After extensive consultation, UCL have shared a draft of their new strategic plan. The plan sets out UCL’s priorities for the next five years.

Read the Draft Strategic Plan

Transforming student life

We have been contributing to the development of UCL's new strategy during the past few months, collecting feedback from students and reps to make sure the plan works to improve students’ experience across UCL. Our sabbatical officers have met regularly with UCL's senior leaders to make the case for student-centred priorities throughout the plan. You can read our last submission to the consultation here.

This work has led to a commitment in UCL’s strategy to partner with us on launching a new strategy for Student Life. This could lead to new investment to significantly grow our sports, arts, departmental society, and volunteering programmes. As well as funding to increase intercultural opportunities, helping us to reflect our diverse student body.

The plan also commits to creating a proposal for a new Students’ Union building, ensuring there’s space for students to engage in extra and co-curricular activities. The potential of the Student Life strategy is enormous, and will transform the student experience at UCL. We fully support the proposals in UCL’s draft plan to develop and deliver a Student Life strategy. We’ll share more information on this as soon as we can.

Areas to develop

Whilst lots of our feedback on student life, including timetabling, has been included in the draft plan, there are areas which we hope to see further development or clarification as the final draft is prepared.  

  • We welcome to development of a new Investment Board to provide improved governance to how funding for major projects is targeted. The strategy states that ‘the new criteria will ensure that student views are represented more clearly in decision-making’. We’re working to make sure student representation is part of the Investment Committee, as it is across other committees including UCL Council.  
  • The plan proposes work on changing the structure of the academic year, enabling UCL to “move forward on long- standing concerns from students about over-assessment, a high-stakes end-of-year exam period and the lack of teaching in Term Three”. Whilst we support this aim, any changes should include meaningful consultation with students and Equality Impact Assessments as proposals develop.
  • UCL proposes further increases to student numbers. This should be accompanied by a commitment to address the significant issues of student housing in London.

What next?

Leave a comment below with your thoughts on the UCL’s strategy. We will respond to the consultation as a Students’ Union later in November, including comments made by students.

We will publish our response to the consultation in advance for you to read and comment on, but if you’d like to respond directly to UCL, please follow the links below.

The final strategy is set to be launched in December, and work on delivering it will start in the new year.

Feedback to UCL

Below are links to the consultation landing page and relevant papers, you'll be able to submit your response directly by 18 November:

Last updated 2 years ago Read time 2 mins