Timetabling and room booking policy 2025-26
1. Purpose and Scope of the Policy
1.1 Purpose
1.1.1 This document sets out the University’s policy, procedures, roles, and responsibilities in respect of:
- The preparation and production of the University’s teaching timetables.
- The booking of rooms for teaching and general use.
1.2 Scope
1.2.1 This Policy and associated procedures or process applies to any member of UEL who requires bookable rooms and space on any UEL campus. The policy will be applied fairly and consistently across the University.
2. Policy Statement and Principles
2.1 Statement
2.1.1 The University is committed to providing students with a personal timetable via the established timetabling software (CELCAT) that meets the agreed delivery criteria and academic framework.
2.1.2 Bookable rooms and space across the estate must be used efficiently and appropriately.
2.2 Principles
2.2.1 The guiding principles of the Teaching Timetable and Booking Policy are to ensure that:
- The timetable is produced with the aim of enhancing the student experience
- The policy will support staff in the process of preparing and delivering accurate timetables via the timetabling software system, to students in advance of the start of the academic year.
- The policy will reduce the number of changes to timetables to a minimum once the timetable has been published to students.
- The policy aims to optimise usage and occupancy of teaching spaces on UEL campuses.
- The Timetabling process is reliant on the timely submission of a variety of information.
- This document aims to set clear expectations of what information is required of whom and by and when. All staff are required to comply with these requirements.
3. Policy
3.1 Teaching Times
3.1.1 The standard teaching day is from 09:00 to 18:00, Monday to Friday. Teaching may be scheduled outside these hours and/or at weekends, if required. UG and PG evening provision is normally scheduled until 21:00.
3.1.2 There will be no teaching on Wednesdays from 13:00 to allow students to participate in sports activities, volunteering, work experience, and civic engagements. Any exceptions will need to be approved by UEB.
3.1.3 Where possible, students and staff will not make more than one journey between sites in a day to attend teaching events.
3.1.4 All teaching and other booked events will start on the hour or half past the hour to align with the Engagement and Attendance process.
3.1.5 All teaching and other booked events will vacate the room 10 mins before the allotted teaching time is completed to ensure staff and students can “get out” and “get in”.
3.1.6 If attendance monitoring is required, the event must last a minimum of one hour.
3.1.7 Teaching will be managed in blocks and condensed to as fewer days as possible, so students have a more efficient timetable. If a timetable can’t fit within the required blocks, permission will need to be sought from the Director of Education & Experience or Dean of School.
- Block 1 – Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Morning (until 13.00).
- Block 2 – Wednesday Morning (until 13.00), Thursday and Friday.
3.1.8 Where possible, time will be allocated between teaching events to allow for set-up time.
3.2 Timetabling
3.2.1 Teaching activities take precedence over any other activities that require teaching rooms. If a non-teaching activity requires rooms that are booked for teaching, permission will need to be sought from UEB. Disruption to student timetables must be kept to an absolute minimum.
3.2.2 All teaching and room bookings in traditional shared teaching rooms are made via the Timetabling Office. All room bookings in practice-based centres and experiential learning spaces are made via the Registry School Services teams in consultation with the Timetabling Office. This is to avoid room clashes, create effective space utilisation and for the accuracy of statistical data.
3.2.3 Once a module is made available to students for enrolment, it cannot be cancelled.
3.2.4 Teaching events delivered over a period of weeks will have priority over sporadic teaching events or non-teaching events.
3.2.5 If a room is not available at a requested time slot, an alternative will be offered for the same day, where possible.
3.2.6 Core activities associated with each module are given first priority when allocating rooms. Breakout sessions and tutorials are scheduled around these events.
3.2.7 Rooms are allocated to closely match the number of students in each class to maximise space utilisation or where they contain required facilities and/or equipment.
3.2.8 Where, possible timetables will be confirmed and released to students within the first week of August.
3.2.9 Timetables for Distance Learning will be produced outside of CELCAT and communicated to students via the relevant school academic team.
3.3 Timetable changes and room allocation adjustments
3.3.1 Once timetables are published to students, changes must be approved by the Dean of School or Director of Education and Experience. The only exceptions are room accessibility issues, Insufficient room capacity due to student numbers increasing (normally in the first two weeks of term) and cancellations due to staff sickness.
3.3.2 The timetable may be subject to room changes in the first two weeks of term due to the late enrolment / registration of some students. Also noted in 3.3.1 above.
3.3.3 Where a change to the timetable is required, students and staff will be notified by the agreed communication channels.
