Faculty of Science
Undergraduate Education Bulletin

June 2013

REPORTS FROM COMMITTEES

Education Committee

The changes to the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes 2013/14 that had been proposed by the Assessment Standing Group have been agreed and will be referred to the meeting of Senate on 17th June for approval. These include a rationalisation of the sections on the code that refer to use of the 020 and 0100 marking scales, which need to be fully implemented by the start of the 2013/14 academic year. The revisions also include a tightening on the regulations concerning the award of a compensated pass, allowing students to progress following a marginal failure only for units amounting to no more than 20 credit points in any year. However, it is proposed that exam boards should be allowed to permit students a third attempt, i.e. a second resit, to pass a unit of no more than 20 credit points as part of a supplementary year. It is also intended that the University Examination Regulations, which are currently included as an annex will, in future, be integrated into the body of the regulations.

The recommendations from Education Committee on personal tutoring and standardisation of marks from years abroad will also be considered at the Senate meeting on 17th June.

University Undergraduate Studies Committee

Student Surveys

Results from the iStudent Barometer survey conducted in the Autumn of 2012 are now available at The University of Bristol has also agreed to become part of the Student Experience in Research Universities (SERU) project, which is led from theCenter for Studies in Higher Education at the University of California - Berkeley. The first survey, which has just closed, included only undergraduate students.

Recording Of Academic Teaching Policy

A statement on the recording of lectures has been drafted ready for inclusion in the Student Agreement for the next academic year. The statement, which follows, allows all students to record large group teaching sessions without explicitly asking for permission as long as it is for personal study only. Students will not be permitted to record teaching sessions in which the contributions of other students can be identified. The statement therefore specifically precludes the recording of tutorials, but, in Science, the policy may also preclude the recording of many other forms of teaching. Given the default position has changed slightly, in that students will expect to be allowed to record most activities, Schools should include a clear statement in their handbooks stating which activities students may not record.

We may allow you to record lectures, lab demonstrations, presentations or other academic teaching. Your School will inform you if you do not have permission to record lectures, lab demonstrations or units.

You may not record:

(i)any seminars or tutorials; or

(ii)any demonstrations where members of the public are present

without obtaining the prior consent of your lecturer at the beginning of each such seminar, tutorial or demonstration. This is because recording the seminar or tutorial may well also capture identifiable students and/or members of the public and they would each need to give their consent to their being recorded.

Any recording made by you must only be used by you as a personal aid for study purposes. You may not share, publish or otherwise make the recording available in whole or in part to any other person. You must delete the recording as soon as you cease to be a student of the University. Recording devices must be kept with you at all times and may not be placed on the lectern/lab table.

If we supply or make recordings of lectures or other academic teaching available to you:

(i)we will own the copyright and all other intellectual property rights in the recordings; and

(ii)the recordings must only be used by you as a personal aid for study purposes. You may not share, publish or otherwise make the recording available in whole or in part to any other person. You must delete the recording as soon as you cease to be a student of the University.

English Language Requirements for New Students

A new tariff for acceptable minimum standards in English Language has been proposed, which reflects the differing requirements of different subject areas across the University. The tariff comprises seven bands, ranging from A (7.5 overall in IELTS, with at least 7.0 in all bands) to G (6.0 overall, with at least 5.5 in all bands). The introduction of the tariff is intended to ensure greater consistency and make it easier to maintain entry standards.

SUPPORT FOR PROGRESS OFFICERS/SENIOR TUTORS, EXAMINATION OFFICERS AND SAMS

It is intended to arrange a workshop before the start of the next academic year to helpin supporting new and established Progress Officers/Senior Tutors, Examination Officers and SAMs. It is hoped that the session will include information on changes to the regulations and guidance on implementation, as well as advice from members of Support Services on the help available to students with difficulties.

BRISTOL TEACHING AWARDS

In total,38 staff made nominationsfor the Dean’s award, which is to be made in recognition of excellence in education and the enhancement of the student experience. The nominees, which included academic, administrative and technical staff were drawn from the Schools of Chemistry, Geographical Sciences, Physics and Experimental Psychology. No nominations were received for staff in the Schools of Biological Sciences, Earth Sciences or Maths. The awards will be made at the inaugural Teaching Awards dinner on 17th June.

