Student Charter

This Student Charter has been developed in partnership between staff, students and members of the Student Society, setting out ways in which everyone will work together to make your time at UCNL enjoyable, successful and rewarding.

The DN Colleges Group is committed to developing a community of learning where staff and students work as partners, ensuring that everyone has a sense of belonging and that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

The Charter is built around 3 key principles, with shared responsibility from all members of the learning community.

Key Principles

We treat each other with dignity and respect

As members of a diverse, welcoming and inclusive learning community we all:

• value diversity, recognise different perspectives, cultures and ideas and treat all staff and students with respect and without prejudice or discrimination in order to provide a safe and inclusive environment for everyone.
• treat the college environment with respect for the comfort and safety of both staff and students
• respect confidentiality and only use information provided for the legitimate purposes it is provided for
• communicate in ways that are open, honest, respectful, timely and accurate

We aim to inspire, enable and share responsibility for learning

As staff members of the UCNL community we will:

• provide a wide range of approaches to learning and teaching that suit your needs
• provide access to high quality learning resources and support to help you develop your learning
• aim to guide and support you to progress through the personal tutorial system
• employ staff who are well qualified to provide high standards of teaching
• provide clear information about learning outcomes, marking criteria, academic standards and how your progress will be ensured
• ensure that your work is assessed fairly and consistently and that you are provided with constructive, developmental feedback with opportunities to discuss further

As student members of the UCNL community we will:

• attend and prepare for classes and participate actively in sessions
• take responsibility for our own independent learning
• inform UCNL about any additional needs we have and seek any additional support, if required
• complete all assignments and submit on time
• ensure that we adhere to the relevant academic regulations and familiarise ourselves with the academic offences, misconduct and appeals processes and produce work that is our own, sourcing appropriately the work of others
• reflect on our feedback and use it to inform our future work

We work together to continually enhance the learning environment

As staff members of the UCNL community we will:

• provide opportunities for a voice in your student experience and respond to these appropriately, closing the feedback loop
• provide encouragement, advice and signposting to enable you to plan and prepare for your future
• provide opportunities for you to develop transferable skills relevant to your chosen career
• offer a range of student enhancement activities and opportunities to support your transition into higher education and enhance your studies
• handle any problems and concerns you might have in a professional, fair and timely manner and deal with complaints, appeals and disciplinary issues in line with relevant codes of practice or academic regulations

As student members of the UCNL community we will:

• engage in activities to provide feedback on our programme and our student experience
• actively participate in organised activities to enhance our development and employability
• accept responsibility for seeking out opportunities to develop and reflect upon our employability skills
• seek to resolve any problems informally, with the person(s) concerned and use the formal complaints and appeals procedures responsibly for matters that cannot be resolved informally