3.4 Ad hoc Room Bookings
3.4.1 All requests for one-off room bookings should be sent to the Timetabling Office using the agreed process.
3.4.2 One-off room booking requests of a large scale will be considered by the Timetabling Office, once teaching timetables are complete. Any events such as Open Days, Taster Days, Summer Schools and Conferences that need confirmation of rooms earlier before timetables are complete should be approved by UEB before being submitted to the Timetabling Office.
3.4.3 Room booking priorities (teaching rooms only)
3.4.3.1 Key student activity in line with the academic calendar
- Academic teaching (including classes that are taught outside the standard teaching weeks e.g. Nursing and PGCE teacher education)
- Exams and re-sit exams (note: room availability will be limited for mid-term exams)
- Student Orientation (including International)
3.4.3.2 Other large booking activity (to be factored in when the above is completed)
- Summer Schools (those coordinated by Student Services)
- Graduation
- Open days, taster days
- Events, Conferences, Venue Hire, Meetings and any other ad hoc bookings
3.4.4 If a room is required that is already booked by someone higher in the priority list, they will need to seek permission from them to use it.
3.4.5 All booking requests must meet agreed deadlines and include concise details of what is required.
3.4.6 Some term 2 and 3 teaching requirements on some programmes will be subject to change due to uncertainties with student numbers. Room availability might be limited depending on when the changes are submitted. If submitted very late they shouldn’t impact any other activity with confirmed room bookings.
3.4.7 The Timetabling Office confirms or declines all one-off room booking requests. If the request is declined for any reason, an email will be sent explaining why.
3.4.8 All bookings must adhere to the Health and Safety regulations. Any required risk assessments should be completed by the person(s) coordinating the event and to follow up with Health and Safety if there are any concerns. Please see point 5.1.4.
3.4.9 Requests for access rights to the timetabling system are considered and approved by the Timetabling Office.
3.5 Teaching Rooms
3.5.1 The Timetabling Office schedules teaching and non-teaching events into pooled rooms. The Registry School Service Teams schedule teaching and non-teaching events into school specialist rooms.
3.5.2 All bookings associated with teaching will be linked to the correct module(s) and group(s).
3.5.3 Room details are on the Timetabling intranet pages.
3.5.4 Room layouts will be in their default set up and should be returned to this layout on completion of a teaching or other event.
3.6 Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL)
3.6.1 Students will spend their timetabled contact hours on campus and have access to a wide range of additional learning and career development opportunities. Link to details on Technology Enhanced Active Learning (TEAL) (sharepoint.com)
3.6.2 MS Teams will be used as the source for engaging with online classes that have been approved.
3.6.3 Module Leaders must create the necessary channels in the Teams pages so students can navigate to register attendance and join classes relevant to them.
3.6.4 Any updates on TEAL will be advised by UEB in consultation with the Dean’s and Directors of Education and Experience.
3.6.5 Lecture capture recordings are made available to all students via MS Teams.
3.6.6 Support on TEAL can be sourced from the CELT team and the contacts can be found using this link Meet the CELT Team.
3.7 Room Usage
3.7.1 The room(s) booked for the event on the timetable should be the only room(s) used. Bookings can be checked at https://ueltt.uel.ac.uk/
3.7.2 Any problems or access issues with rooms should be reported to the relevant departments (Estates, IT Services, Timetabling, Security etc.) through the contact details provided in all teaching rooms.
3.7.3 Reports and audits on room usage will take place at agreed times in the academic year.
4. Roles and Responsibilities
4.1 Registry Timetabling Services
4.1.1 Manages the production of all academic timetables, whilst working closely with Registry School Service teams.
4.1.2 Provide the Registry School Service teams with key dates for the planning and production of timetables. This would include dates for the collection and submission of timetable data through to the date when timetables will be made available to students.
4.1.3 The Timetabling Office will collate data on teaching events, equipment, and rooming requests in an agreed format that will be consistent across all Colleges.
4.1.4 Timetable clashes will be resolved by the Timetabling Office and Registry School Service Teams through consultation with relevant academic leads prior to the start of teaching to avoid disruption to the student experience.
4.1.5 Liaise with the Registry Student Records team for dates on the registration of continuing and new students to modules.
4.1.6 Liaise with the Registry School Service Teams on progress with the grouping of students once they are enrolled and registered on modules.
