On this page you will find all of the BU policies and procedures that you need to be aware of, including our Student Agreement.

Student Agreement

You can find the information about our rules and regulations in our Student Agreement. You need to know about these as they include important information about what happens if you’re not able to submit an assignment, payment of tuition fees and more. The Student Agreement forms the basis of the contractual relationship between you and us, so please read through this agreement before you apply and when we refer to it at other points in our admissions and enrolment processes.

We will remind you about the student agreement when you accept your offer and register with us, and again when you re-register for a new academic year - you’ll be asked to confirm that you have read, understood and agree to it. Alternative formats are available on request [email protected].

We have made some changes to the Student Agreement and associated rules and regulations for the academic year 2023/24. The summary of key changes to our academic regulations (pdf 177kb) is available to download. This includes changes to our Student Engagement Procedure, which is now called the Student Engagement & Attendance: Policy and Procedure. This sets out additionals ways in which we will collect information about your engagement with your studies, including your attendance at teaching sessions, and use that information to support you to get the most out of your course. It also explains steps you will need to take to confirm your attendance at teaching sessions.

In addition to changes to academic regulations, we have also introduced a new policy and process for managing student tuition fee payment and debt (Student Tuition Fee Payment Management: Policy and Process) in place of the previous Credit Control and Debt Management Policy. This will apply for this academic year, 2023-24.  This sets out a similar standard timeline for our internal debt management process compared to the timings set out in the previous policy. However, we are providing more information about how we identify and manage exceptions to the standard timeline. We have reduced the number of email notifications that will be sent to students about debt, but introducing more face-to-face contact into the process. We think this will provide better opportunities to identify issues you might be facing with payment and support you appropriately. We will no longer be applying suspension of IT systems as a sanction within the debt process.


Other agreements

You may have other contractual arrangements with us, such as arrangements for accommodation or other services that you use while you are at BU – these will be separate arrangements. For more information visit our SportBU and Accommodation pages.

If you are a postgraduate student undertaking a research degree, there are separate terms that relate specifically to your research and your funding. We will explain these when you apply.

You may also have other contractual arrangements with other organisations, such as a sponsor or funder, the NHS if you are on an NHS professional course, the Student Loans Company, accommodation providers or others. You must make sure that you understand these separate arrangements.

Registered students of BU become members of the Students' Union but you have a right to opt out of this membership. If you do not wish to be a member of the Students' Union, you should opt out of membership when you register online, or email the President of the Students' Union. For more information, see the SUBU website.

If you are studying at one of our partners, the main student agreement is between you and the partner. However, some of BU's procedures, such as complaints and academic offences, will apply to you. You may be required to follow the partner's procedure before you can escalate the issue at BU. We have noted this in the Student Agreement where it is relevant.


Student Charter

We've also put together a Student Charter, developed in conjunction with your Students' Union (SUBU), to set out the principles we subscribe to and how we expect everyone who's part of our BU community to behave. It's not legally binding and explains what you can expect the university to do for you, as well as what we expect from our students.

Policies and procedures