A School cannot independently close or suspend a course due to the contractual obligations between students, offer holders, and the university. Decisions to close or suspend a course may be driven by several factors, including, but not limited to:
- The course is not financially viable
- Where numbers recruited to a course are so low that it is not possible to deliver an appropriate quality of education for students enrolled on it, or it is not possible to offer a particular course module (UK only - see also administrative closures below)
- Strategic changes in the school/faculty teaching portfolio
- The unanticipated departure of key members of university staff or significant staff illness or other unexpected absence where a course is reliant on a person’s expertise
- Recommendations from Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies (PSRBs)
- Strategic decisions at the University level
2.1 Timing
Decisions to close or suspend a course of study must be taken in good time, and wherever possible, before courses are advertised to students (around 18-21 months before the closure or suspension is to take effect). However, strategic or other reasons may necessitate shorter notice periods.
Acting in a timely manner in making decisions around suspension or closure of courses of study is necessary to ensure the university meets its obligations in relation to Consumer Protection Law (CPL) and Competition and operates in line with the Markets Authority (CMA) guidance. In the UK, courses of study are advertised to prospective students in the Online UG or PGT Course Prospectus (see publication dates below).
UK Publishing dates for UG and PGT Course Prospectus
| Undergraduate Prospectus |
Publication c. 1 March in the calendar year before students commence the course (for example, March 2024 for 25/26 entry) |
| Postgraduate Taught Prospectus |
Publication c. 1 July in the calendar year before students commence the course (for example, July 2024 for 25/26 entry) |
Schools and/or Faculty staff are responsible for seeking local endorsement, in accordance with local procedures, to close or suspend a course, including consulting with partner Schools and current students as applicable. Then it is necessary to follow the procedure set out in Section 4 below to request the closure/suspension.
When a request to close or suspend a course is submitted, the Curriculum Approvals and Advisory Team (CAAT) will gather data on prospective and current students to support the decision making process.
The Quality and Standards Committee (QSC) are responsible for the approval of closure and suspension requests. After approval of a closure or suspension request, CAAT will liaise with the relevant departments to implement the closure or suspension.
If a course closure or suspension affects prospective students, including deferred and accepted firm offer holders, then all communications with them must be undertaken by External Relations and Admissions or equivalent.
4.1 School and Faculty endorsement
School and Faculty endorsement is required to close or suspend a course. All closures and suspensions, including administrative closures, will require endorsement at School and Faculty level before the formal request for closure or suspension of a course is submitted.
Endorsement for the closure or suspension of a course must be sought at School level (e.g. from Education and Student Experience Committee, Head of School, UNNC school meeting), and from the Faculty (e.g. the FPVC or FAPVC, University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) Faculty Executive Board or the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM) Campus Teaching and Learning Committee).
There may be local variations for seeking endorsement, depending on School, Faculty or UNM/UNNC campus structures; however, at the end of this stage there must be clear evidence of support from both the School and the Faculty to close or suspend the course. Endorsement can be recorded via email or noted in committee minutes; evidence of endorsement must be retained for audit purposes.
4.2 Consultation with other Schools/Campuses, as necessary
For joint, major/minor, and interdisciplinary courses, agreement from the partner School(s) is required before submitting a formal closure or suspension request. Courses offered on multiple campuses should have consensus across all campuses prior to submitting a formal request to close or suspend a course.
At the UNM and UNNC, the view of the relevant campus committee must be sought prior to the submission of a formal request for closure or suspension of a course, so that the impact of the decision can be taken into consideration.
If there are any potential HR implications in relation to the closure or suspension of a course, Schools must contact the relevant Faculty HR Business Partner for advice.
4.3 Consultation with current students
If the request to close or suspend the course will only affect new entrants, teach out for all current registered students is the usual course of action. Where teach out is the proposed course of action, a comprehensive teach out plan must be provided with the request for closure or suspension of a course. If teach out is to be provided for all current registered students, then consultation is not required.
Students on leave of absence/break in studies will be treated on a case by case basis.
Where the recommendation is to close or suspend a course and teach out is not provided, the views of current students (including those on leave of absence/break in studies ) on the proposed arrangements may be sought by the School before submitting the closure or suspension request. The necessary contents of any consultation document would depend on what is being proposed.
Schools have autonomy over how they invite students to share their views; however when consulting, Schools must ensure all affected students are directly contacted and invited to express their views if they wish. Receiving views from students might include one of more or the following methods:
- Email
- Student Staff Fora discussion
- Running an in-person seminar/ drop-in session
- Running a Teams session
- Moodle announcement
Where consultation is deemed necessary, the School will be expected to provide, and retain for audit purposes, evidence that all affected students have been contacted on the proposed formal notification to close or suspend a course of study, including detail about any objections raised by students in the consultation. Records of the consultation(s) must be retained by the School.
