Kent 2030 FAQs

We'll support you to the end of your degree, whatever year you are in. If you are informed that your course will be ‘taught out’, this means that we will ensure the currently enrolled cohorts of students are still taught to a high standard for the remainder of their degree and are able to graduate as expected. 

If a course is 'phased out' that means we will no longer be recruiting to the particular course in the future, so no new students will join the course, but existing enrolled students will still finish their degrees.

We intend to maintain a breadth of module choices throughout, and if there are any material changes to your course as a result of your course not recruiting future students, we'll let you know exactly what that means for you and what your options are.

See the timeline for information on when different aspects of teaching-out and supervision options will be known and communicated.

Module options might change for affected courses in the next few weeks as staffing is confirmed after which we can then say with more certainty which modules will be running. Please therefore don't worry about making your module choices now, or by the previously given deadline of 2 April - instead we will be in touch when the list is finalised in a few weeks so you can choose from an accurate list of options.  

Don't worry if you have already made your module choices, you will have the option to review them and make changes if they change later in April - we will be in touch once options are finalised.  We know that some modules can be oversubscribed, but we will ensure that this will be managed fairly on a case by case basis so that you are not disadvantaged by not choosing your modules earlier.

We are committed to ensuring that you have the opportunity to continue with your chosen programme of study and will notify you if we have to make a material change to your programme. In many cases your module choices for next year will be unchanged – however, as often happens due to staff turnover, there will be areas where there are some changes to what is available in your 2nd and 3rd years. We will work with you to understand and lessen the effect of this on your studies.  

More generally, all module choices outlined when we make an offer to prospective students are indicative. This is because key teaching staff could leave the University or be unavailable to teach it at any time a student is studying. We will work to ensure you have a range of options for your remaining terms at Kent but appreciate this may mean you have different choices than you anticipated. 

Any changes to your programme, such as alternative modules or staffing, will be known towards the end of April. If when you know your module choices and options, you feel that the variations in the course are different to an extent that you are not satisfied to continue your degree, we recommend you talk to your Division or Academic Advisor in the first instance so that they can provide context and talk through what your options are. Kent Union’s advice centre can also help you understand your choices. 

If this still does not resolve your concerns, the University’s Student Conduct and Complaints Office (SCCO) is responsible for investigating all formal student complaints.They can offer advice and guidance if you wish to raise a formal complaint, and are also the point of contact between the University and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA). 

We fully understand that the prospect of a member of your supervisory team leaving Kent could be unsettling. As part of our discussions with staff who will be supporting ‘Teach Out’, we are carefully considering the impact on postgraduate research students so that we can mitigate this as far as possible. We aim to confirm this with you directly by the end of April and are hopeful that even in instances where staff leave, they will be able to continue providing external supervision for you through your usual regular catch-ups with them. 

For anyone whose supervisor does leave before they’ve completed your PhD and who is unable to carry on supporting you, we will work with you to try to find the most suitable future arrangements for the completion of your PhD. 

These might include the possibility of your primary supervisor continuing to be involved in your project as an external supervisor, your second supervisor or supervisory chair stepping up to act as your primary supervisor, or another member of Kent staff coming in to your supervisory team.  

Although we want to provide suitable future supervision arrangements, we also understand that some students may prefer to transfer their registration to another university and will provide you with any information about your period of registration at Kent that you would need for that. 

If you have any concerns - or believe that your supervision will be affected next year, but haven't been contacted before the end of April - then please do get in touch with your School or Divisional Director of Graduate Studies. 

We appreciate this is a lot to take in and that you may be worried about the implications of course changes. We are here to help you help you throughout, with a number of different options for help and advice depending on what you need: from course queries you can take to your Academic Adviser, to questions about the future of your Division that you can take to your divisional Director of Education & Student Experience, to emotional support from Student Support and Wellbeing and independent advice from Kent Union. Please see the support section of the Course Changes page.

All Kent graduates have access to support and guidance from the Careers and Employability Service for three years after leaving Kent. They will be able to support you in articulating the value your degree and wider experiences have in the context of the world of work or further study. The value of your degree is in the knowledge you have gained and how you are able to apply this knowledge, as well as the experiences and opportunities you have engaged with in your time at Kent. The Careers and Employability Service can help you in articulating this knowledge and experience in a way that maximises your potential in the labour market. 

We are proud of the work undertaken in all of the affected areas, and all programmes we currently run and have run in the past will continue to have a strong online presence promoting the successes of these subjects, remaining visible to other institutions and recruiters even when no longer recruited to for future cohorts of students. 

No, there are no staffing changes are being made to non-academic staff, so the contacts and processes for administrative aspects of your learning remain the same.   

The university runs an annual course review process. This involves reviewing our course portfolio to ensure that our offering is competitive and recruiting enough students to be viable. This process has always been in place and will continue to run as part of our business as usual to ensure we are offering a competitive and high quality experience for our students. However there are no immediate plans to do this outside of the course closures already being considered.

