Information for students

Queries related to your module or course - can you answer this yourself?

A wide variety of guidance and support is available to you. For rapid resolution to your query, check online sources of information and guidance first. 

• Moodle sites provide clear information on module learning outcomes, an overview of the module, reading lists, session outlines, assessment briefs and deadlines, submission links and contact details for all tutors.
• The timetable site and MyYSJ app, which can be downloaded from your app store, provide up to date information on your timetabled teaching.
• Your Student homepage directs you to answers and support teams who can help with a range of queries including your wellbeing, your details and your student experience.
• You may wish to revisit 'YSJ For You' on Moodle which provides a detailed and accessible introduction to YSJ.
• Our Learning Success Hub includes all our helpful study and digital skills guides to build your confidence in your studies, including skills in referencing, writing, planning, critical thinking, language, maths, digital tools and software. Specialist study teams across York and London Campuses have bookable tutorials to support your skills development in all these areas.

Contacting your Programme Administration and Support Service (PASS)

Our Programme Administration and Support Service (PASS) team works across the University to provide programme related support for our academic staff and students. PASS teams have specialist knowledge supporting all programme-centred activity, including:

• Teaching and attendance
• Contacting staff
• Support to study meetings
• Academic misconduct meetings
• Assignment and assessments
• Exceptional circumstances
• Information about your modules
• Making a change to your course

They are located in De Grey 002 and Quad South 211 and any student can call in for assistance. Information on how to contact them can be found on the Programme Administration and Support Service (PASS) page.

Contacting academic staff

You can book an academic tutorial directly on your tutor’s Microsoft Bookings site. This will be linked from your Moodle sites and staff email signatures. This allows you to manage your time effectively. Office hours and appointment times to meet with a tutor are guaranteed, but lecturing staff will also be accessible at other times. 

Most urgent queries may be better addressed by an in-person conversation or telephone call. If the module tutor is not available, a conversation with a course lead or academic tutor is advised. You are also encouraged to discuss urgent queries with your PASS team.

Emailing academic staff

1. You should indicate in your email whether your query is urgent and can only be addressed via email. As noted above, most urgent issues should be raised in person with academic staff or the PASS team. When emailing, you are advised to include your full name, student number and programme. This will help staff to identify you so they can provide you with accurate advice.
2. Email is not a mechanism for instant responses. Staff will normally reply within three working days, and within office hours. Standard office hours are Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.00pm. Emails received outside standard office hours will have the response time applied from the next working day (e.g. an email sent at 6.00pm on Friday will have a response time applied from Monday 9.00am).
3. Some members of staff may choose to write emails outside of normal office hours, but this should not be assumed as a necessary or common practice.
4. Part-time lecturers will aim to reply within the same timeframe, i.e. three contracted working days. Their working days will be indicated in their email signature or out of office. To ensure you are not waiting too long for a reply, this will not normally extend past one calendar week from the date you sent your email.
5. Please ensure you read the information provided in out of office replies and email signatures. These provide information designed to help you and will include a link to Microsoft bookings for academic tutorials.
6. In most cases, staff will answer your query within three working days. For more complex matters, you may receive a holding reply to enable us to deal with your query as fully as possible.
7. You may also receive an initial reply with some questions for clarification. The sooner you respond to these, the faster your query can be addressed.
8. If you do not receive a reply to your email within three working days, you may wish to send a polite reminder email. You can also contact your PASS team. Where appropriate, you could also raise your question with a course lead, academic tutor, associate head or another relevant tutor. Please note that they may not be able to advise on queries related to module content.

You may receive an invitation from your Academic Tutor to attend a Support to Study meeting. The purpose of initial meetings is usually to support you where there may be issues with your progress on the programme. You will be able to discuss options for support with your tutors in order to keep on track with your studies. You may also be invited by the Programme Administration & Support Service to attend a Support to Study meeting following initial meetings with your Academic Tutor, to investigate serious and exceptional shortcomings in student performance or programme participation, and to instigate or recommend help, remedial measures, or disciplinary action relating to academic matters such as non-attendance or non-submission of work.

You can find out more information about the Support to Study process on the Policies and documents pages.

Your Course Leader or Module Leader may call an Academic Misconduct meeting if they suspect plagiarism within your academic work.

Your tutor will investigate any evidence of plagiarism during the meeting and make any recommendations that they deem appropriate.

More information about Academic Misconduct meetings can be found in our academic misconduct policy.

You can request a reference through the Programme Administration and Support Service. A member of the team will act on your behalf and circulate your request to relevant members of staff including your Academic Tutor. The contact details for each School can be found on our Contact Us page.

For teacher training students, please contact the specific reference request email address ITEreferences@yorksj.ac.uk.

Please report any absence using the online absence form.

You must tell us if you are unable to attend any programme related sessions. For example, lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, and field trips.

