It was within further education, where my teaching career started, that education’s role in social justice and changing lives went beyond a mere idea to a reality. The students who walked through my door experienced various social problems which needed acknowledgement before or alongside academic study and I saw that effective individualised holistic support can transform students’ lives. It is this belief that has sustained my teaching and subsequent leadership to the present day. With over 20 years’ experience in teaching and teacher education, the core value of learning from practice drives my work as a researcher and educational leader who contributes to institutional and sectoral policy. As author of practitioner texts and journal articles on personal tutoring/academic advising, and researcher on student support informed by critical pedagogy, I am at the forefront of professional development and research in this area. I influence institutional, national and international strategy and, through this work, am committed to developing the field of academic and pastoral support of students further.

 I am the author of four books on personal tutoring/academic advising (including the highly regarded first monograph on personal tutoring in 12 years), a unique case study collection and peer-reviewed journal articles. My work has been adopted in professional development programmes at multiple UK institutions and is also used internationally. I have overseen cross-university continuing professional development from inception, planning, delivery to evaluation. I was Vice-Chair of the UK Advising and Tutoring association (UKAT) for a 2-year term (2019-2021) and am the UK representative on NACADA’s (The Global Community for Academic Advising) Global Initatives and Engagement Committee. For UKAT, I founded the international webinar series, ‘Tutoring Matters’. I gained my PhD on enhancing personal tutoring through action research in 2025.

 As such, I have had the opportunity to contribute to institutional and sectoral policy, and am a successful consultant who has worked with both UK and international HE institutions. Currently, I am working with leaders at three international universities who are implementing new cross-institutional personal tutoring programmes: The University of Lisbon, The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and The University of Baja California, Mexico (UABC)

 My consultancy offer includes course development, lectures, workshops and meetings with leaders, tutoring coordinators, lecturers and students. I would love the opportunity to work with you and your institution.