Dear Student,
As trimester 3 comes to an end, and the new academic year comes into view, I thought a short update would be useful to keep you abreast of our position and thinking.
The Covid Pandemic:
As you may have observed over the last week, the Prime Minister announced more details about step 4 of the roadmap, currently scheduled to take place on Monday 19 July but subject to confirmation. Step 4 appears to remove social distancing, compulsory face masks, and a return to campus for university students. We will be reviewing further guidance from the Minister as it becomes available, and working with our colleagues, students and partners to determine our response for the new academic year. It does look promising that we can return fully to Campus from September, however, we will of course look at transitional arrangements to introduce changes in a way sympathetic to our whole student body. Please share your views with your SU and Class Reps so that we can fully understand your viewpoint. In the meantime, given where we are in the trimester, we will make no immediate changes to our trimester 3 delivery.
Results:
The safety net policy, introduced across the university to counter the impact on students of the pandemic, resulted in an adjusted assessment period, with results formally published on the 9th of July. Can I point you towards the feedback provided on all assignments and accessible within the module tile on the VLE; your academics have spent considerable time providing advice on how you could improve your submissions, which will help you learn through reflection and so improve your future assessments. Our External Examiners were very positive about the extent of feedback, so please take advantage of it as a learning tool. If you have passed your assessments, then many congratulations, but if you have modules to resit can I recommend that you complete and submit them as soon as possible. There is lots of support available should you need it. For any queries related to your results or advice and support related to your continued study please contact the Director of Studies Office on DOS@london.aru.ac.uk. And please remember that our Wellbeing Service is also available for you, either through the VLE or by emailing studentwellbeing@london.aru.ac.uk. Whatever happens, make sure you submit your re-assessments and if you have challenges then please contact us.
Student Satisfaction:
I am delighted to report that our student satisfaction rates for trimester 2 were very strong. You once again rated ARUL with the highest overall satisfaction rates of all ARU faculties. At UG the overall satisfaction score was 84.6 and 4.3/5, with ARUL students rating themselves more satisfied than ARU delivered equivalents in 13 of the 14 questions. ARUL also was the top-rated faculty in 13 of the 14 questions. PG satisfaction sat at 87.5 and 4.4/5, which is a tremendous outcome. These results, based upon a 30.8% response rate (the highest in ARU), are excellent and many thanks for your positive feedback. There are of course areas to improve, and we will look to take all feedback into account as we drive ARUL forward.
Employability Awards:
The last month has seen a raft of Employability Awards Events, and with 914 students having completed their Awards, we split the events into the three departments. At each event, we had employers sharing their thoughts and advice including Harrison Stansbridge, Associate Director at Barclays, Laura Hampson, Senior Sustainability Manager from Mace and Aska Matsunaga, Macmillan Patient Support Supervisor at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Many congratulations to all Award winners, and I look forward to seeing you at future events.
These are of course dynamic and fast-changing times, and many thanks for your continued focus on education and patience as we attempt to navigate a route to the new normality.
I plan once again to join your new Vice-President in Town Hall Events in September, so I very much look forward to seeing you then. In the meantime, I will of course continue to update you via these monthly updates.
Best wishes,
David Sexton
Principal