Maintaining calm; managing stress

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/student-life/#.XHa3C1X7SUm – how to cope with student life. A range of downloadable resources from the mental health charity Mind.

https://www.studentminds.org.uk/informationhub.html - information hub. Information and resources from student mental health charity Student Minds.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/ - how to deal with stress. Free National Health Service website with lots of information about managing stress.

Cottrell, S. M. (2018). Mindfulness for Students. London: Bloomsbury. Companion site with guided meditations and links to resources: https://rgp-staticweb.s3.amazonaws.com/pages/mindfulness-for-students/index.html

Cottrell, S. M. (2019) 50 Ways to Manage Stress. London: Bloomsbury.

Twitter:

• #mindfulstudent

• #EverydayMindfulness

• @mindfuleveryday

Well-being

www.studenthealth.co.uk – health advice for students, written by doctors

www.studentrecipes.com – simple recipes aimed at students

Most major supermarkets and media providers host a wide range of recipes on their websites, e.g. www.bbcgoodfood.com

Well-being: crisis support

If you feel you are under too much stress and can’t cope just now, speak to someone. Most universities and colleges offer confidential support services. If they can’t help, they can refer you to someone who can. There are many other routes towards gaining help, such as talking to support workers in the Student Union or Student Guild. Your personal tutor (or equivalent) or a lecturer you get on with or the programme leader may be able to help you find a useful route towards the support you need. There are confidential phone lines for a range of issues – information about local phone lines should be available at your institution, or you can phone national support lines. Details for some of the main UK phone lines are given below. Or you could start by talking to a friend or family member.

National Health Service, UK https://www.nhs.co.uk/Service-Search/Psychological-therapies-(IAPT)/LocationSearch/10008

Nightline www.nightline.ac.uk/

Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help-you

Employability and personal development

www.prospects.ac.uk – information about graduate employment

www.milkround.com – career guidance for students

www.companieshouse.gov.uk – lists all UK public companies

https://ise.org.uk/ – useful publications on graduate and employer trends

http://vault.com – what it is like to work for named companies

www.ratemyplacement.co.uk – opportunities for work experience and internships

www.gov.uk/set-up-business - advice on setting up your own business

Cottrell, S. M. (2015). Skills for Success: Personal Development and Employability. 3rd edn. London Bloomsbury.

Cottrell, S. M. (2019). 50 Ways to Boost Your Employability. London: Bloomsbury.

Useful study apps

GoConqr (iOS and Android) – create slides, flashcards and mind maps from your notes. The app allows you to collaborate with other students.

Inspiration (iOS) – mind mapping app. Also available as a PC version from www.inspiration.com

RefMe (iOS and Android) – turns webpages or scanned book barcodes into references in a variety of formats. Also includes a plagiarism checker.

MyStudyLife (iOS, Android and Windows) – synchs your timetable and exams across all devices. The app will give reminders.

Hold (iOS and Android) – block access to distractions such as social media and earn points for doing so. Points can be exchanged for a variety of rewards such as free cinema tickets or coffee.

The Student Room (iOS and Android) – app version of the popular website allows you to connect with other students and access advice on a range of study and lifestyle topics.

Evernote (iOS and Android) – create notebooks in which you can store and search all your ideas, photos and documents. Your notebooks can be accessed across all your computers and mobile devices.

Motivational and mindfulness apps

Headspace (iOS and Android) – teaches you how to meditate and keep up a regular meditation practice.

Forest (iOS and Android) – helps you to focus on tasks by keeping virtual trees alive

Smiling Mind (iOS, Android and Windows) – helps you make time to pause and check in with yourself

Referencing and citation tools

Cite Them Right Online https://www.citethemrightonline.com – advice on how to reference

Mendeley https://www.mendeley.com/reference-management/reference-manager – free referencing tool

Zotero https://www.zotero.org/ – free referencing tool

Improving grades: books

Cottrell, S. M. (2019). 50 Ways to Excel at Writing. London: Bloomsbury.