When you join a programme at the University, you will be assigned an Academic Tutor from your School(s). Your Academic Tutor will be able to advise you on various aspects of your study, for example which optional modules you should take to enhance your knowledge of your chosen area of study.

If you are unable to identify who your Academic Tutor is, please contact the relevant Programme Administration and Support Service office.

Postgraduate students: in most cases your Course Leader will also be your Academic Tutor.

You should be able to book a tutorial with an academic member of staff using their provided booking system.

You can find the contact details for the relevant member of staff using the staff directories on our Academic Schools webpages.

If one of your timetabled sessions is postponed, a notification will be sent by email, text or Moodle with as much advance notice as possible. A notice will always be placed on the door of the room.

Please keep your contact details up to date on e:Vision to ensure you receive notifications and check your York St John University email account regularly.

If you have lost your Student ID card, for York campus students, please check at the Porter's Lodge and the Information Services Desk in Holgate to see if it has been handed in. For London campus students, please email contactYSJLondon@yorksj.ac.uk.

For more information on registering attendance, please visit the Attendance monitoring page.

You can request a replacement card at a charge of £5.00, or free with a crime reference number.

More details about replacing and changing your Student ID card can be found on the Replacement ID Cards page.

You can find your assignment and deadline dates on the Moodle page for each module. Please get in touch with the relevant Programme Administration and Support Service office if you have difficulty locating this information.

For more information regarding exam dates, please see our key academic dates page.

The university has set resit period dates which are listed on the key academic dates page.

If you were unsuccessful with your first submission you will be informed by the Student Records team, and they will let you know if you have an opportunity for a resit.

Information about the resit deadline for your assignment will be available on the module Moodle page. If you are unsure about how to submit your resit please contact your relevant Programme Administration and Support Service.

For more information regarding resits, please see the Reassessment webpage.

In all cases it is advised to upload assignments at least 3 hours before the deadline in case of any technical issues. It is your responsibility to ensure the assignment is uploaded in time.

If you are experiencing problems with uploading your assignment, please contact your relevant Programme Administration and Support Service.

Some modules have work which requires hard copies to be handed in.

Please check the number of copies required for a given assignment and remember to attach a cover sheet. For York campus students, these should be handed in to the relevant Programme Administration and Support Service office. You can find our office locations on our Contact Us page. 

When submitting hard copies you will be asked to complete a receipt and you'll need the following information:

• Student number (on your ID card)
• Programme
• Module Tutor (in case of dissertations this should be your supervisor)
• Module code
• Module title
• Assignment number (if there is only 1 assignment for your module, enter 001)
• Assignment type (please consult the assessment information on Moodle)

For York campus students, hard copies of your marked work can be collected from the relevant Programme Administration and Support Service office and you will be advised when they are available to collect.

For London campus students, please email contactYSJLondon@yorksj.ac.uk.

To submit your assignments late, please use the late submission link on Moodle.

Information on the current penalties for late submissions can be found on our Late or non-submission of work page.

If you feel you are unable to meet an assignment deadline, it is important that you act as soon as possible. Information on what to do can be found on our Exceptional circumstances page.

Please remember that the University has a number of resources available to support you throughout your studies. This includes:

• Funding Advice team
• Wellbeing team
• International Student Support

For contact details and further information please visit our Student pages.

Please visit the Progression webpage for more information on how to progress on your programme.

You can find out which modules you can take by looking at the Programme Specifications for your course.

Your academic school may also publish this information on Moodle. If you cannot find which modules you are able to take, then you should contact your relevant Programme Administration and Support Service.

If you cannot see your modules on Moodle then you should contact the relevant Programme Administration and Support Service, making sure you include you student number and the code(s) for the missing module(s).

We recommend discussing any changes to your modules or course with your Course Leader first.

You will then need to fill in a request form.

Application forms and more details about changing modules can be found on the Changing modules page.

Application forms and more details about changing your course can be found on the Changing course page.

It is your personal choice to change your mode of study from full time to part time or vice versa. Most courses are flexible enough to study part time and you can check this on your course's Programme specifications.

Speak to us at the Programme Administration and Support Service, your Academic Tutor or Course Leader to explore your options to change.

For postgraduate students, please contact your Course Leader.

If you decide to change to part time study, you will have the same rights and access to University facilities as a full time student but your period of study will be longer. Your programme will need to be readjusted to part time study.

You will need to find out about the financial implications of changing by contacting the Finance team on finance@yorksj.ac.uk.

Before suspending your studies, you will need to meet with your Associate Head or Associate Dean and your Course Leader to discuss the reasons for suspending your studies.

Once this meeting has taken place, you will need to fill out an application form. The form and further information can be found on our Suspension of studies page.

There will be possible financial implications of suspending your studies, and you are encouraged to speak with our Funding Advice team.