Student FAQs

The SAS (Student and Academic Services) department is comprised of a number of small teams that work together to ensure that students successfully complete their courses and, ultimately, graduate. SAS is comprised of Programme Administration (who maintain all student records, organise and run assessments and examinations, as well advise students at our ‘Advice Desk’), as well as Admissions, Careers, Data Management, and Wellbeing.

While the department is comprised of different teams, each with their own responsibilities, generally speaking, we refer to ourselves as SAS (Student and Academic Services).

The Programme Administration team, via our Advice Desk, should be your first port of call for your general queries on the courses offered by The Courtauld, as well as for your transcript requests, council tax exemption certificates, and your letters of introduction for archives, banks and libraries (to open a student account/get access as a student). If the team is unable to assist you, they will be able to signpost you to another department/organisation that can help you.

The ‘Advice Desk’ is run by the Programme Administration team, who are part of SAS.

Please email Programme.Operations@courtauld.ac.uk.

Other members of the SAS team do not manage the Advice Desk. Should you need to speak to another member of the team, such as an Admissions Officer for instance, please  contact the above email address for assistance.

SAS and the ‘Advice Desk’ is located on the 2^nd floor of Vernon Square. The exact location of the office is signposted within the building.

You may email the team at Programme.Operations@courtauld.ac.uk or call 0203 9477 702, to speak to someone.

If you have a query that relates specifically to wellbeing support (which includes academic support – i.e. help with writing/ research/ organisation and time-management, as well as free counselling), then please email wellbeing@courtauld.ac.uk to book a private, confidential appointment with a member of this team.

To speak to a Careers Consultant, please book online.  For resources which help with common careers questions like writing a CV or cover letter, or preparing for an interview or for job search tips, please check the careers module on the VLE. If you have any other query that relates specifically to careers, then please email careers@courtauld.ac.uk.

Degree certificates are produced by the University of London Degree Production Team. You may order a replacement copy directly from them by following these instructions. You will need to pay a fee of £40.00 (exclusive of postage) for a copy/ replacement degree certificate.

Yes. Please contact the University of London Degree Production Team by following these instructions. The cost starts from £15.00 and you will need to provide the team with your original certificate. Please contact them for exact details.

We provide students with proof of their student status by issuing ‘student status letters’ which detail a student’s name, student i.d. number as well as details about their course and the start/end date of their course. These letters can be used for any purpose in which a student needs to show an official record of their enrolment on a part-time or full-time higher education course.

Student status letters are free free and can be accessed on the self-service portal once students have completed their enrolment.

If a student would like a duplicate copy of their student status letter at any point during the year, they can request one by speaking to their Programme Administrator at the ‘Advice Desk’ or by emailing the Programme Administration team on Programme.Operations@courtauld.ac.uk  and providing their full name and student number.

We provide students with council-tax exemption letters which are very similar to student status letters. More or less the same information is displayed on both the student status letter and a council-tax exemption letter. The difference is the layout and the wording used.

Council tax exemption letters are free. Once students have completed enrolment, a student can visit the Advice Desk to get the letter.

If a student would like a duplicate copy of their council tax letter at any point during the year, they can request one by speaking to a Programme Administrator at the ‘Advice Desk’ or by emailing the Programme Administration team on Programme.Operations@courtauld.ac.uk  and providing their full name and student number.

Students who wish to access a private archive, open a UK student bank account, or access a private collection within a library, may be asked to get a letter of introduction from their higher education provider to explain their reasons for accessing material/ proving their student status. If you are asked for a letter of introduction, then please speak to a Programme Administrator.

For a letter of introduction to a private archive/ library, students will need to provide the full name and contact (postal) address of the organisation to whose collections they are requesting access to. Letters will not be mailed out on a student’s behalf. Instead, the letter (no envelope included) will be provided directly to the student and it would be the student’s responsibility to pass this letter on to the organisation managing the archive.

With banks, some banks do accept student status letters as proof that an individual is eligible for a UK student bank account; others request a formal letter of introduction. Students will need to provide the full name and contact (postal) address of the specific branch they are requesting an account in.

