
If a request appears to involve prohibited assessment assistance, impersonation or outsourced authorship, we may decline it. Where possible, we can instead offer a learning-focused version of the support—for example, teaching the relevant method using a separate example.
Unsure where the boundary is?
Ask before the session.
Tell us what you are working on, whether it is assessed and what kind of help you want. We can determine whether the request fits the learning-focused support we provide.
The standardBetter understanding.
Better understanding.
Greater independence.
Your own work.
That is the role academic support should play throughout My Academic Tutor.
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