Key Information Set Data

Percentage of Time Spent in Scheduled Teaching Commencing in 2013/14

Intake / 0 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / Average
BISC / BSc Biology / 106 / 41 / 30 / 21 / 31
BSc Zoology / 48 / 41 / 30 / 21 / 31
Total / 154 / 31
CHEM / BSc Chemistry with a Preliminary Year of Study / 3 / 34 / 30 / 33 / 38 / 34
BSc Chemistry / 41 / 30 / 33 / 38 / 34
MSci Chemistry / 49 / 30 / 33 / 38 / 47 / 37
MSci Chemistry with Industrial Experience / 55 / 30 / 33 / 0 / 47 / 28
MSci Chemistry with Study Abroad / 6 / 30 / 33 / 0 / 47 / 28
MSci Chemistry with Study in Continental Europe / 5 / 33 / 29 / 0 / 47 / 27
BSc Chemical Physics / 1 / 38 / 33 / 30 / 34
MSci Chemical Physics / 7 / 38 / 33 / 29 / 36 / 34
MSci Chemical Physics with Industrial Experience / 5 / 38 / 33 / 0 / 33 / 26
172 / 32
GELY / BSc Environmental Geoscience / 10 / 39 / 31 / 24 / 31
BSc Geology / 13 / 39 / 33 / 30 / 34
BSc Geology and Biology / 2 / 42 / 32 / 17 / 30
MSci Environmental Geoscience / 3 / 39 / 31 / 23 / 13 / 27
MSci Environmental Geoscience with Study Abroad / 9 / 39 / 31 / 0 / 13 / 21
MSci Geology / 8 / 39 / 33 / 31 / 14 / 29
MSci Geology with Study Abroad / 15 / 39 / 33 / 0 / 16 / 22
MSci Palaeontology and Evolution / 10 / 42 / 32 / 14 / 14 / 26
70 / 27
GEOG / BSc Geography / 119 / 27 / 28 / 12 / 22
BSc Geography with Study in Continental Europe / 13 / 31 / 30 / 0 / 12 / 18
MSci Geography / 7 / 27 / 25 / 10 / 19 / 20
139 / 22
MATH / BSc Mathematics / 89 / 31 / 30 / 24 / 28
BSc Mathematics with Statistics / 7 / 31 / 30 / 23 / 28
BSc Mathematics with Study in Continental Europe / 2 / 31 / 30 / 0 / 24 / 21
BSc Joint Mathematics and Philosophy / 6 / 26 / 22 / 19 / 22
MSci Mathematics / 71 / 31 / 30 / 23 / 21 / 26
MSci Mathematics with Statistics / 6 / 31 / 30 / 23 / 22 / 27
MSci Mathematics with Study in Continental Europe / 10 / 31 / 30 / 0 / 21 / 21
MSci Mathematics and Philosophy / 8 / 26 / 25 / 23 / 19 / 23
MSci Mathematics and Physics / 12 / 37 / 32 / 23 / 35 / 32
211 / 27
PHYS / BSc Physics with Preliminary Year of Study / 2 / 32 / 40 / 26 / 27 / 31
BSc Physics / 30 / 40 / 26 / 27 / 31
BSc Physics with Astrophysics / 9 / 37 / 26 / 27 / 30
BSc Physics and Philosophy / 2 / 32 / 26 / 24 / 27
MSci Physics / 82 / 40 / 26 / 24 / 36 / 32
MSci Physics with Astrophysics / 11 / 37 / 26 / 24 / 36 / 31
MSci Physics with Industrial Experience / 6 / 40 / 26 / 0 / 34 / 25
MSci Physics with Study in Continental Europe / 6 / 42 / 29 / 0 / 36 / 27
MSci Physics and Philosophy / 8 / 32 / 25 / 20 / 26 / 26
156 / 30
PSYC / BSc Psychology (Science) / 119 / 19 / 16 / 16 / 17
BSc Joint Psychology and Philosophy / 13 / 21 / 15 / 16 / 17
132 / 17

Note that the average for year-out programmes incorrectly assumes no contact time for year spent in industry or abroad. Information on competitor institutions is available through the Unistats website (

LEAGUE TABLES

The Guardian League Table has just been published ( and makes interesting, if slightly depressing, reading. Irrespective of whether we believe the methods used in producing the tables are valid, students do use such league tables in making their choice of institution. A summary of data for the Schools within the Faculty of Science is presented below.

Rank / Overalla / Satisfaction
Courseb / Satisfaction
Teachingb / Staisfaction
Feedbackb / Student:Staff Ratio / Spend per FTEc / Typical UCAS Entry Tariff / Value Added / Career Scoree / 1f / 2f / 3f / 4f / 5f
BIOL / 6 / 76.4 / 95 / 92 / 73 / 11.4 / 8 / 469 / 7 / 71 / CAM / YORK / LEIC / EXET / OXF
CHEM / 7 / 83.2 / 94 / 92 / 70 / 15.0 / 6 / 497 / 7 / 80 / OXF / H-WT / LEIC / STAN / YORK
GELY / 14 / 70.7 / 88 / 95 / 69 / 13.9 / 5 / 467 / 5 / 66 / ICL / READ / UCL / STAN / LEIC
GEOG / 7 / 90.2 / 88 / 95 / 69 / 13.9 / 9 / 490 / 7 / 72 / CAM / DUR / LAN / OXF / GLAS
MATH / 13 / 65.1 / 79 / 88 / 68 / 15.7 / 6 / 548 / 3 / 81 / CAM / OXF / WAR / BIRM / STAN
PHYS / 25 / 69.1 / 87 / 90 / 71 / 13.8 / 5 / 529 / 6 / 72 / OXF / LAN / STAN / BIRM / ICL
PSYC / 16 / 77.4 / 83 / 91 / 54 / 15.5 / 7 / 480 / 8 / 66 / OXF / CAM / UCL / GLAS / BATH

aThe Guardian score/100 is an exclusive rating of excellence based on a combination of all the other factors

bBased on NSS data

cSpend is the amount of money spent on each student, given as a rating out of 10

dThe value-added score compares students' individual degree results with their entry qualifications, to show how effective the teaching is. It is given as a rating out of 10

eThe career score is the percentage of graduates who find graduate-level jobs, or are studying further, within six months of graduation

fInstitutions ranked first to fifth in league table

Professor David Smith, Faculty Education Director and Undergraduate Dean
Dr Mora McCallum, Faculty Education Manager

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