Academic presentations can be individual or group, assessed or informal, as part of a seminar or tutorial, but they all require effective communication skills, including clear use of signposting and functional language.

Being able to read quickly and effectively is a key skill when studying at university.

Academic vocabulary is really important to develop if you want to be able to write more accurately.

Building an argument is the ability to analyse, research, select, organise and develop ideas in order to present your readers with a clear point of view supported by evidence.

Business reports are a type of case study in which you analyse a particular business scenario/situation, apply business theories and evaluate it in order to suggest improvements.

Coherence is when the ideas in your writing are logically connected and flow naturally from one to another.

Cohesion is the way you use language to connect your ideas and show the progression of your argument.

Communicating with your tutors effectively can be tricky, especially if English is not your first language. Whether it is face-to-face or by email, it is important that you communicate with your tutors clearly and respectfully.

Criticality is the ability to look at a piece of writing and identify different positions and biasses within it.

Genre analysis is the ability to identify different styles and types of writing based on their purpose or discipline.

The lab report is an example from the genre family of methodology recounts. Its aim is to describe the methods, procedures and experimental findings of research conducted by the student.

Paraphrasing is a key skill to integrate sources effectively into your writing.

Reflective writing is a type of writing that requires you to look back at past experiences and analyse them with the purpose of performing better in the future.

Summarising is the ability to take longer pieces of text and express them in a shorter form in your own words.

Synthesising is the ability to integrate different sources effectively into your writing.