Please also see Supporting Disabled Students for a range of courses on inclusive teaching practice, including how to support students with ADHD or specific learning difficulties, and how to support students in distress.
An Introduction to Undergraduate Supervision
This course prepares you to supervise undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge. We explore the challenges and approaches involved in supervising undergraduates, and go through some practical advice and strategies.
The course involves some preparatory work undertaken online in your own time, followed by a live workshop where you'll benefit from activities and discussion with peers. You'll then receive access to an online resource following the workshop which provides extra practical information, discipline-specific guidance and outputs from the workshop session.
By the end of the course you will understand the purpose of supervisions at Cambridge, be familiar with effective feedback practices, know how to deal with common supervision scenarios and feel confident with the practicalities of starting to supervise.
Please note that all postgraduate students who supervise undergraduates must complete this course: both the online module and the workshop.
Live workshop
In 2022-23, we plan to hold all workshops in person at the Student Services Centre. The workshops are organised around the type of supervision work students do, e.g., essay-based work or problem sheets. If you have any questions about which workshop to book, please contact the Course Director Dr Mary Beth Benbenek.
Book for Essay-based supervisions
Book for Problem-sheet based supervisions
Please note: we publish dates throughout the year in response to demand.
Online module
This component of the course must be completed in addition to the live workshop, or to equivalent face-to-face training provided by your Department or Faculty. Taking approximately 1.5 hours to complete, it includes pre-reading for the workshop as well as resources and further guidance which you may find helpful following the workshop.
Online Supervision
Created in response to the rapid pivot to remote teaching & learning in 2020, our guide to supervising online provides a range of advice specific to the online environment, such as technological considerations, accessibility and how to facilitate discussion in a virtual setting.