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Academic Representation

Championing your voice

Academic Representatives are the voice of the students across the University and Students' Union. They work to make positive changes to your university experience.

Each student rep role has a specific remit and using feedback from students, they aim to progress the ideas for change. Academic Reps work within their Course, School and Faculty to support and improve the academic experience for all students.

Academic Representation is split into Faculties, as there are slight differences in how representation works in each. You can find out more on each page below.

Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business
Faculty of Health
Faculty of Science and Engineering

Academic Representation is how you can use your voice as a student to make change on your course and in your education. Each Course will have Course Rep for each year, each School having a School Rep, and each Faculty has a Faculty Rep, which is a role taken on by the Sabbatical Officers. The academic representation system is a key part of how the university develops its teaching and ensures that courses take on board student concerns, insights and needs.

Student Representatives may have students approach them with issues that aren’t part of their role to support with. These include:

  • Student Wellbeing
  • Housing and Accommodation
  • Misconduct and Fitness-to-practice panels
  • Money and Student Finance
  • Student conflict with staff

If any of our Academic Representatives are approached with these kinds of issues, we always tell them to signpost to staff who are trained in supporting with these problems. This can be getting in touch with our Advice Team, or the university’s Student Hub. You can find more information about the Advice Team here: upsu.com/advice/. You can find out more about the Student Hub here: www.plymouth.ac.uk/services/student-hub.

  • If you’re in the School of Art, Design and Architecture/ Plymouth Business School/ School of Society and Culture, you’re in the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business.
  • If you’re in the School of Biological and Marine Sciences/ School of Engineering, Computing and Maths/ School of Geography, Earth, and Environmental Sciences you’re in the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
  • If you’re in the School of Biomedical Sciences/ School of Health Professions/ School of Nursing and Midwifery/ Peninsula Medical School/ Peninsula Dental School/ School of Psychology, you’re in the Faculty of Health.

Academic Representation for Postgraduate students is dependent on what type of Postgraduate course you are studying. There are two types of Postgraduate courses at the university; Postgraduate Taught (PGT) and Postgraduate Research (PGR).

  • Postgraduate Taught students follow the same structure for Academic Representation as Undergraduate students, so they still have Course Reps, are represented at School level by the School Rep, and attend the Course Rep training.
  • Postgraduate Research students have Academic Representation supported by the Doctoral College. Each Faculty has a PGR Representative who attends the Doctoral College Board, as well as each School having PGR Reps. You can find out more here: www.plymouth.ac.uk/study/research-degrees/doctoral-college/current-research-students.

As a Partner College student, you are also automatically a member of UPSU. This means that you still have access to the SU Advice service and can use the facilities here on the main campus if you’re close enough!

In terms of academic representation, you will have Course Reps to speak to at your College who will deal with matters related to your Programme. For any other feedback related to your experience, you can contact your Programme Leader or HE Office.

Each Sabbatical Officer also has a Partner College to support and liaise with. This page will be updated when these responsibilities have been confirmed.