The Regulations contain principles and standards designed to control or govern conduct or provide direction at a more detailed level than Ordinances. Sections 1-4 and section 9 may be amended or augmented by the Council. Authority to amend or augment sections 5-8 (the academic and student-related Regulations) has been delegated to the Senate.
The Regulations that apply to you, as a student, will depend upon the year in which you started your studies, this is referred to as Cohort Legislation and is explained below. Links to the relevant documents can be found in the 'Cohort Legislation' section below, or by clicking an appropriate link from the menu on the right hand.
If you have any queries about the University Regulations please email legislationqueries@contacts.bham.ac.uk.
University Regulations
The University Regulations are split into the following sections:
- Section 1: Definitions and Interpretation - Gives definitions for the terms used in these Regulations and states how these Regulations should be interpreted
- Section 2: Organisation and Governance - Sets out the Regulations governing conduct of Senate; organisation and conduct of College Assemblies and Staff/Student Committees; Student membership of committees; Staff membership of Principal Academic Units outside their own College; and title deeds and documents pertaining to the University
- Section 3: Human Resources Matters - Sets out the Regulations to be followed relating to academic appointments, promotions and conferment of titles; award of honorary academic titles; exceptional and study leave from a University post; and patents and intellectual property rights
- Section 4: Estates Matters - Sets out the Regulations concerning access to University property; use of vehicles on campus; proper use of notice boards and notices; and use of loudhailers
- Section 5: Admission and Registration - Sets out the Regulations governing admission of Students to the University and the terms and obligations which apply to Registered Students
- Section 6: Programmes of Study - Sets out the requirements, such as credit requirements and minimum/maximum duration, for all categories of Programmes of Study offered by the University
- Section 7: Assessment, Progression and Award - Sets out the Regulations for assessing Registered Students; requirements for progression from one stage of a Programme of Study to the next; Regulations on the granting and calculation of awards; and the conduct of Degree Congregations
- Section 8: Student Conduct - Sets out the principles and Regulations to be followed in cases of Student misconduct, including instances of misconduct which do not take place on University property
- Section 9: Documents Supplementary to the University Legislation - Sets out the status and requirements of the Codes of Practice, Policies and Guidance documents which supplement the University Legislation
Library Regulations
These set out the Regulations governing the use of Library Facilities including access and admission, use of facilities, behaviour in Libraries, and the terms and conditions under which items can be borrowed and must be returned. They are not cohort specific (i.e. the same Regulations apply to all students).
Cohort Legislation
The University introduced ‘cohort legislation’ in 2017-18. This means that the Regulations that apply to you, as a student, will depend upon the year in which you started your studies. If you entered the first year of your programme in the:
- 2016-17 academic session, or prior to this, you will be subject to the 2016-17 legislation. This means the 2016-17 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of study.
- 2017-18 academic session you will be subject to the 2017-18 legislation. This means the 2017-18 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of study.
- 2018-19 academic session you will be subject to the 2018-19 legislation. This means the 2018-19 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of study.
- 2019-20 academic session you will be subject to the 2019-20 legislation. This means the 2019-20 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of study.
- 2020-21 academic session you will be subject to the 2020-21 legislation. This means the 2020-21 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of study.
- 2021-22 academic session you will be subject to the 2021-22 legislation. This means the 2021-22 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of Study
- 2022-23 academic session you will be subject to the 2022-23 legislation. This means the 2022-23 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of Study
- 2023-24 academic session you will be subject to the 2023-24 legislation. This means the 2023-24 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of Study
- 2024-25 academic session you will be subject to the 2024-25 legislation. This means the 2024-25 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of Study
- 2025-26 academic session you will be subject to the 2025-26 legislation. This means the 2025-26 Regulations will apply to you for the duration of your Programme of Study
Please note, if you are entering directly into a later year of a Programme, or transferring from one Programme to another, you will normally be subject to the same legislation as other students in your year. For example, if you enter directly into the 2nd year of a Programme in 2023-24 you will normally be subject to the 2022-23 legislation, so that you are subject to the same legislation as the majority of your peers (who will have entered in the 2022-23 academic session).
Cohort Legislation is also applied to University Codes of Practice, Policies and Guidance. Please visit the Codes of Practice, Policies and Guidance page for more information.
Changes to Legislation
University Legislation may need to be amended from time to time, either to reflect external requirements (for example, those of professional or accrediting bodies) or because a change to policy or practice has been agreed internally. Consideration will be given to whether any proposed change should apply to all legislation or to a specific cohort, and students will normally be consulted about or informed of the change, depending on its nature.
Information is published when any significant changes are made to University Legislation, this is done through a 'Changes to University Legislation for the XXX Cohort' document that is available on each of the cohort legislation pages.
Archived Legislation
The University has two categories of 'archived legislation'. The first category of archived legislation is cohort legislation that could still be in use (due to students from that entry cohort remaining registered with the University), but because criteria being met, is no longer updated. The second category of archived legislation is for legislation that is no longer being used.
Further detail, along with all archived legislation, can be viewed on the Archived Legislation page.