4.1.7 Maintain information on the Timetabling Intranet pages.
4.1.8 Train and support users on CELCAT applications that are relevant to them.
4.1.9 Provide statistical data on room usage and timetable information.
4.1.10 Manage the timetabling system (CELCAT) and liaise with IT Services with annual system upgrades.
4.1.11 Monitors room usage throughout the year. Where rooms are booked for a sequence of teaching events but are found not to be used, timetabling will consult with the relevant school about cancelling future bookings. This links to section 4.8.
4.2 Deans/Directors of Education and Experience
4.2.1 Take overall responsibility for ensuring academic colleagues liaise with the Timetabling Office and Registry School Service Teams to deliver accurate teaching timetables as set out in this policy.
4.2.2 Ensure that data sets for timetables are received by the agreed deadline date set up by the Timetabling Office.
4.2.3 Ensure that staffing details for all modules made available to students, are also made available to the Registry School Service Teams by the agreed deadline.
4.2.4 Ensure that academic colleagues have embedded timetabled practice-based centre activities into their content delivery at every level.
4.3 Registry School Service Team
4.3.1 Support the School academic team in preparing timetable requirements for the forthcoming year in accordance with this policy.
4.3.2 Work with the Timetabling Office to deliver all timetable requirements by agreed deadlines in the appropriate format to the Timetabling Office.
4.3.3 Advise their teams to refer to the Online Calendar for their module bookings and associated seminars.
4.3.4 Organise students into groups as early as possible so students have a complete timetable by the deadline set for completion.
4.3.5 Support the Timetabling Office in resolving any timetable errors. This would include module codes not matching group codes, events with no rooms and period record in SITS not matching what is scheduled in CELCAT.
4.3.6 Liaise with Courses Records and Student Records on any module changes relevant to Timetabling.
4.4 Course Leaders / Module Leaders
4.4.1 Check their personal online timetable and all relevant module timetables for all teaching terms when published.
4.4.2 Advise the Registry School Service Teams of all required timetable changes by the deadlines set.
4.4.3 Use rooms according to the events and times detailed on the timetable.
4.4.4 Communicate any immediate timetable changes including cancellations to the appropriate Registry School Service Team.
4.4.5 Inform the appropriate School Registry Teams of all occasions when the booked room is not planned to be used, e.g., field trip.
4.5 Students
4.5.1 Use Online Calendar or their UEL Outlook Calendar to check their personal timetable.
4.5.2 Inform the Hub of any module clashes.
4.5.3 Regularly check their timetable and email for notification of any changes.
4.5.4 Students who need to travel to sports events; work experience or volunteering on Wednesday afternoons should inform the module leader in the first instance.
4.6 Student Records
4.6.1 Monitor and maintain student records so that they accurately reflect when modules are taken and the periods, they are taken for current study programmes.
4.6.2 Where possible, register continuing students on modules prior to the release of timetables.
4.7 IT Services
4.7.1 Provide and maintain all IT equipment in teaching rooms and provide training if required.
4.7.2 Ensure that the equipment is in full working order and support any reported issues.
4.7.3 Ensure Lecture capture via MS Teams is operational. See point 3.6.6 for support on the TEAL framework.
4.7.4 Update the Timetabling Office if any equipment is faulty and of any upgrades to equipment.
4.7.5 Inform the Student Retention team if any attendance card readers are faulty. The Student Retention team will then notify all relevant stakeholders and assist with any attendance enquiries.
4.7.6 Support the Timetabling Office with any system upgrades.
4.7.7 Provide the Timetabling Office with regular exception reports on timetabled events that need adjusting due to module records being incorrect, events with no rooms and group codes not matching module codes.
4.7.8 Support the Timetabling Office in creating the system database for the following academic year. This would normally take place in early or mid-February.
4.8 Estates and Facilities Services (Space Management)
4.8.1 Provide strategic assessment of space planning issues across the University estate in consultation with the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT).
4.8.2 Discuss with the Timetabling Office any future plans for room changes, such as layout and size.
4.8.3 Inform the Timetabling Office and Deans of any changes in room ownership.
4.8.4 Reset rooms to their default settings on a daily basis. This would normally take place early in the morning or at the end of the day.
4.8.5 Organise daily routine room checks to keep campuses and rooms clean and tidy.
4.8.6 Restructure the furniture in rooms at pre-advised times for assessment periods.
5. Non-Teaching Bookings
5.1 Internal Bookings
5.1.1 Extensive room bookings for events such as Enrolment and Clearing where similar rooms are needed should be negotiated by the relevant teams. The requirements should then be submitted as soon as possible to the Timetabling team who will review them and confirm what can be booked.
