Student Voice Committees (SVCs)

Undergraduate Student Voice Committees

Note: information on this section is related only to SVCs for Undergraduate students in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science & Engineering, inclusive of Joint Honours students.

Undergraduate SVCs serve as a formal channel for effective communication between undergraduate students and staff (both academic and professional services) in each School that give students the opportunity to reflect and give feedback on their programme of study and wider aspects of their experience.

How are UG SVCs structured?

Undergraduate SVCs follow a general structure, as set out by the Education Manual: the governing document of SVCs.

There should be at minimum 1 course representative per course; with at least 2 course representatives if the course has more than 20 students. The School Representative of the corresponding School should be invited to the SVC in a non-compulsory fashion. The student co-chair should be agreed from amongst the elected student representatives, either through an election or direct appointment to the SVC, either before the first SVC of the academic year or at the first meeting of the committee.

Joint Honours students are expected to attend the SVC of both their ‘home’ School and ‘joint’ School but should prioritise their ‘home’ School in the first instance.

The staff membership of the SVC should include the Head of School (or, in most instances, a nominee), the Senior Tutor, or equivalent, and other academic staff as agreed. Professional Services staff such as Library or IT staff should also be invited as agreed and when necessary. The secretary, or note taker, should be a member of staff from the School.

Please note that individual Schools may operate SVCs in different ways that stated above. In the first instance, please contact the School’s Student Support Officer to find out the exact nature of your School’s SVC.

Postgraduate Taught Student Voice Committees

Note: information on this section is related only to SVCs for Postgraduate Taught students in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science & Engineering.

Postgraduate Taught SVCs serve as a formal channel for effective communication between postgraduate taught students and staff (both academic and professional services) in each School that give students the opportunity to reflect and give feedback on their programme of study and wider aspects of their experience.

How are PGT SVCs structured?

Undergraduate SVCs follow a general structure, as set out by the Education Manual: the governing document of SVCs.

There should be 1 course representative per programme. The School Representative of the corresponding School and Postgraduate Taught Representative of the Faculty should be invited to the SVC in a non-compulsory fashion. The student co-chair should be agreed from amongst the elected student representatives, either through an election or direct appointment to the SVC, either before the first SVC of the academic year or at the first meeting of the committee.

The staff membership of the SVC should include the Head of School (or, in most instances, a nominee), the Senior Tutor, or equivalent, and other academic staff as agreed. Professional Services staff such as Library or IT staff should also be invited as agreed and when necessary. The secretary, or note taker, should be a member of staff from the School.

Please note that individual Schools may operate SVCs in different ways that stated above, where some Schools do combine the Undergraduate and Postgraduate SVCs. In the first instance, please contact the School’s Student Support Officer to find out the exact nature of your School’s SVC.

Postgraduate Research Student Voice Committees

Note: information on this section is related only to SVCs for Postgraduate Research students in the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences and the Faculty of Science & Engineering.

Postgraduate Research SVCs serve as a formal channel for effective communication between postgraduate research students and staff (both academic and professional services) in each School that give students the opportunity to reflect and give feedback on their programme of study and wider aspects of their experience.

How are PGR SVCs structured?

Postgraduate Research SVCs follow a general structure, as set out by the Education Manual: the governing document of SVCs.

There should be 1 course representative, as a minimum, per year of the programme. Postgraduate Research Representative of the Faculty should also be invited to the SVC, but it is optional for them to attend. The student co-chair should be agreed from amongst the elected student representatives. The co-chair should be appointment through an election or direct appointment to the SVC, either before the first SVC of the academic year or at the first meeting of the committee.

The staff membership of the SVC should include the Head of School (or, in most instances, a nominee), the Senior Tutor, or equivalent, and other academic staff as agreed. Professional Services staff such as Library or IT staff should also be invited as agreed and when necessary. The secretary, or note taker, should be a member of staff from the School.

Please note that individual Schools may operate SVCs in different ways that stated above. In the first instance, please contact the School’s Student Support Officer or Director of Graduate Studies to find out the exact nature of your School’s SVC.

School of Medicine and Dentistry (MBBS, BDS & PA only) Student Voice Committees

Note: information on this section is related only to SVCs for students studying MBBS, BDS and PA programmes in the School of Medicine and Dentistry. For information relating to SVCs of other SMD programmes (often referred to as ‘Allied Courses’) please refer here.

MBBS and BDS SVCs serve as a formal channel for effective communication between undergraduate medical and dental students and staff (both academic and professional services) in each School that give students the opportunity to reflect and give feedback on their programme of study and wider aspects of their experience.

How are MBBS SVCs structured?

MBBS SVCs follow a general structure, as set out by the Education Manual: the governing document of SVCs.

There should be 5 elected course representative positions for all MBBS years (for Graduate Entry Programme Year 1, there is usually 2 representatives due to a smaller cohort). There should also be one elected course representative position for intercalating students in Medicine. The BLSA President should be invited to the SVC in a non-compulsory fashion. The Junior MBBS SVC (years 1 and 2) should be co-chaired by the Pre-clinical Representative. The Senior MBBS SVC (years 3, 4 and 5) should be co-chaired by the Clinical Representative.

The staff membership of the SVC should include the Institute Director (or, in most instances, a nominee), the Senior Tutor, or equivalent, and other academic staff as agreed. Professional Services staff such as Library or IT staff should also be invited as agreed and when necessary.

The secretary, or note taker, of the Junior and Senior MBBS SVC should be a staff member appointed by the SVC.

How is BDS SVCs structured?

BDS SVCs follow a general structure, as set out by the Education Manual: the governing document of SVCs.

Course Representatives for Dentistry are elected from within the Dental Society (DentSoc) There should be 6 course representatives for BDS – BDS1, BDS2, BDS3, BDS4 and two for BDS5. There is also a representative for each year of the BSc Oral Health programme. The BLSA President should be invited to the SVC in a non-compulsory fashion. The BDS SVC should be co-chaired by the Dental President.

The staff membership of the SVC should include the Head of Institute (or, in most instances, a nominee), the Senior Tutor, or equivalent, and other academic staff as agreed. Professional Services staff such as Library or IT staff should also be invited as agreed and when necessary.

The secretary, or note taker, of the BDS SVC should be the Dental Society’s secretary, elected by students.

How are Physician Associates (PA) SVCs structured?

PA SVCs follow a general structure, as set out by the Education Manual: the governing document of SVCs.

There should be 2 elected course representative positions for all PA years. The BLSA President should be invited to the SVC in a non-compulsory fashion. The student co-chair should be agreed from amongst the elected student representatives, either through an election or direct appointment to the SVC, either before the first SVC of the academic year or at the first meeting of the committee.

The staff membership of the SVC should include the Institute Director (or, in most instances, a nominee), the Senior Tutor, or equivalent, and other academic staff as agreed. Professional Services staff such as Library or IT staff should also be invited as agreed and when necessary.

The secretary, or note taker, of the PA SVC should be a staff member appointed by the SVC.

School of Medicine and Dentistry (non-clinical programmes) Student Voice Committees

Note: information on this section is related only to SVCs for students studying courses other than MBBS, BDS and PA programmes in the School of Medicine and Dentistry, including PGT and PRG students. For information relating to SVCs of MBBS, BDS and PA programmes of the School, please see above.

SVCs serve as a formal channel for effective communication between non-clinical students and staff (both academic and professional services) in each Institute that give students the opportunity to reflect and give feedback on their programme of study and wider aspects of their experience.

How are the SVCs structured?

Currently under review. Please check back soon for an updated explanation.