We do not provide bespoke letters for students. The only letters we provide are student status letters, council tax exemption letters, and letters of introduction so students can access archives/ private collections at libraries or open a UK student bank account.

Under no circumstances will we provide a bespoke letter on behalf of a student.

After completing enrolment, all new students will be provided with their student cards, a lanyard, and a transparent, hard-plastic cardholder in which to carry their student I.D. card. Student cards will be printed by the Security team. Once the cards have been printed, the cards can be collected by visiting the Advice desk, this will normally be during Welcome Week.

If you are not a new student, you do not need a new student card and will not automatically be provided with a new one as your card should be valid until you graduate.

If your student I.D. card has been lost or stolen, then please email Programme.Operations@courtauld.ac.uk with your full name and student I.D. number so we can have you issued with a new one. We will have the lost/stolen I.D. card deactivated so that it can’t be used by another person if found. The cost of a replacement I.D. card is £10.00. This fee can be paid either in cash at the ‘Advice Desk’ or via PayPal.  A Programme Administrator will provide you with the PayPal details when you’ve contacted them about ordering a replacement.

Guidance on the EU Settlement Scheme application, eligibility, and other useful advice can be found here.

We will be able to provide a Student Status letter after you have enrolled to aid your application. 

For formative assignments, students can request an extension from the class teacher.

For summative assignments, students may request an extension or deferral by submitting a request for extenuating circumstances. The details of how to submit a form can be found in the Student Handbook, which is on the virtual learning environment.

The claims will be reviewed in line with The Courtauld’s Extenuating Circumstances Policy.

A formative assignment does have to be submitted but its grade doesn’t count towards your final score for the course it’s being submitted for.

A summative assignment does have to be submitted and its grade will count towards your final score for the course it’s being submitted for.

For formative assignments submitted past their submission deadline, you may receive a grade but no feedback. The grade will indicate your level of academic achievement for that piece of coursework, however, no feedback will be provided to advise you of what you did well and how you could improve.

For summative assignments submitted past their submission deadline, late penalties in the form of deductions to the overall mark for that piece of work will be applied, as follows:

• 3 points off total mark deducted for any submission received after the 15:00 deadline on the day of submission. Submissions will be classified as being received on the day of submission if they are uploaded by 11:59pm.
• 5 points off total mark deducted for any submission received from 12:00am (midnight) on the day of submission until 11:59pm the next day.
• A further 1 point per day will be deducted from the total mark, for a period of up to 5 days (Monday to Friday). After 5 days, an essay will be noted as a ‘non-submission’.

The Programme Administration team is responsible for applying late penalties to a student’s grades. Late penalties are applied after a student’s marks are received and logged on our system. So, students will receive their original marks and following the release of results following the Exam Board a student will see the mark, with the late penalty applied.

No. Late penalties are applied to assignments per our regulations. Part of a student’s responsibility is to submit mandatory coursework by its deadline date. Keeping to deadlines is essential as our courses are rigorous and planned to enable students to build on their knowledge throughout the year. Each submission deadline is planned to leave both staff and students enough time to manage their workload and complete research, writing up, and marking. Failure to submit work on time has a knock-on effect; not only will students have extra work to complete in a shorter amount of time, but academics  will also experience delays. Late penalties are in place as a deterrent and to encourage students to submit work on time.

If your struggles are purely academic in nature you can enlist the support of a librarian, our Academic Study Skills tutor or one of our two Royal Literary Fellows. You can find out more about these here: https://courtauld.ac.uk/libraries/using-the-libraries/skills-and-support/

If there is a wellbeing element to your struggles, such a mental or physical health issue, disability or Specific Learning Difference/neurodiverse condition, you can contact our Wellbeing Service and meet with our Wellbeing Adviser who can discuss with you what support is available. Wellbeing can be contacted using wellbeing@courtauld.ac.uk

If you have any type of disability, please contact Wellbeing Services. The Wellbeing team will initiate a support plan for you based on your needs. The Programme Administration team will record any reasonable adjustments made to accommodate you during your studies. All disability declarations are dealt with confidentially.

