Locked down but not locked out: personal tutoring for philosophy, ethics and religion students and the wider community at Leeds Trinity University during Covid-19

This article discusses my experiences of working with philosophy, ethics and religion students and the institutional implementation of level tutors at Leeds Trinity University during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also includes a discussion of the key findings of focus group discussions with staff and students a year later. The discussions showed that students appreciated having an online mechanism for efficient and timely responses from their personal tutor as well as a ‘level playing field’ with tutors where they felt supported and listened to as partners on the learning journey. Staff discussions showed that they appreciated the level tutor role, especially since it enhanced mechanisms for tracking student engagement, but they felt the need for more visible acknowledgement of the significance of the role for the university.