In this section

We play a vital role in advocating for workload and education reform to the university, to ensure that students have a balanced, fair, and effective learning experience. By addressing concerns over excessive academic pressure, outdated curricula, and insufficient resources, we aim to create a more supportive and inclusive academic environment for you. Through our work this year we hope to help drive changes that improve teaching quality, reduce unnecessary stress, and promote your well-being, ultimately ensuring that your education is both enriching and manageable.

 

What we are working on

 

Resits & EAMC reform - Sarah Anderson

Background: Cambridge is currently one of the only universities which doesn’t offer resit provision, instead directing students through the complicated examination access and mitigation process. This system has positives and negatives with some students liking the ability to be “allowed to progress” without further stress. The current system, however, particularly doesn’t work for finalist students who are “deemed deserving of honours”. After three or four years of a degree, not receiving a final grade can be incredibly frustrating and harm your future prospects.

 

What have we done? Following on from Caredig’s work last year, Sarah, Katie and Neela have all contributed to consultation on resits and the EAMC review, both informally by meeting with the project leads, and formally when it comes to the General Board.

 

What do we want to achieve? We would like there to be an alternative mode of assessment, including, for example, resits, available to finalist students who have faced difficulties when undertaking their exams for the academic year 2025/26.

Teaching review - Sarah Anderson

Background: In 2022, 64% of students who voted in the SU’s Reading Week Referendum voted in favour of the question “Do you support the introduction of a full freshers’ week in Michaelmas Term and week-long Mid-Term Break/Reading Week in Michaelmas and Lent Terms?”. After considering the proposal at the end of Easter 2023, the University established a review of teaching to consider “student workload and its impact on mental health and wellbeing, and the supervision system”, where the reading week would constitute one possible solution.

 

What have we done?Both the President (UG) and AEP Officer (UG) sit on the Teaching Review Group.

  • In July 2024, the University Council and the General Board agreed to fourteen problem/aim statements which had been compiled by the committee, acknowledging that there is a problem with the “culture of overwork” at Cambridge.
  • The teaching review is now looking at possible solutions to the problems identified, including the feasibility of a reading week, hoping to make recommendations by Lent 2025.
 

What do we want to achieve? We want the University to agree to a concrete set of recommendations which we believe will address the culture of overwork which exists in Cambridge.

Increased supervision of office hour support - Neela Maadhuree

Update coming soon.