You said: You are anxious about travel time between classes when classes run over.

We did: We will ensure classes finish on time and allow travel time/breaks as required.

You said:  Our Final year students said a referencing and essay writing refresher session would be useful.  

We did: This was already in place - top tip, BIO3333 canvas has amazing resources to help!

You said: You LOVE our new Pantry area in the LG Atrium where you can make your own tea/coffee and chat. 

We did: Our School will continue to work with SU on this to extend the range even further.  

You said: You appreciate all that our Careers Team do. 

We did: We now offer professional photography slots open to all our final year students for their LinkedIn Profiles. 

You said: You are loving our new meeting pods, bookable by all students at Reception.  

We did: 4 more seater booths will be installed in the main foyer and will have sockets for your charging devices. 

You said: Second year students asked about how to contact their Personal Tutor. 

We did: Instructions on how to do this have already been posted on the homepage of BIO2001.

You said: Students needed tailored help with academic and study skill development.

We did: 

• The CBMSE employed a  Learning Development and Support Officer (Marina de Almeida McLoughlin). Marina organises workshops focused on study skills, time-management, academic pressure, and referencing in addition to drop-in sessions. She has also supported students in successful applications for scholarships and internships. 
• Drs Laura Montgomery and Laura Collins in the CBMSE developed “Professional Skills for Scientists” modules for first and second year students. These help students to gain referencing, digital, entrepreneurial skills and more. 

You said: 

Students raised concerns over the timetabling of assessment, this included having lectures too close to exams, bunching of deadlines, overassessment, and having assessments for semester 1 modules in May. 

We did: 

• The School led a workload equivalence initiative to help reduce the amount of assessment in our modules. Since 2020-21, there has been a reduction of 10 assessments in the BSc Biomedical Science and 7 assessments in the BSc Human Biology.
• A reading week was introduced before exams to allow students to review content before it is assessed.
• Exams were rescheduled so that students will be assessed on semester 1 modules in December/January instead of May. 

You said: 

Previously students would have to view individual timetables for each module, each with different formats. In SVC meetings students said that this old approach was time-consuming, and it was easy to miss sessions. It also made time management for assessment difficult, and it was challenging for staff to appreciate when students would be free for personal tutor meetings, research project meetings etc. 

We did: 

• The School developed cloud-based overall timetables for the MSc Clinical Anatomy and for each year group in our BSc programmes.   
• Assessments and deadlines are highlighted in red so that students can apportion time to study and preparation.
• This also helped to reduce assessment overload as module coordinators can now see the overall assessment/teaching burden for each week and plan their deadlines accordingly.

You said: 

Students wanted more information on potential career pathways available with their degree. Especially with the BSc Human Biology students were often not aware of the many career paths open to them. 

We did: 

The School recorded interviews with ten graduates who describe their path to become a Biomedical Scientist in the NHS, or roles within the pharmaceutical and clinical trial industry, as well as those that went on to do short postgraduate courses to lead them to careers such as Teaching and Nursing.

You said: 

Students regularly ask for more guidance on how to increase their employability and information on how to arrange a placement year.  

We did: 

• Employability information was collated in the general resources module BMS5000 so that students have an easily accessible resource.
• In 2024, the CBMSE hired a Careers and Work Placement Consultant (Claudine Sutherland). Claudine will be running one-to-one guidance sessions, “Meet the Employer” events, CV checks, and more throughout the academic year.
• The School have developed a new optional module called “Preparing for Placement” for our BSc Human Biology and BSc Biomedical Sciences programmes. This provides information on types of placement and guides students through the application process.

You said: 

Students fed back that they had not heard about various events and workshops until after they had occurred.  

We did:  The CBMSE Student Voice Chair developed our “Student Resources” Canvas course to include a clearer interface and a weekly round-up of events. Round-ups included information on wellbeing, QUB/SU activities, postgraduate study/job postings, upcoming seminars, studentships, competitions, scholarships and more. The round-up also included an anonymous feedback box and a log of actioned student voice items. 

You said:

Sometimes issues were raised in end of year module reviews that were not fed back through usual student voice avenues. We hoped to encourage more discourse between staff and students to better understand their concerns. 

We did:

“Townhall” meetings with free pizza were organised for students and staff to seek feedback in a more informal setting. The townhalls were followed up with a “You said, we listened” announcement where staff described how they addressed student concerns. 

You said:

Our 1st year reps enquired if the timetable could be made compatible and synced to electronic calendars.  

We did: 

This request has been completed and actioned for both first and second years.

You said:

Students requested to have additional clinical skills sessions or opportunities to practice dental treatments before the patient’s appointment time.  

We did: 

Phantom heads have been made available on clinics with a selection of plastic teeth for practice sessions on most clinics.

You said:

Final year dental students requested additional information on Part 3 finals examination:  

We did: 

An additional briefing session and further sample questions were provided and gave the opportunity for questions to be asked and answered. 

You said:

2nd year students requested more recorded videos of lectures in certain modules.

We did: 

This request has been actioned, and the videos have been uploaded to Canvas.

You said: There are many different deadline times for the submission of coursework within and across modules.

We did: We changed the deadline to be one time only (i.e. 4 pm) for all coursework submissions in all relevant modules. This means students are clear on submission deadlines making it easier for them to submit the assignment on time. 

You said: You want more information on how our final grade and degree classification are calculated.

We did: We developed a degree calculator that enables students to calculate their final grade and degree classification (this allows students to determine what degree outcome would be achieved if they obtained particular marks in the assessments, including factoring in predominance rules).  As a result there are fewer queries from students, and it facilitates greater empowerment (including goal setting) and transparency. 

You said:  There are multiple places where you need to go to get information and printed material isn’t always up-to-date.

We did: We designed one-stop shop Canvas modules PMY1000 (for the Industrial Pharmaceutics programme) and PMY7000 (for Distance Learning programmes). These are readily accessible and it is easy to inform students about changes in a timely manner. A one-stop shop module is an efficient and effective way to ascertain up-to-date core information, including via the announcement function. 

You said:  PGT students don’t really get a chance to do much in the University beyond our academic course. 

We did: We ensured students receive information about the Graduate School Programme and QUB clubs and societies from the outset of the academic year, and considered this when developing the course timetable. Students should be able to partake in wider activities beyond their academic studies. They should feel a greater sense of belonging to the University and have opportunities to meet students from other programmes.