15th September 2009

BASS Management Centre, Nottingham Trent University

Over 40 delegates attended the second annual Student's Writing in Transition symposium at Nottingham Trent University. A wide range of delegates from across the UK representing both the higher and further education sectors attended. The event was organised by the Quality Enhancement team within CASQ as part of the University's involvement in the LearnHigher CETL.

Student's Writing in Transition gave delegates the opportunity to explore how students cope with the transition from learning in post-16 education to university.  As this is most readily evidenced through academic writing, the symposium also focussed on student writing in the first year. 

The keynote speaker, Sally Mitchell from Thinking Writing at Queen Mary University developed these themes further.

Delegates were able to attend a number of sessions centred on topics such as the Writing Groups in the Disciplines (WGiD) project from London Metropolitan University and what the new Diplomas mean for Higher Education. Papers were also presented about current research at NTU into student learning before coming to university and practical writing activities you can use with your students once they arrive.

A range of posters were made available presenting staff with information about recommended sources of information, opportunities to take part in FE/HE shadowing, peer mentoring and dyslexia support.

The symposium was also one of the first events in the calendar for Nottingham Trent University's new peer mentoring project, designed to provide student support throughout a number of academic schools across the university. Contact Sarah Johnson for further information: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Feedback from the event was encouraging, below are a few of the positive comments we received from attendees,

'I found it interesting to challenge assumptions about the differences between Higher Education and schools'

'I am thinking about how to provide writing support at my institution and this has given me inspiration'

'I found it interesting to hear about a wide range of practical writing activities'

Planning has started for 2010 symposium. The date for the next event is provisionally Tuesday 14th September 2010, and we will welcome contributions. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more details.