Royal Charter

• An increased emphasis on academic freedom - the purposes of a university are research and teaching, and academic freedom is fundamental. A specific provision on the principle of academic freedom is now included within the Charter. In addition, key HR policies now contain the University’s commitment to act in accordance with the principle of academic freedom.
• Statutes have been removed entirely, leaving just a Charter and Ordinances – the University took the view that they add an unnecessary and unhelpful level of complexity. Key provisions from the Statutes – including academic freedom – have been elevated to the Charter itself. Other matters have been moved to the Ordinances or, for detailed matters, will be set out in revised regulations, policies and procedures.
• As a result, Statute XXXIII, which contains disciplinary, ill health, performance management, grievance and redundancy procedures for academic staff, is removed - the requirement to have suitable, fair and reasonable policies governing these matters has been moved to Ordinance B5, with the substance set out in policies. Key differences are:
• One set of policies apply to all staff
• Simplified, faster and less adversarial disciplinary and grievance hearings
• Changes to panels hearing disciplinary and grievance procedures
• Changes to who hears appeals
• Individual procedures for misconduct, ill health and poor performance
• Simplification of the redundancy process to make it more transparent and streamlined

The charter reform project was about bringing the University governance structures up to date. It reflects the modern needs of the University, and will help us achieve our vision for 2026.

Read more in our University Strategy brochure (PDF - 2.6MB)

The University's Charter and Ordinances can be found in the Governance Zone.