Policy and funding challenges, alongside shifting student expectations, are prompting universities to attempt radical restructures of the academic year, but some early adopters of new models are already U-turning after staff complained of higher workloads.
The University of Essex recently attracted ire for its proposed “new academic framework”, which would replace three 10-week terms with three 15-week semesters, theoretically extending annual teaching time to 45 weeks.
Leaders at the institution were quick to justify the proposal as a way of formalising the period over the summer already widely used primarily for postgraduate thesis writing and said it would result in no extra teaching load for most staff.
But academics at Essex and elsewhere remain concerned about encroachments on their research time and summer breaks, especially as universities pivot to offer more flexible study.
