Turn the Tables: Survey Results

Timetabling Survey Results are Out!

We asked Academic Representatives to share students’ thoughts on timetabling. The Survey was open from the 1^st of December to the 8^th of December and we received 141 responses from Academic Reps across all 9 faculties:

We had responses from both Postgraduates and Undergraduate students:

 

Top timetabling issues for students

Consistently between assessment and teaching timetables, the most common complaint raised by respondents is that timetables are “released too late”. For both types of timetables, “difficulty requesting changes” is also highly ranked, as the second most raised complaint for regular teaching timetables and the third highest complaint for assessment timetables. It is notable that while the timetable being “too spread out” is the lowest ranking concern for students regarding their assessment timetable, this constitutes the third highest concern for students relating to their regular teaching timetable.

A further breakdown of the timetable issues identified by reps:

Label	Timetable Issue	Frequency
A	Released Late	13
B	Doesn't Consider Travel Time	8
C	Too Clustered/Few Breaks	2
D	Incorrect/Missing Info	13
E	Doesn't Consider Religious Rituals	1
F	Lack of Info before Module Selection	2
G	Weekly Alterations	2
H	Clashes	2
I	Doesn’t Consider Part-Time Employment	14
J	Impact on Student Wellbeing	6
K	Modules on Different Campuses	6
L	Too Spread Out	7
M	Not Notified of Alterations Properly/In Time	7
N	Impact on Childcare Responsibilities	2
O	‘Mytimetable' is Hard to Use	4

 

When asked when students would ideally like to receive their timetables by, students seem to suggest an average of 4 weeks in advance for their teaching timetables and 8-10 weeks in advance for their assessment timetables.

 

How do timetabling issues affect students?

 

 

58% of reps record timetables causing issues for students with part-time jobs, closely followed by 57% reporting timetables preventing students from attending and taking part in extra-curricular activities or events. 50% of reps refer to students missing teaching due to timetabling issues.

66 students expanded on their answers, elaborating on the following issues:

Impact on students identified by reps
Difficulty planning for part-time jobs, caretaking responsibilities etc	33%
Negatively impacts wellbeing	18%
Unattainable travels between campuses	15%
Missing out on learning	9%
Increased travel costs	8%
Difficulty to accommodate for religious observance	3%
Total responses	66

 

Do students know who to contact about timetables?

The results indicate a notable uncertainty among students regarding the appropriate contacts within the university for reporting issues or requesting changes to timetables.

 

What about an ideal timetable?

90 representatives provided responses on behalf of the students they represent. The different versions of an ‘ideal timetable’ they identified are presented in the table below:

Timetable Preference	Frequency
Spread Out Classes / Frequent Breaks	23
Clustered Classes (within the week)	45
Morning Classes	13
No Evening Classes	5
Afternoon / Later Classes	5
No Clashing	4
Allow for Travel Time	13
Same Campus	7
Timetable Easily Accessible, Received Earlier, More Detailed	8
Maximum of 3 Consecutive Hours	2
Some Full Days off	16
No days with just one contact hour	5
Account for Religious Commitments	1

What now?

• We have shared these findings with the relevant KCL teams, who are keen to take this feedback on board to bring about much-needed changes.

• We are working on drafting a timetabling policy, outlining some baseline standards students should expect from their timetabling processes at King's.

• Keep an eye out for our student consultations and other events by reading your Rep Newsletters and checking out our webpages

• Want to help inform our work? Fill in this form to get more involved!