UCL Education Services have launched a major new project to review and redesign UCL’s Academic Manual, and your input is crucial - please let us know how the manual works (or doesn’t!) for you.
UCL’s Academic Manual comprises regulatory frameworks, policies, processes and guidance for all education-related aspects of the student lifecycle, from recruitment and admissions, to how we support and assess their learning.
We know that the current manual is difficult to navigate, with inconsistent terminology, duplication and outdated references to roles and processes. Staff often find it hard to know where to go for definitive information, while students - who frequently rely on the manual - encounter language that is overly technical or unclear, especially around sensitive procedures. The current structure also makes it challenging to integrate new external requirements such as freedom of speech legislation and Office for Students expectations, creating compliance risks.
Working in partnership with the Association of Higher Education Professionals (AHEP) Consultancy, the aim of the project is to create a clearer, more accessible, and more sustainable set of regulations, policies, processes, and guidance for staff and students.
We are seeking to review the current manual to:
- Increase accessibility and ease of use for all’users, including students
- Reduce duplication
- Ensure that it is updated to reflect changes to UCL’s structure and the external regulatory landscape.
In order to do this, we are initially looking for feedback from as many staff as possible, via a short survey. We’d like to know how you use the manual, where you find it useful and how it could be improved.
We anticipate that the survey will take around 15 minutes to complete. Not all questions are mandatory - please just answer those that are relevant to you!
The deadline to complete is 12 March.
Complete the survey now
Next steps
The first phase of the project, running throughout 2026, will focus on analysis and review of the current manual, before going on to co-design and policy development, shaping the new structure and content in consultation with staff and students.
The revised Academic Manual is expected to launch for the academic year 2027/28.
Get in touch:
If you would like further information, please contact z.liddell@ucl.ac.uk and liz.grant@ucl.ac.uk
- University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT (0) 20 7679 2000