The Experiences and Challenges of Personal Tutors in Higher Education: A Qualitative Study

Universities increasingly rely on personal tutoring to support student wellbeing, belonging, and academic progression, yet the role remains structurally ambiguous and inconsistently resourced. This qualitative study examined the lived experiences and challenges of personal tutors at a large UK Russell Group university. Twenty-one tutors from diverse academic disciplines participated in one-to-one semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were generated: Relational Labour, encompassing the emotional and interpersonal labour required to build and sustain student trust; Navigating the role characterised by inconsistent training, reliance on informal peer support, and the strain of managing complex student issues alongside competing academic duties; and Structural fragmentation, highlighting fragmented communication systems, role ambiguity, and the absence of coordinated structures for tutor support. Collectively, the findings show that personal tutoring functions as an undervalued form of emotional and organisational labour, sustained by individual goodwill rather than institutional design. The study demonstrates the need for clear role definitions, recognition of workload, competency-based training, and integrated support systems to safeguard tutor wellbeing and improve the quality of student support.