Academic quality
Information for students
How our students contribute to academic quality at York St John and how you can get involved.
Get involved
Listening to the student voice and making improvements is a key part of our quality processes.
We can do a better job of improving your experience if you get involved and let us know what might need improving. A few ways you can do this are listed below.
School Forums
School Forums are regular meetings where key student issues can be discussed.
The meetings are informal and held by School Chairs. Any student can attend, but Academic Reps are expected to attend and SU Officers will also be in attendance. Issues from School Forums can be taken to Senate in the form of change submissions, where they will be voted on and acted upon, if agreed.
Student Partnership Plus Policy
Student partnership is a collaborative approach that recognises students as active and equal partners in shaping their educational experience and the broader university community. It acknowledges that students possess valuable insights, perspectives, and expertise that can contribute to the enhancement of teaching, learning, and the overall university environment.
Student partnership is essential for fostering a sense of ownership, engagement, and shared responsibility among students, and staff, ultimately leading to the delivery of high-quality education and a supportive University community.
For more information, download our Student Partnership Plus Policy (PDF, 0.2MB)
Students' Union and representatives
The Students' Union (SU) offers students a chance to get involved. This doesn't just mean with societies, events and activities - the Students' Union gives students a voice, allowing them to tell the University what they need for a better student experience.
There are several types of student representatives who you can discuss issues with. Expand the drop-down for more detail on each representative.
The Students' Union Sabbatical team is made up of 3 full time officers who are elected in cross-campus elections every February.
Their responsibility is to represent students on all issues. They sit on a number of University committees and liaise with senior University staff members on a variety of academic matters. You can find out more about the current Sabbatical Officers on the SU website.
Every year, around February, elections are held to choose a School Chair for each School. These Chairs run the School Forum meetings.
If you want to find out who your School Chair is or want to run in the next election, find out more on the Students' Union website.
Academic Reps are students on each programme who represent their cohort. Anyone can become an Academic Rep. To be elected, students simply enter their name for election and then the students on that course will vote for who they wish to be their Academic Rep.
Academic Reps help the University to ensure that the student voice is heard in making improvements to programmes.
How we ensure quality for you
Checking and improving the quality standards and working to enhance your experience is an intrinsic part of all the work we do across the University. Find out more about our work below.
Your work and fair assessment
In line with the UK higher education sector, the University appoints external Eexaminers for every course. These examiners are lecturers from other universities/higher education institutions or professionals that work in a quality role.
They help York St John University make sure that our marking and academic standards are consistent with the sector. They also monitor procedures and School Assessment Panels to make sure that all programmes are following the York St John University regulations accurately. These people play an important part, so that you know that the quality of your course, the way it is run and the way you are marked is fair and standard across the higher hducation sector.
Committees
The quality and standards of our courses and processes are monitored by the University's Quality and Standards Committee.
Enhancement opportunities and student experience issues are monitored and improved by the University's Learning and Teaching Committee. Students' Union representatives sit on both University-level committees and this creates another forum for students to have their voice heard on key matters.
