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Familiarise yourself with our Student Policies

Policies relevant to students are located in the Policies section of our website under the policy theme 'Academic and Student'. There you'll find detailed documentation such as:

• Undergraduate Academic Framework
• Postgraduate Academic Framework
• Foundation Year Framework
• Student Guide to the Undergraduate Academic Framework
• Academic and Student Regulations
• The Student Attendance and Engagement policy
• Policies about assessment, appeals, attendance, engagement and behaviour.

Reading these policies before you arrive will ensure that you're aware of your rights and also our expectations. 

Visit the Policies section.

Key documents to bring with you

It's important to bring ID with you when you come to university. This could include photo ID such as your passport or a driving license, or other forms of ID such as a birth certificate or Certificate of registration as a British citizen. International students might also need to bring visa or residency documents.

If you're thinking of working at BSU as a Casual Student worker (e.g. Student Ambassador), you'll need to bring some essential documents with you to show proof of your Right to Work in the UK. 

For some opportunities, for example the Student Outreach Ambassador role, you may need an Enhanced Bath Spa DBS and will need extra documentation.

You will come across a lot of vocabulary that might be new to you so we wanted to explain some of those words that you will see in your first few weeks of university.

Undergraduate: an undergraduate (UG) student is a student who is working towards a degree qualification.  You may be starting with us as a Foundation ( known also as Level 3 (L3)); 1st Year (L4); 2nd Year (L5) or 3rd Year (L6) student.

Postgraduate: a postgraduate (PG) student is a student who has already completed a degree and is continuing to study either at Masters level (L7) or researching for a PhD/Doctorate (L8).

Academic: this word is used in lots of different ways e.g. academic writing, academic library, academic landscape. You will also hear lecturers being described as ‘Academics’. The dictionary defines 'academic' as anything to do with education or learning but when we use it at Bath Spa we tend to mean anything to do with learning in Higher Education (HE) or university.  

Lectures: lectures are teaching sessions where you will be taught in big groups by a lecturer.  You may be asked to contribute or do some activities, but it is primarily an opportunity to learn from a subject expert.

Seminars: seminars have smaller groups, similar to classes in school or college. Seminars provide an opportunity for you to discuss topics in greater detail with your lecturers and peers. It is a chance to ask questions and explore ideas in depth.

VLE: you may have used a virtual learning environment before.  Ours is a Blackboard VLE that we call Ultra. Key information from your module will be available here:  timetable, module handbook, assessment information and lecture notes.

Students' Union: Now that you are a ºÚÁÏÕýÄÜÁ¿ student you are also a member of our (SU).  Your SU exists to make sure that you can make the best of your student experience. Sabbatical officers are previous Bath Spa students who have been elected to lead the Union and there is a team of people supporting them in all the projects that the SU is involved in.  They will encourage and support you to join in all the activities that help to make us such a vibrant welcoming community.