Unless otherwise explicitly stated, all assignments should be submitted to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) using Turnitin on the relevant assignment submission portal for the course the assignment is being submitted for. For example, a BA1 student would like to submit their Foundations essay 1. To do so, they would log on to the VLE using their Courtauld email address and password, go to the Foundations course page, find the ‘assignment submissions’ page and click on the Turnitin portal for essay 1.

Students will receive a ‘receipt’ to confirm the successful submission of their coursework. If a receipt is not received, then a student’s work may not have successfully uploaded and their work may be classed as late or as a ‘non-submission. If in doubt, email the relevant Programme Administrator for your cohort, for verification.

If a student experiences any issues with submitting work, they should identify the error, send a screenshot of the error message displayed on their screen and email it to the  Programme Administration team. Kindly note that we do not accept technical difficulties as a reasons for the late submission of coursework. Students should therefore submit work with enough time to contact the Programme Administration team to  resolve any submission issues.

The virtual learning environment will note the date in which the provisional results will be made available. Please note marks are provisional and may be subject to change until they have been ratified and confirmed at the relevant Exam Board.

No. We do not have work re-marked. Our academic staff are experienced examiners/markers. We also have processes in place to ensure that marks are awarded according to marking criteria that have been agreed upon via the Teaching and Learning Committee (TLC). Moreover, the  External Examiners  review the materials  of how and what we have taught during the academic year; part of the External Examiners’ role is to look at the marks and feedback that we provide to students and establish whether what we are doing is accurate, consistent and fair. As we have a number of safeguards in place, students should rest assured that their work is marked fairly and their marks are indicative of their level of academic achievement.

No. We don’t allow students to change classes.

In BA1, students are assigned classes by the relevant Programme Administrator for their cohort. Students cannot switch classes as this has implications on student numbers and on the timetable.

In BA2, BA3, and at GD, students are permitted to state a preference for the classes they would like to take. However, no student is guaranteed to be allocated to any of their preferred classes.

The MA course works differently. If an MA student is unhappy with what they are studying, they should speak to the Programme Administration team for guidance in the first instance.

Any concerns a student has with their class should be discussed, informally, with the class teacher in the first instance. In the event that a student would like to escalate their concerns, they should then speak to their Personal Tutor and Programme Administrator. If further escalation is required, their Personal Tutor and Programme Administrator will advise the student of the complaints process.

In all cases, we ask that students try to resolve any issues they may have, informally. A student can speak to numerous staff for guidance when dealing with any issues they may have (Personal Tutor/ Programme Administrator/ Students Union). If the issue cannot be informally resolved, then a student may make a formal complaint, in writing, to the Academic Registrar, Luke Dillon via Academic.Registry@courtauld.ac.uk.

Kindly note that students may be asked to try and informally resolve their issue before the Academic Registrar is able to respond to their complaint. Students should not write to the Dean or the Director without first speaking to their Personal Tutor/ Programme Administrator/ Student Union.  TheStudent Complaints Policy is on The Courtauld website under Student Policies and this gives full details of the steps to resolve any complaint.

eVision is a platform that is linked to our internal system which students can use to update their address and personal details without having to physically come to the  ‘Advice Desk’. eVision is also where students will input their assessed essay/ dissertation title. This title will appear on a student’s official transcript.

Access to eVision is granted after enrolment. Access eVision. Students will log in using their Courtauld email address and password. The username is in the format of forename.surname and the password is the same as for the students Courtauld email account.

Should you have trouble accessing your eVision account, please contact evision@courtauld.ac.uk for assistance.

Please email evision@courtauld.ac.uk.

The eVision team are members of SAS; eVision is not a separate team external to The Courtauld.

The VLE (also known as Moodle) is our online platform that staff and students use to display information related to courses and support services, for instance. The VLE is also where students should submit their assignments. Students are provided with access to general areas (which all users have access to) and the courses they are enrolled in. Only areas relevant to a student will be displayed. So, each student’s VLE homepage will be different and dependent on the course they are taking.

