Checking the draft timetable

When checking the draft timetable, please work your way through and check the following items:

1. Modules
2. Assessment
3. Programmes
4. Placement & dissertation preparation sessions
5. PAL sessions
6. Staff availability
7. Rooms
8. Palmer G10 & HBS G11
9. Bank Holidays

Modules

• Are the number of groups correct?
• Have the correct staff been allocated to all the sessions?
• Have the activities been scheduled for all weeks requested?
• Are the lengths of sessions correct?
• Have class tests been scheduled in large enough rooms, e.g. to allow double spacing?
• Are revision sessions included where needed? 

Please check that any changes which are requested do not have a knock-on impact on other modules/pathways/programmes. Often what looks like a simple change can affect an academic colleague in another area due to the overlap of modules on programme pathways.

Assessment

In-class tests

The Portfolio Review Pathway has provided a list of all modules for which an in-class test appears on the MDF.  However, the in-class tests submitted by Schools generally do not match those listed on the MDFs.  Please check that if there is an in-class tests on the MDF that it has been timetabled; if it hasn’t been, please submit the data for the in-class test now.

The Timetabling Team will be following up on in-class tests with Schools over the summer.  In-class tests require use of flat classroom space or PC labs.  Flat classrooms and PC labs will be prioritised for in-class tests, so we require the data for them now so that this can be built in.

Other in person assessment

Where a module has an in person assessment such as a presentation, practical etc., these must be timetabled.  Assessments often require use of flat classroom space.  Flat classrooms will be prioritised for assessments, so we require the data for assessments now so that this can be built in.

Programmes

We have already imported student choices for Parts 2, 3, and 4, so these checks are predominantly for Part 1 and Master’s programmes:

• Can you spot any clashes between compulsory modules?
• Do the modules fit together to create a coherent timetable at programme level?
• Have programme introductions and module briefings been included for all relevant areas?

Placement and dissertation preparation sessions

We haven’t yet added placement or dissertation preparation sessions to the timetable as we are still working with SIS, DTS and the Teaching & Learning Deans to find the best possible way of doing this that promotes a good student experience and does not increase workload for any teams.  Schools who are impacted by this will be contacted via Portfolio Review Pathway channels in due course.

PAL sessions

We are working closely with the Student Success & Engagement Team to timetable PAL sessions.  These will be added to the timetable over the summer and into Semester 1 as students enrol onto the activities.

Staff availability

The timetable has been created using the staff availability information submitted by your Head of School.  This was input first and the timetable has been scheduled around it.  The timetable should also have accommodated research days for staff, where your Head of School indicated that this was required, but we ask that you check these particularly carefully.

• Have staff on part-time contracts, or those with flexible working arrangements, whose Head of School has notified this to the Timetabling Team had their requirements accommodated?
• Have staff whose Head of School has indicated that they should have a research day, had their research day accommodated?
• Do staff have time for a lunch break?

Rooms

A full list of teaching spaces and their maximum capacities is available on the CRBTO website. Where possible, we have allocated flat rooms if they had been requested.

Please ensure that the rooms that have been allocated the right type e.g. flat room or PC lab.

If a specialist/departmentally owned space is required, please ensure that this has been allocated.

Palmer G10 and HBS G11

We have been working with colleagues in PSO and Admissions to plan which cohorts are likely to need our largest lecture theatres.  Please read this section if your area has sessions timetabled in either or both of Palmer G10 (390 seats) and HBS G11 (280 seats).

The demand for teaching in these spaces in Semester 1 is high.  There are 45 timetabling hours per week and, in most weeks, Palmer G10 is in use for at least 42 hours.  Demand in HBS G11 is even higher, with 43 hours scheduled in most weeks.  This means that the opportunity to change the timeslot of any activity taking place in these rooms is incredibly limited, if not impossible.  When checking the timetables for these cohorts, if you need to make changes, please consider how you can deliver the module without changing the timeslot(s) for the activities taking place in Palmer G10 or HBS G11.

If you find that you have forgotten to plan activities which will need these rooms, please let us know at the earliest opportunity.  We will work with you to consider how we can support you to deliver these activities in other spaces.

Palmer G10 and HBS G11 overflow rooms

In academic year 2024/25, a space use pilot will be implemented in Palmer G10 and HBS G11. Depending on the module cohort size, some sessions in these rooms will be matched with a smaller paired room nearby.  A small number of staff will be involved in or impacted by this pilot and will be contacted separately and offered guidance and support (including a briefing session) on how the teaching approach should be adapted.

Bank holidays

We haven’t yet redistributed all of the teaching impacted by Bank Holidays. These fall on Monday 21st April (Semester 2 week 8) and Monday 5th May (Semester 2 week 10).

CILT and UBTLSE have agreed that the process that will be followed for this is:

• Teaching must not be re-arranged after 6pm on any day.
• Teaching must not be re-arranged into Wednesday afternoons.
• Teaching must not be re-arranged into the mid-semester week.
• An attempt should be made to reschedule teaching impacted by Bank Holidays into the week it would originally have been delivered.  If this is not possible, teaching should be re-arranged into Semester 2 Week 12.
• Where teaching is not able to be rescheduled in the same week or into Semester 2 Week 12, the Timetabling & Room Booking Team will work with the activity deliverer to find an alternative solution.

Once the draft timetable has been reviewed, the Timetabling Team will work to move teaching away from Bank holidays while attempting to accommodate change requests submitted by Schools.