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Essential Kit for Study and Research: Overview

All the skills that you need to be successful in your studies, covering all elements of research and study skills.

Essential kit

Whatever study you have done before, there are some essential skills that you need to be successful at university. These include skills for studying and skills for researching your subject area; you can build on and refresh them as your studies progress. These skills can be broken down to different levels:

The Library offers a full programme of skills teaching - check out the Events page and book yourself into sessions that you think you need.

We also have extensive online guidance available: have a look at your Subject Guide and the Study Skills Online Resources.

Skills topics we cover

This is your 'Essential Kit' - everything that all students need to know about study.

  • Reading lists & Library search 

  • Why use library/academic sources & evaluating sources 

  • Academic reading & notemaking 

  • Planning your time and your studies 

  • Academic writing & taking a critical approach 

  • Referencing & academic honesty 

  • Understanding & using feedback 

  • Exams and revision 

  • Digital skills & AI literacy: 

    • Get digital ready: Learn how to use essential tools used at the university

    • AI Essentials: how AI works and how to evaluate different platforms (for responsible, ethical + sustainable use) 

    • Thinking critically about AI outputs

    • Ethics & AI: What should we be aware of?

    • Cybersecurity and digital identity basics (coming soon)

In certain subjects, you will need to add some more specialist skills early on:

  • Primary, secondary & tertiary sources 

  • Advanced search techniques (Library Search)

  • Reflective writing 

  • Group work 

  • Presentations 

  • Scientific writing 

  • Maths and Statistics: 

    • Foundation level Statistics (coming soon)

    • GCSE-level Maths (coming soon)

  • Digital skills & AI literacy: 

    • Digital productivity and collaboration

    • Digital foundations and emerging technologies 

    • Digital notemaking (coming soon)

    • AI Research Assistants (the basics) 

First of all - do you need to REFRESH your 'Essential Kit' ? Check the list, then review and refresh your knowledge before considering what next-level skills you can explore:

  • Databases and advanced search techniques 
  • Finding and using primary sources 
  • Group work 
  • Presentations 
  • Reflective writing 
  • Doing a literature review 
  • Doing a systematic literature search
  • Maths and Statistics:
    • GCSE-level Maths (coming soon)
    • Using statistical methods and reporting (coming soon)
  • Digital skills & AI literacy:
    • AI prompting (beyond the basics)
    • Using AI responsibly to elevate written communication 
    • Big data, data analysis, and strategic decision making 
    • Coding 
    • Data analysis tools (coming soon) 
    • Survey and data collection tools (basics) (coming soon)
    • Multimedia tools for basic audio/ video editing (coming soon) 
    • Presentation slide creation tools (coming soon)
    • AI Playground (to explore and discuss AI use) (coming soon)

Always start with checking your skills and then REFRESH any of the 'Essential Kit' that you need to review and refresh. At this level you are taking on longer and more involved pieces of work, so you may need the following skills:

  • Databases and advanced search techniques
  • Finding and using primary sources 
  • Group work 
  • Presentations (general) 
  • Presentations (posters or vivas)
  • Reflective writing
  • Preparing for your dissertation 
  • Doing a literature review
  • Doing a systematic literature search 
  • Maths and Statistics:
    • GCSE-level Maths (coming soon)
    • Using statistical methods and reporting (coming soon)
  • Digital skills & AI literacy:
    • Next-level research with GenAI 
    • More advanced data analysis (coming soon)
    • Data visualisation (coming soon)
    • Project and time management tools (coming soon) 
    • Protecting data in academic research (final year dissertations/ projects) (coming soon) 

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