4.4 Complete the course closure/suspension form
Once Schools have appropriate School and Faculty endorsement and have consulted with course partners and students as required (see above), the form to formally request the course closure or suspension must be completed.
Request to close or suspend a course of study - MS form
The form requires information in support of the request to be provided, including:
- The reason for the closure or suspension
- Confirmation of the number of applicants and/or offer holders
- Identification of all stakeholders affected by the closure/suspension and anticipated impact on them, for example, Schools, campuses, contractual Partners, recruiting agents, employers and any proposed arrangements/mitigations (if applicable)
- Impact on, or changes to, the university's contractual obligations with current students and deferred offer holders and firm accept offer holders. Current students for this purpose includes current registered full and part time students and any students who are on a leave of absence/break in studies. If there is an impact on current students, include details of any consultation that has taken place with students and objections raised. If there is no impact on current students (for example, due to teach out), the ‘teach out’ strategy must be made clear
- The proposed arrangements for applicants and offer holders (if applicable)
Admissions may, upon request and in consultation with CAAT, suspend applications until a final decision has been made.
4.5 Administrative closure
Closing a course with no current students, applicants or offer holders is referred to as an administrative closure.
For UNUK courses with no current students, applicants or offer holders may be closed outside of the aforementioned UK closure/suspension time restrictions, with appropriate School and Faculty endorsement.
4.6 Consultation with the wider university
For courses with either current students, applicants or offer holders, the following must also be undertaken:
Upon receiving the closure/suspension request form, CAAT will consult with the wider university to ensure the implications and consequences for prospective and current students, including those on leave of absence from their studies/break in studies, have been considered and mitigated where possible.
The departments to be consulted include:
- Finance Teams
- External relations, including admissions, marketing and relevant partnership teams
- Relevant university team responsible for partnership activity (if partnership)
- Professional and Work Based Learning Team (if apprenticeship)
- Delivery partners who deal with the relevant Professional/statutory/regulatory bodies (if applicable)
- Head of Strategic Partners (if TUNIC offer holders are affected)
- Relevant teams in RAA regarding the status of students on leave of absence/break in studies
Feedback from the consultation will be communicated back to the School for comment.
4.7 Approval process
Requests for closure or suspension of courses where there are no applicants or offer holders, and where the School demonstrates that there is no impact on current students, including those on leave of absence/break in studies, or other stakeholders, will be approved under delegated authority from QSC.
All other cases will be submitted to QSC for consideration.
The request to close or suspend a course will only be accepted if the rationale is sufficiently strong enough to justify any legal or reputational risk or disruption to applicants, offer holders, current students and/or other stakeholders. The requirements in the previous sections must also be satisfied.
4.8 Next steps after approval
When a request for suspension or closure is granted, CAAT will inform the following departments:
The departments to be informed include:
- Relevant Marketing Teams (to consider marketing implications of closure or suspension)
- Faculty Finance Team (to consider financial implications of closure or suspension)
- Student Recruitment Team (to consider recruitment implications of closure or suspension, and confirm the current number of applications/offers)
- Relevent department/school to liaise with current students (if applicable, see above)
- Relevant univeristy teams responsible for partnership activity (if partnership)
- Professional and Work Based Learning Team (if apprenticeship)
- Delivery partner who deals with the corresponding professional/statutory/regulatory bodies (if applicable)
- Head of Strategic Partners (if TUNIC offer holders are affected)
- Relevant teams in Registry and Academic Affairs (RAA) regarding the status of students on leave of absence/break in studies
Once a closure or suspension request has been granted, the School must ensure that all necessary amendments are made to School publications and websites, and CAAT/RAA to all university publications and websites.
After approval is obtained for the suspension or closure, then Marketing and Admissions will notify UCAS, if applicable, by informing the university's UCAS correspondent.
4.9 Communication with prospective students
If a course closure or suspension affects prospective students (including deferred and firm accept offer holders), then all communications with them must be undertaken by External Relations and Admissions or equivalent.
Prospective students must not be contacted until a closure or suspension request has been approved; however, Admissions may, upon request and in consultation with CAAT, suspend applications until a decision has been made. Schools need to consider and agree options for offer holders (including those that have accepted offers) before they are informed.
If you would like any further information about the course of study closure or suspension process, please email: ss-curriculumadvice@nottingham.ac.uk 