Student Engagement

Edinburgh Theological Seminary has a Student Representative Council (SRC) of which all students are members.

The SRC President liaises regularly with administration and management staff, the Principal in particular.

Annually, a Staff-Student Liaison Committee meets where all the students are able to raise issues to do with their learning experience and the study environment.

Course Quality Questionnaires are completed by students, anonymously, toward the end of each Course. The link to the questionnaire is now emailed to each student individually indicating that completion is required. This helps to gain a wider ranges of student responses to consider.

On behalf of the University, ETS reviews these processes and questionnaires through the Board of Studies on which a representative from the University sits and through the University’s approved External Examiners, who report to the Board of Examiners and to the University.

Thus, students are engaged at various levels:

• Course and Programme Feedback.  Anonymous course quality and student satisfaction questionnaires.
• Joint Board Student Representation (Validating Body). The SRC President (or his deputy) is also a member of the Joint Board of the University of Glasgow and ETS which consists of representatives from the University and the Seminary.
• Seminary Board Representation (Governance). The SRC President is also a member of the Seminary Board which among other matters appoints and monitors teaching and administrative staff at ETS. Moreover, this also ensures key student engagement in the development of the Five-Year-Plan which is reviewed in January of each year by the Seminary Board.
• Senate Student Representation (Academic Learning, Teaching and Strategy). The SRC President is a member of Senate, though when discussion of student data takes place, he/she withdraws. Their involvement on the Senate means that they are consulted on key areas such as Admissions, Programme Design and Development, Learning and Teaching, Assessment, Resources and Facilities and Programme Monitoring and Review.
• Board of Studies (Monitoring and Review of Programmes). The SRC President and student representation to reflect each cohort of the student body (usually 4-5 students) are members of the Board of Studies and are expected to consult with, and communicate on behalf of, the entire student body.

ETS is financed through and protected by the Board of Trustees of the Free Church of Scotland who have undertaken to ensure financial security for five years following any unforeseen or catastrophic change. 

Our partnership with the University of Glasgow is such that, in the event of a withdrawal of validation, the University will ensure their wellbeing and academic security for the duration of their courses.  

Together these individual structures combine to ensure that students’ interests are protected at ETS.

For fuller detail, please our Student Partnership Policy.