Academic governance refers to the decision-making and review structures, systems and process to ensure the quality, standards, and strategic direction of all academic activities at the University. Academic activities include teaching, learning, research, academic standards, awards, and student success and outcomes, and governance includes how decisions related to these are monitored, assured, and aligned with institutional goals.
The University has an Academic Board (like the majority of other universities, which may be called this or a ‘Senate’) which sits at the top of formal decision-making on education and student success strategy, academic standards, academic regulation and policy. Academic governance operates in parallel to the University’s corporate governance arrangements, headed up by its Board of Governors and committees. However, it is important that Academic Board and its arrangements link up and across to the Board of Governors, and through the leadership of the University by the University Executive. In doing this, Academic Board provides an effective information flow to the Board of Governors to enable the latter body to ‘receive and test assurance that academic governance is adequate and effective’ in line with the Office for Students (OfS) Public interest governance principles. The Board of Governors’ Academic Assurance Committee provides a key channel for providing comfort and challenge in meeting these requirements.
In 2024/25 we ran an Academic Governance Review which reported its findings to Academic Board and onwards to the Academic Assurance Committee in March 2025. In adopting the findings, the University has created a new headline academic senior committee structure. Beyond significant changes to the terms of reference and membership of Academic Board, for the start of the 2025/26 academic year we have created:
- a new Education Committee, reporting into Academic Board, to replace Student Success Committee (SSC) and its Academic Development and Quality Sub-Committee (ADQSC). Beneath this, one recommendation was to do a follow-on evaluation of the sub-groups/sub-committees which sit under the former SSC, to ensure their business is effectively joined up and homed in on strategic and compliance priorities for positive student outcomes and experiences.
- a new Educational Partnerships Committee, which will also report into Academic Board and is set up to provide high-level oversight of the breadth of University academic partnerships, absorbing Transnational Education (TNE) Quality Sub-Group business as one part of its role.
These two new Academic Board committees will sit alongside the existing Research and Innovation Committee.
Read more about the Education Committee and Educational Partnerships Committee.
Published: 31 July 2025