Monday 13-04-2026 - 12:22

 

Written by Niall Barlow, Harishan Sivakanthan, and Anna Langton on behalf of the Biological and Life Sciences (BLS) Academic Rep Team. 

Niall is the Undergraduate Department Rep for the Biological and Life Sciences Department. Harishan is the 1st Year Biomedical Science Rep.  Anna is the 1st Year Biochemistry Rep. 

 

 

Student feedback is essential for enriching the undergraduate experience. As the university pushes to improve its curriculum, an enhanced BLS student rep team has committed to keeping student suggestions at the forefront of discussions.  

 

 

With the Curriculum Transformation Programme (CTP) soon to take effect at Lancaster University, the demand for student feedback has surged. The CTP provides a golden opportunity to make significant alterations and remedy fundamental issues for each course. In light of this, we have committed to enhancing our presence as Biological and Life Sciences (BLS) student representatives. The improvements made have guaranteed that student feedback is championed at meetings and informs upcoming curriculum changes. 

At the start of the year, we introduced ourselves to our respective cohorts and set up an area for digital correspondence between coursemates. Students have been highly responsive and vocal within these group chats. What began as a set of simple channels for relaying feedback between students and staff has grown into a genuine sense of community, shaped both by the dedication of reps and the enthusiasm of those taking part. When applicable, criticisms received from one group have been communicated to other members of the rep team, allowing us to ascertain the scope of the issue. These evaluations identified areas for improvement that were mentioned at meetings with staff, alongside constructive proposals for potential changes. 

One issue brought up at the start of the academic year involved students struggling to check in at practical sessions, as the software involved could be uniquely unreliable outside of labs, and bringing phones into a laboratory is generally discouraged. We communicated this issue to staff, and following a productive discussion, the check-in beacon was relocated outside of the lab. Following this change, we have received no complaints of students struggling to check in at their practical sessions, and the seemingly small adjustment will have translated to better attendance and reduced stress for students while still teaching and maintaining excellent laboratory practice. 

Another recurring point was the desire for a greater sense of community within BLS, which emerged even after the creation of group chats. Many undergraduates still craved opportunities to speak to students in adjacent year groups, while others believed that in-person events could better solidify the feeling of camaraderie. We started to tackle this issue by collaborating with the Lancaster University Biology Society (BioSoc) and raising awareness of live events, which several reps actively attended. The collaboration is still in its early phases, but our announcements have already helped acquaint students with chances to socialise with students sharing similar interests. 

Many other pieces of feedback have been expressed at Student-Staff Committees (SSCs) to inform the design and revision of new modules. We highlighted positive areas, such as discussion forums, which students would love to see continued and expanded upon in the new modules. Current issues, such as those regarding the third-year project, have been raised and considered by staff who plan to make amendments via the CTP.  

Student involvement for the CTP has been a key consideration for BLS, and our team has worked tenaciously alongside staff to collate questions and spread awareness of announcements during this pivotal time. Our ongoing effort to keep students updated has given undergraduates confidence in the upcoming changes, which will allow students to experience modules designed around their desires. 

Early in the academic year, our rep team discussed ways of maintaining strong and effective communication with students. Key aims included ensuring students were familiar with their respective course rep, understood how they could help, and were updated with actions that had been taken in response to feedback. Therefore, we created an Instagram account dedicated to BLS course-related information, as most students engage with the platform on a regular basis. To ensure communication was active, a recognisable and memorable logo was designed and combined with a unique ombré colour scheme that made each post visually appealing to students.  

Additionally, we used posts to introduce all of the BLS course reps with interesting facts about themselves, highlight noteworthy achievements, and regularly share content from the Lancaster University Students’ Union (LUSU) Education Officer, Liz, which ensured students were up-to-date with academic-related news. An active Instagram account has significantly improved communications between students and reps, allowing for far greater levels of engagement and feedback. We also created an email account to provide another way of contacting us, and it has seen success with students using it to ask questions or contact specific reps. 

Despite the challenges faced this year, our team has remained resilient, in large part due to the introduction of deputy reps who have provided support, encouraged co-operation, and overall bolstered the system by a considerable extent. There are still many areas, such as assessment feedback, which we are currently investigating, and it is likely that feedback will only grow after the CTP takes effect. When the next academic year arrives, and new students take on the role of BLS academic reps, we hope that the systems we have developed will empower them to handle any queries. 

Overall, representing our courses has been an immensely rewarding experience. It has been a pleasure to become more actively involved with our cohorts. Working alongside the BLS staff, who have been exceptionally receptive and have gone above and beyond to accommodate their students, has been great; we are incredibly proud of the changes that we implemented together. We have made every effort, alongside our lecturers, to ensure that the best possible changes are implemented, but with the introduction of many new modules, it appears inevitable that at least a few difficulties will arise. However, this year, our team demonstrated the impact student feedback has. Therefore, with enthusiastic students, attentive staff, and a robust student representative team, the BLS student experience is poised to thrive.  

 

From left to right: Jess Thorpe (4th Year MSci BLS Rep and FHM Faculty Rep), Niall Barlow (3rd Year Biology Rep and Undergraduate BLS Department Rep), and Anna Weckert (2nd Year Biology Rep) 

 

From left to right: Anna Langton (1st Year Biochemistry Rep), Lydia Saunders (1st Year Biology Rep), Katherine Burgess (3rd Year Biochemistry Rep), and Harishan Sivakanthan (1st Year Biomedical Science Rep)