QMUL is a diverse community of over 25,000 students and staff. With a
variety of faiths and beliefs represented on campus, we are committed
to tolerance, understanding and co-operation, as well as to ensuring as
far as possible that our policies are consistent across all needs. Many
religions and beliefs require their members to pray at specific times
during the day, or have special festivals or spiritual observance days.
We recognise therefore that students at QMUL often strike a balance
between their educational and religious commitments.
One of QMUL’s fundamental aims is
to provide an education that is judged internationally to be of the
highest quality. It would be both impractical and inconsistent with our
aims as a university to suspend teaching for reasons of religious
observance, but we will accommodate students’ religious commitments
where we reasonably can do so. This may include providing learning
materials (potentially including QReview recordings) online and
permitting students to attend classes at different times where there is
availability.
Students are expected to stay engaged and up-to-date with their
studies throughout their time at QMUL. Schools and institutes should
make their expectations for attendance and submission of coursework
clear to students at the beginning of their studies, and students should
inform themselves beforehand about the potential implications of
missing learning and teaching activities. Students must also inform
their school or institute beforehand if they intend to miss any
teaching. We will take religious commitments into reasonable account
when reviewing students’ attendance, but we expect students to plan
their studies so that they can submit coursework on time.
The following procedures apply in the event that a special festival
or spiritual observance day would result in absence from a scheduled
assessment.
In
the case of an in-class test, students may request permission in
advance from their Head of School or Institute to be absent on that
occasion. The Head of School or Institute will consider whether
reasonable adjustments can be made, for example by permitting late
submission or rearranging the test. It is important to submit requests
well in advance, in case reasonable adjustments cannot be made.
Students may notify QMUL of any
special festivals or spiritual observance days that fall during formal
examination periods by submitting the relevant form by the deadline
specified in the Academic Calendar. We will accommodate such requests
where we reasonably can do so. We are not able to make allowances for
routine religious observance during formal examination periods.