FAQs
Below are some frequently asked questions about tutoring in the School of Health in Social Science, with guidance on what to do.
Course run times vary. Please refer to when each course is due to run. They may be full year, Semester 1 only, Semester 2 only or only specific weeks.
Full-time postgraduate research students should note that they will be employed by the University for no more than an average of 9 hours per week across the academic year. It is recommended that postgraduate research students apply this limit to employment outside the University.
Tutors are paid on the UE06 pay scale. The hourly rate reflects the pay due for each hour of work, so each ‘contact hour’ may be subject to a multiplier in respect of the time expected to be spent on preparation. A pay in lieu of annual leave is provided for each hour of work so no annual leave allowance is provided for the post.
Tutors should therefore be aware of any periods of likely absence and discuss these with the course organiser ahead of appointment, especially in regards to periods where tutorial delivery and assessment are required. You will be required to submit your pay claims via People and Money each month.
If you are a returning tutor with continuous service you will automatically be awarded the annual pay increment so you will be paid at the next hourly rate up on the part-time pay scales here: https://www.ed.ac.uk/human-resources/pay-reward/pay/pay-scales
Please get in touch with your Course Organiser as soon as you can to discuss whether adjustments can be accommodated. If not, you must let tutors.health@ed.ac.uk know if you need to withdraw from any tutoring opportunities so that a new tutor can be allocated in time.
Scholarship Scholarship hours refers to 8 hours of professional development time offered to PG tutors per annum. In the first year of tutoring this will include mandatory attendance at two Institute for Academic Development courses (4 hours) with PG Tutors having the opportunity to take other training in future years of employment. Mandatory training also includes 2 hours for attendance at School induction meetings and an additional 2 hours of training will be offered by the School to PG Tutors across the year.
PG tutors can claim for up to 5% of the total GH hours related to teaching and teaching related activity to be offered in the year. If 5% of the offered hours is less than 8 hours, then tutors can claim up to the minimum of 8 hours. If 5% of the offered hours is more than 8 hours, tutors can claim up to 5% of the offered hours.
Citizenship Citizenship hours refers to tutor activities such as responding to emails, reading and acting on School and University communications, and attending School forums. It does not include meetings with Course Organisers to discuss specifics about the delivery of teaching to students which will be separately included in the overall offer. GH staff are not expected to offer formal office hours to students or provide pastoral support which should be passed to the student support team or the course organiser. PG tutors can claim for up to 5% of total teaching/teaching related activity offered hours for the period for these activities.
We wouldn’t issue a new contract as the hours on the Guaranteed Hours contract reflect the minimum that was originally agreed. Our internal process is to update our tracking spreadsheet with the new approved hours, and this will ensure that you can claim for those hours through People and Money, without these being queried. However, you must notify tutors.health@ed.ac.uk if you are offered more hours so that we can keep track.