Student engagement: get involved

Becoming a student representative allows you to play an active role in shaping the learning environment and contributing to our commitment to deliver high-quality, inclusive education through students’ feedback, ideas, and collaboration with faculty and professional services staff. Student representative participation ensures that the student voice is central to key decision-making processes and continuous improvement efforts.

There are two levels of Student Representatives; at course level and at Tavistock Education and Training (TET) level.

Key roles and responsibilities include:

• Attending scheduled meetings, either in person or online.
• Reviewing meeting agendas, minutes, and associated documentation in advance.
• Acknowledging feedback from fellow students.
• Consulting with peers and representing their collective views in relevant forums.
• Contributing constructively to discussions, drawing on your experience as a student.
• Completing any actions or follow-up tasks assigned during meetings.
• Providing constructive feedback to support continuous improvements to the student experience.
• Helping to promote student voice avenues such as the annual student survey and the Dean’s Forum.

Benefits of being a Representative

Participation as a Student Representative is an enriching opportunity to make a meaningful difference within the student community and the Trust. Student Representatives also gain professional benefits from their involvement, including:

• Making use of, or enhancing, communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
• Greater insight into educational processes and governance.
• Opportunities to contribute to change and improvements across the Trust.
• Experience of working collaboratively with academic and professional services staff.
• Recognition of their contributions, which may support future academic or professional development.

More information on how to become a Student Representative is available on the My Student Community page on Moodle.

When you join one of our groups or committees as a student representative, you are able to provide valuable insights that help us to improve the student experience across the services we offer. There are a number of these all striving to enhance your student experience, including:

Course Committees

Course Committees serve as a formal channel for student representation at programme level. Chaired by the Course Lead and attended by professional services staff, these committees enable collaborative dialogue focused on continuous quality improvement. Through structured feedback and discussion, students contribute directly to the ongoing development of course delivery.

Student Experience Group

The Student Experience Group is chaired by Mark Freestone, Chief Education and Training Officer and Dean of Postgraduate Studies. This group supports the Trust’s commitment to delivering an excellent student experience.

While Course Committees focus on course-specific issues, the Student Experience Group will consider Trust services and systems outside of the courses, such as student support, student voice and engagement, as well as Estates and other Trustwide services.

Learning and Teaching Group

The Learning and Teaching Group looks at ways of improving learning and teaching at the Trust. The group have a specific remit around Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and several workstreams including EDI, Student Experience, Staff Experience, Assessment and AI, and Research.

Academic Governance and Quality Assurance Group

The Academic Governance and Quality Assurance Group primarily looks at ways of monitoring, improving and enhancing our academic provision to students and maintaining the academic standards of our courses. The group does this by looking at student feedback and other stakeholder feedback such as the annual student survey and external examiner feedback, as well as monitoring review processes and assessment board processes.

Student and Trainee groups

Facilitated by members of staff, our student and trainee groups are open to all students (you don’t need to be a student representative to attend). They provide an opportunity for students to meet each other and share experiences.

Our student and trainee groups include:

• Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic / Global Majority student and trainee group
• Disabled student and trainee group
• International student and trainee group
• LGBTQIA+ student and trainee group
• Multi-faith student and trainee group

Current students can find more information via My Student Community on Moodle.

By participating in surveys and utilising our feedback channels, you are able to share your perspectives on various aspects of your educational experience.

In particular, our annual student survey allows us to gather valuable, anonymous, feedback and opinions from all students enrolled with us. This survey provides you with an opportunity to share your thoughts and experiences with us.

The Dean’s forum is an open, student-centred space where you can hear the latest updates on Tavistock Education and Training, gain a clearer understanding of our Trust (NLFT), and engage directly with the Dean and Senior Leadership Team. You don’t need to be a student representative to attend, all students are welcome.

The forum fosters open dialogue regarding important themes like student support services, Tavistock Education and Training aspirations; and changes impacting the student experience. Chaired by Mark Freestone, Chief Education and Training Officer and Dean of Postgraduate Studies, the forum exists to strengthen and elevate the student voice. Whether you want to ask questions, offer your perspective, or simply listen in, your presence genuinely matters and your contribution is always welcome. Students can access more information about the Dean’s forum via the dedicated Moodle page.