Access to the VLE will be provided once students have completed enrolment. Students should log in using their Courtauld email address and password. The first time a student accesses the site, they will need to use the password assigned to them, before being prompted to change it.

When a student submits assignments they should go to the course page the assignment is being submitted for, then the ‘Assignment Submission’ page, followed by the relevant Turnitin submission portal for their assignment, i.e. ‘Foundations > Assignment Submissions > Essay 1’.

For help with using the VLE, please contact Matt Elphick, our VLE specialist on vle@courtauld.ac.uk.

Yes. The Library will assist you. You can find further information here, and email booklib@courtauld.ac.uk with your request.

Students may request assistance from our IT support team for Courtauld-related IT issues by emailing ITSD@courtauld.ac.uk. Kindly note that IT support will only be able to assist with Courtauld-related IT issues, such as trouble accessing Wi-Fi on site, for example. It is at the discretion of IT support as to which issues they are able to assist students with. Personal IT issues should not be directed to this team.

Provided that the class teacher gives their consent, students are permitted to record classes. If students are making video recordings as opposed to just voice recordings, they need to be mindful not to capture another student without their consent.

Students who require assistive technology   to aid their studies (as part of a study support plan) should contact the Wellbeing Services by emailing wellbeing@courtauld.ac.uk .

Students retain access to their Courtauld email account for 1 year from the date of graduation. Students should ensure all important emails/ documents are saved/ forwarded on before their account is deactivated.

After graduation, VLE access will be revoked. Access to the VLE is exclusive to enrolled students.

Yes. If you suspend your studies, you may still use your Courtauld email account.

Access to the VLE, however, is granted on a case-by-case basis and is not guaranteed when a student has suspended. Students who suspend but would like to retain access to the VLE need to seek permission from the Programme Administration team.

No. Once a student withdraws, they are no longer our student and do not have the right to access any of our systems. They will lose access to their Courtauld email address from the date their withdrawal is processed on our system.

Students will be emailed their exam timetables to their Courtauld email address approximately 4 weeks before their exams. If there are delays, students will be informed by the Programme Administration team.

Past papers can be viewed online on the VLE. Please check the Examination Information page on the VLE.

No. Re-sit papers are confidential and can’t be used to prepare for an exam. Students can view past non-re-sit papers to help them, but not re-sit papers.

Students should email Programme.Operations@courtauld.ac.uk with any questions about their examinations.

Staff and students are able to request a copy of a dissertation from the library by emailing booklib@courtauld.ac.uk

For more information about the Library, please see the Library web pages.

Students should email AR.Receivable@courtauld.ac.uk with queries on tuition fees.

Only BA3 and MA students are eligible to obtain a study trip grant (grants do not need to be repaid) for a trip that forms a part of their course. Students should contact the  Programme Administration team  for further information and a copy of the form required to claim the study trip grant.

The Courtauld has travel insurance to cover our staff and students on study trips. When making a claim for a study trip grant, students will also be required to apply for Courtauld travel insurance. The cost of the insurance policy is borne by The Courtauld and not the student.

In the event that a study trip is cancelled, then yes, a grant must be repaid. A study trip grant must only be used towards a pre-planned and authorised study trip. If the trip does not go ahead, any money given to students does need to be returned to The Courtauld.

Counselling is available via the Wellbeing Service and we can offer an initial assessment to make sure counselling is the right form of support for you, followed by up to 6 weekly sessions. Our counsellors are professionally trained and members of accredited with a professional body such as The British Association for Counselling (BACP) or The United Kingdom Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP).

Sessions are available Counselling Mondays-Thursday between 10:00 to 15:00 and are available either in-person or online

To arrange and initial appointment, please email counselling@courtauld.ac.uk  or complete the counselling registration form available through eVision

The Courtauld offers support to students with disabilities or specific learning differences  through the Wellbeing Team. They can be contacted at wellbeing@courtauld.ac.uk where you will be invited to meet with a Wellbeing Adviser who can discuss your needs and help ensure any reasonable adjustments are catered for. For UK based students, they can also assist with completing the Disabled Students Allowance application form and help arrange any addition support available through the scheme.