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UCL Annual Review

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Innovative education and student support

We inspire our students at every stage of their UCL careers and equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to become leaders in chosen fields – to disrupt, challenge and change the world for the better. We see all our students and staff as partners in the creation of knowledge, and whose opinions and values shape the innovative learning culture that makes UCL unique.

UCL achieves the University Mental Health Charter Award

UCL is among the first five universities to qualify for the University Mental Health Charter Award, which recognises its commitment to continuous improvement in mental health and wellbeing.  

University Mental Health Charter logo
The University Mental Health Charter Award scheme, run jointly by Universities UK and the charity Student Minds, aims to encourage universities to develop a whole-university approach to mental health. The Charter Award is a voluntary accreditation scheme that more than 40 universities have signed up for and which supports institutions to understand their areas of strength and weakness in mental health and wellbeing, and assess their progress. 

 

The assessment team noted there is a “genuine commitment from the leadership team, managers and staff to honestly identify problems and to seek evidence based, strategic approaches, through cultural change”. 

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UCL Integrated Legal Advice Clinic wins Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year award 

UCL ILAC winning a Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year award in 2022. The team of nine people are standing on stage smiling, with one of them holding the award.
The UCL Integrated Legal Advice Clinic (UCL iLAC) won the award for Legal Aid Firm/Not for Profit Agency at this year’s Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards (LALY). The awards are recognition of the vital work undertaken by legal aid lawyers. The ceremony, run by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, took place on Tuesday 12 July in London and was attended by 600 guests, with Baroness Helena Kennedy presenting the awards. UCL iLAC is the first university law clinic to receive this award. 

 

UCL iLAC is run by the UCL Centre for Access to Justice (CAJ) at UCL Laws. Based in Stratford, the clinic offers members of the local East London community legally aided and free legal advice on all aspects of social welfare law. It is the only university law clinic with a legal aid contract. UCL Laws students volunteer at the clinic, assisting staff on all aspects of cases, including advocacy, while learning about legal aid and access to justice. Working on real life cases provides an inspirational learning experience for students, understanding the significant problems faced by those struggling to access justice and providing the opportunity for students to make a real difference to the local community.  

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Bartlett Alternative launched

Launched in November 2022, Bartlett Alternative is a new creative hub sharing diverse work and references used and created by staff and students across The Bartlett. Through this innovative hub of learning references and resources, we are challenging the conventional and the traditional, and seeking to diversify knowledge and experience through an interdisciplinary and intersectional lens. It is a collective thinking and sharing space which celebrates and amplifies underrepresented voices, narratives, and agendas.

Bartlett Alternative was created by The Bartlett Faculty Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) team, Vice Dean of EDI Sara Shafiei in collaboration with Isaac Nanabeyin Simpson (Lecturer, Teaching), and the Bartlett EDI Working Group. We would like especially thank all staff and students who have contributed to the platform.

Student project by Mahika Gautam: Mr Dennis Scrivens this one is for you. Image shows A memorial for the Bengal Famine, outside the British Museum (Photo credit M. Gautam, 2021)

Staff project by Adriana Allen, Cassidy Johnson, Emmanuel Osuteye & Rita Lambert: Urban Africa Risk Knowledge (Urban ARK): Disrupting risk accumulation through enhanced local capacities across the Global South. Image shows disaster management committees established in communities in Freetown, Sierra Leone (photo credit A. Allen, 2018)

Student project by Arinjoy Sen: Rituals of Resistance: Narratives of critical inhabitation. Image shows 'Negotiating Narratives of Resistance'. The project utilises the apparatus of the jatra or travelling Bengali folk theatre to disseminate the Sundarban peoples’ narrative of oppression and their resistance (Credit Arinjoy Sen, 2021).

Student project by Isaac Nanabeyin Simpson: An Architecture between Cultures: The Highland’s Council. Image shows The Fall of the Vessel. Computer Generated Image. (Photo credit I. Simpson, 2020)

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VR tech brings a UCL science lab to schools in UK and India

Student avatars interact in a VR room. The robot-like avatars hover in a virtual recreation of a lab with the UCL logo on the wall, each avatar's name is accompanied by the name of the student.
New virtual reality (VR) technology created by UCL academics is opening up cutting-edge sustainable science to school children in the UK and India who might otherwise never have the opportunity to access it. 

Dr Stephen Hilton (UCL School of Pharmacy) is working with a multidisciplinary team across the two countries to bring global university labs to pupils, enabling them to conduct virtual scientific experiments and learn from each other. 

Through a £100,000 grant from the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), 14 scientists across nine Indian institutions and five UK universities formed the India-UK Innovation & Sustainability Chemistry Consortium (ISCC), aiming to tackle important global sustainability challenges and inspire and train the next generation of chemistry leaders through novel outreach programmes. 

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UCL launches Gender Expression Fund

A view of UCL's Portico displaying the trans flag.
As part of its commitment to support trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming students, UCL has launched a new fund to help with the purchase of items that will make them more comfortable with their gender presentation. The Gender Expression Fund was set up at the request of UCL’s LGBTQ+ Student Network in recognition that a disconnect between gender identity and appearance can be a significant source of stress and anxiety for people who are gender diverse. The Fund offers UCL students up to £100 to buy gender affirming products such as clothing, beauty products or travel for medical or therapy appointments. 
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Images

  • University Mental Health Charter Award logo credit: University Mental Health Charter 
  • Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards photo credit: @Lalyawards, Legal Aid Practitioners Group 
  • Student avatars interact in a VR room created by UCL's Dr Stephen Hilton. Credit: Stephen Hilton
  • UCL Portico displaying the trans flag, photo credit Emily Wang/UCL Photo Soc

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