You can occupy student accommodation on campus for the duration of your academic registration until the end of your accommodation agreement. Whilst you are full-time registered student residing in University accommodation on campus, you are not required to pay council tax as campus accommodation is exempt from council tax. 

Once you finish your studies (or if you withdraw from the university or intermit your studies) you will need to vacate your campus accommodation; you may be liable for any outstanding appropriate charges. Please find further information on the accommodation FAQs  

Full-time registered students can apply for a council tax exemption letter whilst residing in private accommodation off campus. See more on Requesting official student documents online 

If you leave the University, your visa will no longer be sponsored by the University, and this would have to be reported to the Home Office and your visa would be cancelled. Please see more on Student Immigration online.   

Our Admissions team will contact deferred admission applicants as part of the course 'phase out’ process, and they will have an opportunity to consider the options available to them with the Admissions team.   

Kent's academic year structure is quite unusual in the way that it is laid out, it creates really intense periods of teaching with lots of coursework and deadlines in the autumn and spring term. There is then a period in the summer for exams, which means there can be a long gap from when you have learnt the module content to when you are being examined on it. This can be very stressful for students who have a high number of exams in a short period. It can also be frustrating for students who do not have exams but have a high load of coursework during the autumn and spring term.  

Currently the academic year is organised into 3 terms: autumn term 12 weeks, spring term 12 weeks and the summer term 6 weeks. What we will be moving to is a structure of three 10 week terms. In each of these terms the exams and assessments will happen at the end of the term, so that the spread of exam and assessments is equal throughout the year.    

No, although the number of weeks within the academic year will increase by 1 week, the number of teaching weeks will be the same. The main difference for UG students is that the third term often referred to as the 'exams term' will also include 10 weeks of teaching/assessment instead of mainly being exams focussed.  ​  

In each of the three 10 weeks terms, there will only be 8 weeks of teaching and 2 weeks for consolidation and assessment. So we are moving from 2 x 12 weeks of teaching in the current structure to 3 x 8 weeks of teaching in the new structure. So the number of teaching weeks remains the same, but the assessment is more spread out throughout the year.      

The changes to the academic year will enable the equal spread of assessments to stop 'bunching' at particular times of the academic year. The changes will also enable us to trial block timetabling which will support a more effective use of time and the ability to plan university studies around other commitments, activities and part time employment throughout the year. Students will also still have the summer vacation for full time work or an internship.    

Current third year students are likely to not be directly affected by these changes. Current second year students may be affected by these changes if they take a year abroad, undertake a placement year or if they need to repeat a year of academic study, as this would cross over into the academic year 2025 when these changes will be delivered. Current year 1 students may be affected by these changes in their third year however these arrangements are still to be determined, students will be engaged on any changes made to their course of study.    

The new courses will continue to offer significant choice at Stages 2 and 3, and the core modules across all stages will help to prepare students to thrive in these optional modules. This approach is consistent with many of our competitors and will ensure that students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to excel in their studies and future employment, regardless of their background or route into Higher Education.    

A core first year will help to structure students' learning so that all are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in their studies and in their future employment. Additionally, a core first year will help to improve the student experience by creating cohort identity, reducing complexity in the timetable and improving operational support.    

University accommodation costs will not increase due to this change as the duration of the academic year is remaining largely the same. This is also likely to be the case for private agreements too however this would need be confirmed directly with agencies/landlords.  

As part of the ongoing Kent2030 work all courses and modules will be revised and this will be an opportunity to look at different assessment types, including authentic assessment types. It is likely that the number of exams across our modules will be reduced and therefore the number of times the exams hall will be out of action will also be reduced. We believe this will have a positive impact for sport. We will have more time available for activities to take place as the halls are out of action for less time and provide an opportunity to revisit our sports timetables and programmes and make changes based on the 10 week terms.    

Block timetabling has the potential to make the timetable more predictable, meaning that students will know when modules will be taught before signing up for them. This means it will be more likely that students can undertake part time employment throughout the academic year rather than during the third term only.  

We want to remove instances where students will have a 9am class in the morning and a 4pm class in the afternoon in the same day, because feedback we have had from students is that this makes it difficult to plan for other responsibilities such as part time work and caring commitments. We are looking to make the timetable better so that students are able to organise their study around their other commitments in a more effective way. We will look to create blocks in the week that the module content will fit into, so that when you are choosing your modules you will know when they are going to be taught in advance to help you plan your module choice around your other commitments.    

Coursework will be spread out throughout the year in a very similar to way to how it is currently. The main difference is that exams will be happening in the same term that the module content was taught, rather than the heavy exam period in the summer term that we have currently.    

The changes to the academic year are due to start from the academic year 2025/26. 

Currently academic teams across the University are re-writing courses and modules to fit within the new academic year. Students are being engaged through student voice forums and surveys on how these changes are going to impact them. There will be further information for students as we go through the process of getting ready for September 2025.