Meet the team

Helen has worked in Higher Education (HE) for over 25 years and began leading the Student Engagement in 2017. Helen particularly enjoys using quantitative and qualitative data to critically evaluate and improve the UniSkills service provision and plan new student-centred academic skills interventions.

“I feel lucky to manage a team of staff who put the student at the heart of everything we offer.”

Helen Jamieson

Helen Briscoe

Helen has been part of the Student Engagement team since 2018, and has worked at Edge Hill for over 20 years. She loves the variety that comes with her role as an Academic Skills Advisor and particularly enjoys meeting and supporting a diverse range of students. Helen is responsible for the development of the Returning to Learning student community of practice, which supports students who have had a break from education to develop their confidence.

Kat Molesworth

Kat is usually based at Manchester St. James’ and enjoys discussing academic skills with a wide range of students both at St James’ and online, through one-to-one support and UniSkills workshops. Her favourite topics are academic writing (especially grammar and formulating an argument) and critical thinking.  The best part of the role for her is learning more about what students are working on, helping them to express their ideas, and most of all seeing their hard work recognised in their feedback and results.

Andy Tomkins

Andy is a qualified Librarian and has worked at Edge Hill for over 16 years. His role involves helping students with referencing, finding academic information and developing their academic writing. This involves one-to-one support, workshops and embedded delivery across the campus. Andy finds it very rewarding to help students problem solve something they may have struggled with and to see their understanding develop.

Adam Paxman

Adam was the first person in his family to go to university and, prior to joining the team, has supported learners and taught in FE and HE. When he is not delivering study skills support to students his focus is on induction and transition. Adam loves the day-to-day aspects of his role, supporting students with academic writing or information skills through appointments, workshops and delivering embedded sessions on a wide range of topics.

Emily Pennington

Emily joined the team in September 2022, having spent 10 years as a HE Lecturer. Throughout her career she has gained valuable insights into students anxieties as they transition into HE and is passionate about helping alleviate those concerns, helping to guide students to be the best researchers and writers they can possibly be.

Emma Harrison

Emma joined the team in 2024 after working in libraries for over 7 years. She was recognised as one of the CILIP125 in July 2023 for her contribution to libraries as a young professional. She enjoys the variety her role brings and is passionate about helping students develop their academic skills. When she is not delivering appointments and sessions, Emma’s focus is on evaluating the feedback and impact of our academic skills support to help improve the services we offer to students.

Christine Anderton

Christine has worked at Edge Hill for 20 years in a variety of roles within Student Services and Learning Services and plays an instrumental role in the development of the UniSkills portal, designed to provide students with seamless access to support, and is dedicated to enhancing students academic writing and information skills, fostering their growth and success.