Subject Guides: Skills Guides: Academic & communication skills

Studying at university

Approaches to keeping on top of your studies in higher education.

Higher Education Essentials
The ways and means of how a university works:
What is a university? | How will I learn at university? | How will I be assessed? | What support is available?
Returning students
Updated every summer as a refresher with specific skills advice for 2nd year and final year students:
What's new? | 2nd year skills | Final year skills | Wellbeing
Being organised
Find the right ways of being organised for you:
Time management | Planning | Avoiding procrastination | Prioritisation | Taking a break
Being critical
Our guide to evaluating and critiquing information:
Critical thinking | Evaluating information | Reading academic articles | Critical reading | Critical writing
Study & revision
How to study smarter, not harder:
Study strategies | Studying online | Revising for exams
Maths Skills Centre
Advice and guidance on maths topics, statistical concepts and analysis, and preparing for numerical reasoning tests:
Maths | Statistics | Numerical reasoning
Learning technology
Getting started with the VLE, lecture capture, and other learning technologies at York:
VLE | Lecture capture (Replay/Panopto)
Generative AI
We explore the world of generative Artificial Intelligence tools and some of the considerations you need to bear in mind when using them.
Online groupwork
Tips, tricks & tools to support effective online collaboration on groupwork projects.
Confidence
We offer a few bits of advice on maintaining your confidence at university.
Don't panic
Some soothing suggestions for what to do if things start to go wrong.

Academic writing

Academic writing is central to almost all degree programmes, but it's very different from other types of writing; it's a skill that has to be learnt.

Academic writing
Resources to support understanding and production of academic writing:
General writing skills | Types of academic writing | Understanding feedback
Academic language
Every form of writing has its conventions, and the language of academic writing has its own set of characteristics which we explore in this guide.
Creating documents
Using Microsoft Word and Google Docs to create written materials:
Setting up | Using styles | Page structure | Inserting content | Reviewing & finalising
Being critical
Our guide to evaluating and critiquing information:
Critical thinking | Critical writing
Referencing style guides
How to cite appropriately using the different styles in use at York.
Undergraduate dissertations
Tips about what's expected in an undergrad dissertation.

Reading and note-taking

Reading and making notes is all part of the research process. Here's some advice on doing it effectively.

Being critical
Our guide to evaluating and critiquing information:
Critical thinking | Evaluating information | Reading academic articles | Critical reading
Note-taking
Different approaches for good note-taking, including annotation and note-taking apps.
Managing your reading
Once you've found some reading to read, you're going to have to read it. We look at some strategies for managing that reading.
Reference management
The key processes and features of the reference management software available at the University of York.
Being organised
Find the right ways of being organised for you:
Time management | Planning | Avoiding procrastination | Prioritisation | Taking a break

Data and statistics

Advice for working with quantitative and qualitative data and stats.

Data
Finding and handling useful data:
What is data? | Gathering data | Searching for data | Text & data mining | Cleaning data | Data analysis | Data visualisation
Maths Skills Centre
Advice and guidance on maths topics, statistical concepts and analysis, and preparing for numerical reasoning tests:
Maths | Statistics | Numerical reasoning
Essential Spreadsheets
An in-depth exploration of Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets:
Spreadsheet basics | Calculating | Creative functions | Data sets | Processing | Visualising data | Connecting data

Presenting and speaking

How to communicate effectively in presentations and similar situations.

Presentations
An in-depth look at the technological aspects of delivering a presentation:
Tools & content | Basic design | Text & images | Animation, sound, & video | Delivering a presentation
Posters with a Powerful Point
A guide to making academic posters in Microsoft PowerPoint:
Preparation | Images | Text | Production
Academic language
Every form of writing has its conventions, and the language of academic writing has its own set of characteristics which we explore in this guide.
Managing difficult conversations
Difficult conversations may not be an everyday occurrence but they will rear their head from time to time. Here's some tips for dealing with them.

Assessments and revision

Tips for study when preparing for exams and other forms of assessment.

Study & revision
How to study smarter, not harder:
Study strategies | Studying online | Revising for exams
Being organised
Find the right ways of being organised for you:
Time management | Planning | Avoiding procrastination | Prioritisation | Taking a break
Higher Education Essentials
The ways and means of how a university works, including:
How will I be assessed? | What support is available?
Academic writing
Resources to support understanding and production of academic writing, including:
Understanding feedback
Creating documents
Using Microsoft Word and Google Docs to create written materials:
Setting up | Using styles | Page structure | Inserting content | Reviewing & finalising
Referencing style guides
How to cite appropriately using the different styles in use at York.
Online groupwork
Tips, tricks & tools to support effective online collaboration on groupwork projects.
Presentations
An in-depth look at the technological aspects of delivering a presentation:
Tools & content | Basic design | Text & images | Animation, sound, & video | Delivering a presentation
Posters with a Powerful Point
A guide to making academic posters in Microsoft PowerPoint:
Preparation | Images | Text | Production
Maths Skills Centre
Advice and guidance on maths topics, statistical concepts and analysis, and preparing for numerical reasoning tests:
Maths | Statistics | Numerical reasoning

In the workplace

We take a look at some useful communication and organisational skills for working life.

Being organised
Find the right ways of being organised for you:
Time management | Planning | Avoiding procrastination | Prioritisation | Taking a break
Professional communication
Advice for communicating professionally online.
Managing difficult conversations
Difficult conversations may not be an everyday occurrence but they will rear their head from time to time. Here's some tips for dealing with them.
Giving & receiving feedback
A look at the professional ways in which we can give and receive constructive critical feedback.
Numerical reasoning
Advice from the Maths Skills Centre on numerical reasoning tests in graduate recruitment.
Reflective practice: employability skills
Reflecting on an experience is a way of evaluating your own reactions and capabilities.

You can book a one-to-one appointment for academic writing, maths skills, data skills, and study coaching:

One-to-one appointments
One-to-one academic skills appointments.

Forthcoming sessions on … :

Show details & booking for these sessions

There's more training events at:

Skills Guide: Training
Take a look at our list of events