Principal's Update Autumn 2023
Please see the update below, from our Principal, Dr. David Sexton, summarising the last trimester as well as the one ahead!
The trimester began with two wonderful pieces of news; first came the truly fantastic National Student Survey (NSS) outcomes for 2023, followed swiftly by the award of TEF GOLD to ARU in the recent Teaching Excellence Framework exercise.
The NSS 2023 is a national survey completed on all graduating students at all universities, and I am delighted to report that ARUL was ranked 3rd in the UK, a truly remarkable outcome (THE Best Performing Universities 2023). Looking in detail, ARUL was ranked 13th for overall teaching (including being 7th for teaching in an engaging way); 6th for learning opportunity, 12th for academic support, 3rd for organisation and management; and 6th for student voice. Many thanks to all of our brilliant graduates for the wonderful feedback.
This excellent news was swiftly followed by the awarding of GOLD TEF to ARU, another tremendous achievement and one which formally recognises the excellent quality of the education we strive to deliver.
September saw a total of 1,081 undergraduates and 222 postgraduate students joining us, showing the continuing strength of our university. A really successful Welcome Week followed, with the new entrants full of enthusiasm for their upcoming experiences.
This trimester also sees:
- the full implementation of our updated curriculum,
- the launch of the new Skills Tracker in modules throughout our courses to enable you to monitor your progression as you proceed through your degree,
- the operationalisation of our restructured foundation year to provide even more focussed support to new students joining us at level 3,
- the expansion of your key textbooks through Kortext, where you will see your bookshelf grow to include many more books and resources to support your learning.
Your Student Union is also launching some exciting new initiatives, including the first University Sports day where ARUL students will compete with other students during lunchtime on Wednesday 11th October by the lake at East India Dock. Several new societies are being launched including Public Speaking, Finance, Creative Minds, and Business. There are also plans for karaoke and Give-it-a-Go events before the end of the year.
In this ever more challenging world, with the difficult economic situation, political uncertainty, environmental instability and technological explosions; education is ever more important to help future-proof ourselves; so many thanks for your continued focus on your studies, and should you need any assistance please do let us know. The whole ARUL team is behind you.