Cottrell, S. M. (2019). 50 Ways to Boost Your Grades. London: Bloomsbury.

Cottrell, S. M. (2019). 50 Ways to Manage Time Effectively. London: Bloomsbury.

Cottrell, S. M. (2023). Critical Thinking Skills: Effective Analysis, Argument and Reflection. 4th edn. London: Bloomsbury.

Cottrell, S. M. (2012). The Exam Skills Handbook: Achieving Peak Performance. 2nd edn. London: Bloomsbury.

Grammar, punctuation and use of academic English

Grammarly www.grammarly.com – site that allows you to check the spelling and grammar and tone of your writing

Grammar Girl www.grammar.quickanddirtytips.com

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zyrn9qt/test – Test your own use of English grammar

http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/discussing-findings/ – a free resource provided through the University of Manchester’s website, with hundreds of useful expressions to draw upon when writing an academic assignment, making a presentation or for contributing in class. Compiled by Dr John Morley.

https://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/ – available for free from University College London or, for a small charge, as an app for Android and Apple devices (via the website). It provides exercises to practise, including for use of English when writing about numbers.

https://canvas.hull.ac.uk/courses/213 – this provides helpful material related to common errors made by students in their writing. It covers such areas as punctuation and sentence structure, use of academic language to express ideas, abbreviations and acronyms.

http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/ – free resources provided on the British Council’s website. Useful for native English speakers brushing up their skills, although primarily intended for international students and business people learning English as an additional language.

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/english-for-uni/ – a wealth of resources available on the University of Adelaide’s website. These are designed primarily for students studying English as a second or additional language. Materials can be used by staff and students under a Creative Commons licence.

http://www.uefap.net/grammar/grammar-in-eap-introduction/grammar-in-eap-example – this provides a breakdown of common grammatical structures, such as how to combine sets of clauses to construct complex sentences.

Twitter study tips

• #SuccessfulStudent by @cottrell_study – daily study tips by Stella Cottrell (a new tip on each weekday with a weekly round-up at the weekend).

• #StudyTip

• #amreading

• #amwriting

• #amrevising

• #CriticalThinking

• #studentlife

• #unilife

• #collegelife

• #Students

• #student

• #study

• #studying

Information for international students

These sites are mainly focused on students from the UK or coming to the UK to study. Most countries host information about international study on their government websites.

www.britishcouncil.org – advice and information about studying in the UK

www.ukcisa.org.uk – council for International Student Affairs gives advice on studying abroad

www.internationalstudent.com – advice and information for international students

Cottrell, S. M. (2019). 50 Ways to Succeed as an International Student. London: Bloomsbury.

Help sites and academic search engines

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.uk/ - focuses searches on ‘scholarly’ material such as peer-reviewed articles

The Open Education Consortium: www.oeconsortium.org – provides students with access to free course materials from higher education institutions

COPAC: http://copac.ac.uk – Catalogue for the Consortium of University Research Libraries

IngentaConnect: www.ingentaconnect.com – access to online journal abstracts and articles, many free of charge.

OpenAthens: https://www.openathens.net – access to journals and online content to students in participating HEIs

Find Articles: http://findarticles.com – access to articles from magazines, journals, trade publications and newspapers

Questia: www.questia.com – a large online library of complete books and journal articles in humanities and social sciences. No charge for searching it; subscription to access publications

Videos, podcasts and MOOCs

www.ted.com/talks – Ted Talks provides free videos of talks across a wide range of disciplines and topics

iTunes apple podcasts – huge range of podcasts, including many from universities across the world

Google podcasts – wide range of podcasts for Android device users

MOOC providers host a wide range of free to access courses and programmes from universities across the world. Providers include:

www.edx.org

www.coursera.org

www.futurelearn.com

https://eu.udacity.com

Digital repositories

• University Digital Library at www.ulib.org: printed books and other sources.

• JSTOR www.jstor.org – over 1000 academic journals and wide range of primary sources such as documents, data and images relevant to academic study and research.

• See Wikipedia: List of digital library projects for more information.