1 March 2018
Dear PGT student
I wanted to write to you directly, as I am conscious that as a student on a postgraduate taught programme you may be concerned about the impact of the current industrial action on your studies and on the successful completion of your award. You will find general material here www.bristol.ac.uk/students/industrial-action/ but what follows gives you further information on actions the University is taking to safeguard your educational outcomes.
The University has put in place a high-level group which is meeting regularly to provide advice to staff on how to deal with the impact of the industrial action. Among the members of this group are the Academic Director for Undergraduate Studies who oversees all undergraduate studies, and the Academic Registrar who is responsible for the standards and processes for education at the University. They, along with other colleagues on the Group, are actively monitoring the impact the action is having on your studies and providing guidance to your School on mitigations to put in place.
Our Rules and Regulations allow us to be responsive in situations such as this. Depending on your programme and the impact industrial action has had, we can support your studies by way of changes to teaching and assessment to ameliorate the impact. Because the impact will vary by unit and indeed by individual, it is not possible to say in a message like this what will happen in your specific case.
One thing we can say with confidence that the outstanding quality of our programmes on which our world-class reputation is built will be protected in all of this. The Board of Examiners for your programme will need to be assured that you have reached the standards required and achieved your learning outcomes; you and your future employers would expect no less of us. This means that mitigating actions will be developed carefully, requiring us to consider how we will apply our rules and regulations in your circumstances. I know that you would wish for more certainty, but the University needs to make careful and consistent decisions to safeguard your outcomes. We will work hard to keep you up informed at all stages.
If you need further advice, please contact your School Office.
Professor Judith Squires
PVC Education and Students