Need to check something about your course? Got questions about an essay? Then you might need to email the person in charge. But wait! If you want a helpful response, you should follow our advice on how to email a lecturer, tutor or supervisor as a student.
1. Check Your Syllabus!
On a daily basis, your lecturer may receive dozens of emails from students asking about something they could have looked up themselves. This may even be something they have explained repeatedly in class or stated clearly in the course materials you were given at the start of term.
So, for the sake of your lecturer’s sanity, before you write an email, make sure you’ve checked that the information isn’t available elsewhere (e.g. a syllabus, reading list or university website).
2. Keep It Polite and Formal (To Begin With)
When you first email a lecturer or tutor, it’s best to be formal. Make sure to:
- Begin the email with ‘Dear’ plus their title and surname
- Use their proper title (e.g. ‘Dear Dr Smith’ rather than ‘Dear Mrs Smith’)
- Thank them for their time in the sign off at the end of your email
If you know the person you’re emailing, you may be able to relax these rules (e.g. using their first name). However, unless you’re sure they are happy with this, it is best to keep things polite and formal.
3. Remind Them How They Know You
If you’ve not had much direct interaction with whoever you’re emailing, you may want to remind them how you know them. This could be as simple as saying ‘I attend your class’ or explaining who told you to get in touch. They key is to gently remind them who you are.
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4. Be Clear and Concise
Lecturers and tutors often have an inbox overflowing with requests from students and colleagues. As such, if you want them to read your email, be sure to keep it clear and concise.
Ideally, you should be able to sum up your request in a sentence or two, including stating what you would like the email recipient to do in response. If you cannot communicate the issue in a few lines at most, it may be better to arrange a meeting to speak about it in person.
5. Proofread Carefully
Unless you’re emailing someone very pedantic, you can usually get away with a few typos when emailing friends or family. But remember that academics are busy people. If you need to email a lecturer, then, a nice, error-free email will make their lives at least a tiny bit easier. And they will thank you for that.
Summary: How Should I Email a Lecturer or Tutor?
If you need to email a lecturer, tutor or supervisor:
- Make sure you’ve checked for the information elsewhere first
- Be polite and formal, especially if you don’t know the recipient
- The first time you email a lecturer, remind them how they know you
- Keep your message clear and concise
- Check that your email is error free before hitting send
And don’t forget that we’re here to help with that last point!