5.1.2 The dates and times for Open Days / Taster Days should be communicated to the Timetabling Office as early as possible and must include any required times for room set up. Academic Timetabling will take precedence for any room bookings, although the Timetabling Office will do their best to allocate rooms without disrupting the academic timetables. Any rooms that aren’t available will be communicated to the person(s) requesting the rooms. See next paragraph (5.1.3).
5.1.3 A contact name will be provided to the Timetabling Office to help monitor bookings and for any queries.
5.1.4 A risk assessment must be completed by the person(s) coordinating the event. It is their responsibility to make sure this is completed and to follow up with Health and Safety if there are any concerns. As per paragraph 3.4.8.
5.1.5 A copy of the risk assessment should be provided to the Timetabling Office to support their room booking(s). The Timetabling Office will file the risk assessment only.
5.2 External Bookings (non-UEL Requests)
5.2.1 All external booking requests should be directed to the Talent Gateway, Venue Hire team (venues@uel.ac.uk) in the first instance. If such a request falls during teaching weeks, the Talent Gateway team will consult with the Timetabling Office.
5.2.2 The University’s requirements for rooms have priority over external events.
5.2.3 The person(s) booking the room(s) are responsible for making sure any necessary risk assessments are completed. If they have any questions or concerns about the risk assessment, they should follow this up with Health and Safety directly.
5.2.4 A copy of the risk assessment can be sent to the Timetabling Office to support the booking. They will file the risk assessment only.
5.3 Ad Hoc Room Bookings (via CELCAT Room Booker Application)
5.3.1 The CELCAT Room Booking system will become available for ad hoc booking requests after the academic timetables have been made available to students (normally in the first week of August). However, the booking will be provisional until enrolment and student registration is fully completed.
5.3.2 Rooms allocated for ad hoc events will not be changed after they are confirmed/completed. If the Timetabling Office needs to change the room booked, they will notify the booker via email or MS Teams.
5.4 Student Society and Club Room Bookings
5.4.1 All booking requests should be directed to the Students’ Union who will then forward the request to the Timetabling Office or request the room via CELCAT Room Booker.
5.4.2 The person coordinating the event is responsible for filling any necessary risk assessments. If they have any questions or concerns about the risk assessment, they should follow this up with Health and Safety directly.
5.4.3 A copy of the risk assessment can be sent to the Timetabling Office to support the booking. They will file the risk assessment only. See paragraph 5.1.5.
5.4.4 A week’s notice is required so that room availability can be checked before confirmation is made.
6. Links to other Institutional Policies and Procedures
6.1 Internal Policies
This Policy/Regulation relates to the following institutional regulations, policies or procedures:
- Risk Assessment Policy (Sharepoint)
- Event Risk Assessment Form (Sharepoint)
- Engagement and Attendance Policy
- Estates & Facilities (room set up)
- Service Level Agreements (Estates & Facilities)
7. Definitions
Definitions of acronyms or phrases used within the policy:
- CELCAT: Timetabling software used for building and publishing academic timetables. Also used for managing requests for non-teaching activity.
- SITS: Student Records Management System
- UEB: University Executive Board
Policy Owner: Head of Registry Timetabling Services
Department: Academic Registry
| version | effective from | amendments | equity analysis | stakeholders consulted | approval date | author | date for review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0 | 04/06/2018 | Original Document Approved | 04/06/2018 | 04/06/2018 | 04/06/2018 | James Norman | 03/06/2019 |
| 1.2 | 03/06/2019 | Slight amendments to processes | 03/06/2019 | 03/06/2019 | 03/06/2019 | James Norman | 08/06/2020 |
| 1.3 | 08/06/2020 | Changes according to Dual Delivery 2.0 | 08/06/2020 | 08/06/2020 | 04/06/2020 | James Norman | 04/06/2020 |
| 1.4 | 05/05/2022 | Slight amendments to processes | 05/05/2022 | 05/05/2022 | 04/05/2022 | James Norman | April 2023 |
| 1.5 | 08/07/2024 | TEAL replacing DD.2.0. Section 3.6 amended and reference to Dual Delivery removed at 3.6.2 | 14/03/2024 | 23/08/2024 | James Norman | April 2025 | |
| 1.6 | 01/07/2025 | Updating 3.4 Ad hoc room bookings section to provide clarity | N/A | James Norman | April 2027 |
This Policy is reviewed by Education & Experience Committee and approved by Academic Board.