Writing amendments to Examination Regulations

for publication in the University Gazette

Guidance Note

Word version of this document

Template for notifying Gazette

Please note that the full text of any document sent to the Gazette will appear on the website, in the public domain. Thus, signatures, filenames, footnotes or other extraneous features may be better removed before submission. Explanatory notes can probably be kept, but their wording should be appropriate for wide publication.

Please provide notices of changes as Word documents (to enable pasting into the online Examination Regulations). These will be converted to pdf format for publication on the website. It is helpful to avoid excessive formatting (including automatic numbering) as this makes pasting difficult and creates spurious features in XML.

Any change notified to the Gazette for publication should be approved by all necessary authoritative bodies, and should be fit for implementation providing that no objections are received from Congregation by noon on the eleventh day after the date of publication of the notice in the Gazette. Therefore, use of the term ‘proposal’ or ‘subject to approval by X‘ is not appropriate at the stage of publication and, to avoid confusion, should not appear on notices

To be included in notices to the Gazette:

[NB Joint schools/programmes will be listed under EACH appropriate divisional/CE heading in the Gazette listings.]

You may find it helpful to refer to the template available together with these guidance notes, however an untabulated Word document may be used providing all necessary information is clearly provided. If using the template please remove guidance material in square brackets.

Heading

should include:

Name of approving Board/body(ies)

Date of approval by Board/body(ies)

Reference number of approving Board/body{ies) (we recommend use of a reference including possibly year, date, term etc.)

Subject title

Brief note about nature of change {e.g. ‘change to submission date’ or similar)

Content

should include:

Effective date(e.g. ‘With immediate effect’ or ‘With effect from’ – usually 1 October of a given year) Text for later implementation will appear in the Examination Regulations in emboldened brackets, but this need not be referred to in the Gazette notice – only the date of effect is needed.

Number of changes: If more than one change in a programme or section is being notified, these should be separately numbered. Changes to different programmes should appear on separate sheets and will be published separately, and therefore must have a full set of headings as above.

Location of the change: This should be given by reference to the most recently published print version of the Examination Regulations (the ‘Grey Book’), and should also refer to any relevant changes published in the Gazette since publication of the most recent print version. Particular attention should be paid to ensure that the introduction of further changes does not cause confusion to the reader of the Examination Regulations through, for example, conflicting or overlapping effective dates. Normally it will be possible to use page and line numbers as reference points, but where this is not the case, then common sense should prevail in identifying position e.g. part, section or paragraph references.

Detail of the change: Both deletions and insertions should be clearly stated. Long passages for deletions may include the start and end point only, but care should be taken that there is no potential for confusion in the position of the change.

Consequential changes: Effects on joint schools or linked subjects should be considered, and any necessary changes agreed and also published in the Gazette. The form of words for the Gazette notice may be truncated to refer to the main entry identifying the change in regulations (e.g. ‘As for the Honour School of xxx}. Amendments to numbered lists should clearly state any adjustments required to numbering order, especially those where a later date of effect is required.

Corrigenda:

Corrections should normally be treated very similarly to changes, as above, as this helps to provide clarity. Any erroneous change already published in the print version must be treated exactly as an original change, with reference to page and line numbers etc. of the print version in question.

General notes on drafting regulations:

Confine the content of regulations to that which cannot more appropriately be published or notified to students elsewhere. Regulations should be the immutable framework of study and assessment to which students must adhere.

Please avoid footnotes wherever possible, as they do not lend themselves to online publication.

Maintain as simple as possible numbering conventions in lists. Avoid use of the Greek alphabet and other unusual characters wherever feasible.

Help and advice

Please feel free to contact Education Policy Support for advice on preparing notices of amendments, drafting or making changes to regulations. Departments and faculties are also encouraged to seek the support of their divisional administrative colleagues.

 

November 2010