Teaching and Learning in 2022/23 | University of Reading

Our vibrant, active community here in Reading will help you to benefit from all that university life has to offer.

Your learning experience 2022/23

As a campus university, we are committed to creating a supportive and inclusive community, based in face-to-face learning on our active and vibrant campus. The benefits to your learning outcomes and your overall experience mean that your teaching will mainly be in-person. We also make the most of digital opportunities to enhance your learning experience.

You’ll have a range of engaging, interactive sessions depending on your discipline, such as tutorials, seminars, laboratory and practical work, workshops, group work, and lectures.

We work closely with our students to help inform our approach to teaching and learning and we’ve learned a lot about what you value in digital learning. We draw on the strengths of technology-enhanced teaching methods tailored to your subject to provide you with an excellent learning experience and help you to get the most out of your course. Well-designed digital activities and resources can allow you to study more flexibly and bring variety and interest to your course. They also allow you to build useful skills that you can use throughout your life like independent working and collaboration.

We design our programmes to be inclusive, respecting diversity, enabling participation, and removing barriers. We are also committed to using the opportunities that technology provides to deliver teaching in environmentally sustainable ways.

We are constantly looking to enhance the student experience for our students, based on your feedback. You can find out more about our current projects on Essentials.

Can I study remotely in 2022/23?

As a campus university, and with the lifting of pandemic-related restrictions, you will not be able to enrol for study ‘at a distance’ (except for those on programmes that are specifically designed as distance-learning programmes, or post-graduate research students for whom distance study has been approved).

If you have any questions, please contact your Support Centre, Henley Helpdesk at henleyschooloffice@henley.ac.uk or the ISLI Admin Office at isli-admin@reading.ac.uk.

What support is available to me?

Academic and study support

You will continue to be supported through your Academic Tutor, and we recommend you meet with them at least once a term, either online or in-person.

Our Study Advice Team continues to provide resources and materials to support your learning, and all students can take advantage of our Library and other study resources.
Additional support is available from academic staff for specific module queries, within their contact hours in-person or online. If you aren’t sure who to contact, Support Centres or the Henley Helpdesk or ISLI Admin Office) are available for any queries you may have.

Specialist welfare support services

Our academic support is complemented by our range of specialist welfare support services including Careers, Financial Support, Disability Advice, International Visa & Immigration Advice, Study Advice and many more, which will continue to offer help and advice face-to-face on campus.
We will continue to make these services available online, by phone and email. Your Academic Tutor and Support Centre (or Henley Helpdesk or ISLI Admin Office) should be your first point of contact for any queries related to your programme – whether that’s relating to modules, exams, deadlines, assessments or other questions.

Will exams be conducted online in summer 2023?

For many subject areas, the experience of running exams online over the last couple of years has been successful. Where online exams have proved to be an effective way of assessing learning outcomes, they will be retained. However, there are a number of subject areas where open-book online exams are no longer an appropriate form of assessment. These are mostly subjects with a strong technical or mathematical emphasis. In cases where online exams can lead to distorted assessment outcomes, or where this form of assessment has been raised as a concern by our external examiners or accrediting bodies, we will ensure that traditional ‘in-person’ invigilation arrangements are in place. Our approach means that we will retain the benefits of running exams in an online format that allows for flexibility, but without putting at risk the academic integrity of programmes where open-book online exams are no longer appropriate.

How will I know which modules will require in-person exams?

This information is available on the module description forms (MDFs) for each module running in 2022/23. Those modules which involve examinations that cannot be run using the open online format, will all have the following sentence included within the relevant section of the MDF: “The examination for this module will require a narrowly defined time window and is likely to be held in a dedicated exam venue.” Where this sentence is not included within the MDF, you can assume that any examination will be held online.

Teaching and Learning in 2022-23