Support During Your Studies

Academic Mentor 
Your academic mentor is a key point of contact in the department. Their role is to keep an overview of your academic progress and overall wellbeing during your time at the School.

They can provide guidance and coaching on the wide range of academic and pastoral topics that might come up during your time at LSE. They can share their experience, answer questions and help you play a part in LSE’s academic community. You can find out more about academic mentoring in the department here.

Department Tutor (undergraduate only)
The Departmental Tutor has oversight of pastoral support for undergraduate students in the department and alongside your academic mentor, can provide advice on more complex academic and personal issues. The department tutor will oversee your attendance and follow up with you if there are any concerns. They will also have officer hours available should you wish to speak to them about any pastoral worries you may have and need support with, or if you wish to speak to someone else in the department that isn't your academic mentor.

Class Teacher
For guidance about a topic covered in a course or a particular class, you can speak with your class teacher. They will hold weekly office hours dedicated to the course and we encourage you to book into these to discuss topics, readings or your formative assessment for the course. 

Office Hours 
Office hours are designated times in which academic staff will be available to students in order to have a conversation about wellbeing, offer feedback on a student’s progress, specific summative or formative assessments, and/or have an in-depth discussion of an academic area in which the student is interested. 

All academic staff will hold office hours, and in the department these should be weekly during term time. Students may access any academic staff member's office hours whose research areas are of interest or relevant to the student, as well as their class teachers’, course lecturers’ or academic mentor’s office hours. We encourage students to make use of the time available.

Most academic staff have appointments that can be booked via the 'Make a Booking' function in the Student Hub. 

Programme Manager
Each of our BSc and MSc programmes have a dedicated programme manager who has oversight of the day to day running of your programme. This includes being the first point of contact for students and staff in the department, particulary for administrative queries and advise on department policies. They plan and organise Welcome, social events, the student-staff liasion committee, have oversight and run our assessments, can help you with Moodle, give advice on extensions and deferrals, and much more. If you have a question and aren't sure who to ask, get in touch with your programme manager and if they are not the best person to answer the query, they can direct you to the right service at LSE. 

BSc queries: sociology.ug@lse.ac.uk.
MSc queries: sociology.msc@lse.ac.uk. 

Departmental Senior Student Adviser 
The Student Adviser is available to support you throughout your time at LSE, helping you to navigate the advice and support services available to you (alongside your Academic Mentor and other departmental staff), and to assist with your personal, welfare or wellbeing needs. They will also be the best person to ask for support if at any point your engagement or assessments have been impacted - they can discuss the options available to you and ensure you receive appropriate support. 

You can book a 30min appointment with our Student Adviser (in-person or online) or attend an online drop-in session for quick queries - please refer to the Departmental Senior Student Advice Team webpage for the Sociology booking form and drop-in information. 

The LSE Disability and Wellbeing Service is the first point of contact for disabled students and students with physical and/or mental health conditions, both before arrival at LSE and throughout their time here. 

They have experts in long term medical/health conditions, physical disabilities and sensory impairments, mental health and learning difficulties (such as Dyslexia). 

The Disability and Wellbeing Service are located on the 4th floor of Pethick-Lawerence House (PEL) which you can only access from Fawcett House (FAW).

They can be contacted by email at disability-wellbeing@lse.ac.uk.

My Adjustments (MAs) are LSE’s system of recording the adjustments and support available to disabled students and students with physical and/or health conditions. It is a document tailored to your individual circumstances and needs, and outlines the reasonable adjustments which the School will put in place to support your study.​

Your MAs are based on formal medical evidence and completed in collaboration with you. Your disability and wellbeing advisor will work with you to establish how best we can provide appropriate support. Your MA will be shared with the necessary staff at LSE that will support putting your adjustments in place, and this usually includes your academic mentor and class teacher. 

Recommended adjustments can include:​

• Lecture notes/slides provided in advance of classes​

• Recommendation of extensions for coursework based assessments​

• Extra writing time for exam based assessment

The Student Counselling Service is a free and confidential service for all students. 

They offer one-to-one appointments, drop in sessions and group activitie .They offer group-based support and workshops in issues such as stress management, looking after yourself, building confidence and self-esteem, procastinantion and perfectionism. You can find full details and how to sign up or book an appointment here. 

The Student Counselling Service are located on the 4th Floor of Pethick Lawrence House (PEL) which you can only access from Fawcett House (FAW).

They can be contacted by email at student.counselling@lse.ac.uk.