The Academic Timetabling policy articulates and clarifies College policy about the annual planning, preparation, production, publication and ongoing management of changes to the Academic Timetable at College. More specifically, it defines the sequence of activity and core principles for establishing viable Timetables that are Student and Lecturer effective, while achieving broader College goals around use of our scarcest spaces.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the Academic Timetabling policy, or about timetabling more generally, please contact the Central Timetabling Support Office (CTSO) directly, using the button above. 

NOTE: This policy supersedes the 2012 College Notice about College Teaching Day. The College Teaching day is defined in the full policy, and brings PG Taught modules teaching day into line with the UG teaching day.  This policy was approved at Provost’s Board, December 2016 (as per minute recorded in Paper 35.1 PB Jan 2017 item 5.11)

 

Academic Timetabling Overview

Lecture

What This Policy Covers

  • All scheduled activity for enrolled College Students (including undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes, cross-departmental teaching and Summer Schools);
  • Sets out key definitions for types of event, types of timetable and temporal considerations;
  • Describes the sequence of the timetable build required to ensure the best aggregate outcome for Students, Lecturers and College;
  • Establishes the concept of scarcity-driven resource allocation;
  • Establishes standards around session start times; length; balance within the week, term and year; and room occupancy targets;
  • Provides clarity around the management of timetable changes for the benefit of staff and students;
  • Describes timetable data quality standards required to meet the policy goals (see above).
  • Will be managed/supported by the Central Timetabling Support Office on behalf of the Academic Registrar and Vice Provost (Education), who is accountable for the effectiveness of the Policy.
Students

Policy Goals

  • Deliver Timetables that are Student and Lecturer focused, and promote excellent learning
  • Reduce barriers to collegiate and broad based sharing of those teaching spaces in highest demand and thus deemed “scarce”
  • Provide unambiguous clarity about how trade-offs between conflicting needs are resolved
  • Reduce the overall administrative load placed on Academic staff during timetable construction
  • Provide a set of operational definitions and norms that enable more efficient production of timetables; as well as supporting evidence based, data led decisions about resolving issues
  • Create the necessary foundations for service excellence in Academic Timetabling, in particular training for timetabling staff, tools, standards and support arrangements
  • Promote transparency, measurable outcomes, evidence based prioritisation and continuous improvement for all timetabling activity