Departmental FAQs

Departmental FAQs for Module Selection

FAQ Sections:

Curriculum Data Maintenance and Diet FAQs Log out
Scope of Continuing Student Module Selection
Student Questions
Programme Changes and Interruptions
Departmental Approval and Amend of Student Module Selections

Curriculum Data Maintenance and Diet FAQs:

How does the auto-approval of module selections work?

As part of Curriculum Data Maintenance: Programmes, within a diet element for optional and elective collections, deparrments can indicate whether the modules in the diet element should be automatically parent and teaching department approved when students select. Departments should only tick this box – to allow automatic approval of module selections – if they have permission from the teaching department to automatically approval. For example, if you are in the Economics department and you are doing the checking of the diet for year 3 Economics, if a diet element contains Economics, Management Science and Statistics modules, you must have permission from the Management Science and Statistics departments to permit automatic approvals if students on year 3 Economics programme select modules from this diet element. If you do not have permission from the teaching departments, you must not tick the ‘Allow automatic departmental approval of module selections’.

SLT will also run lists of diet elements which are auto-approved and circulate to teaching departments to ensure teaching approval is acquired prior to the opening of continuing student and new student module selection.

Which reports can be downloaded to list all modules and which report is best for checking Programme Diets?

Run the Programme Diet Status report in the Curricular Management section of Portico to see when SLT have updated diets with changes supplied on the Departmental Programme Diet spreadsheets.

What is the process for pre-requisites for module set up?

The process for pre-requisites set-up is by requesting them via the ‘Departmental Programme Diet Spreadsheets’ on your Faculty and Student Records MS Team in the Programme and Module Hub for 2022. There is also a list of existing requisite rules on the Team. If any of the existing rules need changing or new rules need to be set-up, please add them to the ‘Departmental Programme Diet Spreadsheets’ on Teams. SLT will then set them up in the system. Right now, this cannot be done via Portico.

For our modules, the pre-requisites are based on a student having previously taken certain modules. How will be pre-requisites work this year?

If modules must be taken before another module may be taken, these can be set-up in SITS/Portico. Please contact SLT for further assistance.

What is the deadline for Programme Amendment Forms (PAFs) - we have to replace a compulsory module with a new module?

The deadline for PAFs was in November 2021 but we can still work around late requests to diets and further changes to compulsory modules in diets can be added to the ‘Departmental Programme Diet Spreadsheets’ on your Faculty and Student Records MS Team in the Programme and Module Hub for 2022.

Why do we have to duplicate assessment changes for 2022/23 on Module Amendment Forms (MAFs) and on the Assessment Change for 2022/23 spreadsheets?

You don’t need to duplicate assessment changes on MAFs and on the Assessment Change spreadsheets. Assessment changes for 2022/23 should be provided on the Assessment Change spreadsheets. If you have detailed assessment changes on MAFs submitted by 30 November 2021, SLT will update these on the Assessment Change spreadsheets. For MAFs submitted after 30 November 2021, departments should ensure these are updated on the Assessment Change spreadsheets which can be found on your Programme and Module Hub for 2022/23.

The continuing student diet is incorrect for my programmes. What do I do?

Please log your issue with complete details of what is incorrect on the Student Records and SLT Enquiry Log on your Faculty and Student Records MS Team.

Why does my student not have the option to change their optional and/or elective modules in Portico?: Students who had department intervention during the April/May module selection period will not be able to request changes to their optional and/or elective modules in mid July. This is so that the amendments made by the department are not overridden by student requested changes. In cases where students cannot change their module selections because of department intervention, students should request these changes directly to the department via email. Departments can then action these changes by using the Department Module Amend function in Portico.

Scope of Continuing Student Module Selection:

Who is included?

All taught students continuing for another year of study in 2023/24

When do iBSc students select?

If they are a continuing UCL MBBS student, 3 April 2023 to 12 May 2023. If they are an incoming new student, late August / September 2023 along with other new students.

Does the same earlier timeline apply to PGT programme please?

Yes. All continuing students so years 2 part-time and years 2-5 flexible PG students are included in early module selection.

Will affiliate choices be fed in, esp if requirements of home institution are prescriptive?

Affiliates will select as new students do from late August / early September 2023. There is a Working Group underway with how to deal with affiliates and their selections in the long term.

When do students with a January start date select modules?

Continuing students will be asked to select modules on Portico for the academic year January 2024 to December 2024 at the beginning of January 2024.

If module amendments are required to January start student records for teaching term from September to December 2023 (or any other period), departments can do these in the ‘Departmental Student Module Amend’ container on Portico or should use their Student Records and SLT Enquiry Log for assistance. If compulsory modules need to be added to student records for September to December 2023, please add student and module details to your Student Records and SLT Enquiry Log.

New students starting their programme of study in January 2024 will be asked to select modules on Portico for the academic year January 2024 to December 2024 at the beginning of January 2024.

When do continuing students re-enrol?

Mid / late August 2023. They will select for 2023/24 3 April 2023 to 12 May 2023.

When will LSA (late summer assessment) students be able to select for 2023/24?

3 April to 12 May 2023. There will be no students in LSA at this point as boards will not have taken place so all continuing students will select. If, after LSA, students are not progressing, there will be a mechanism to remove their 'early' selections and re-instate any repeat modules.

What happens if students do not select from 3 April to 12 May 2023?

They will have to select end of July but this is not being widely advertised to students to encourage students to select from 3 April to 12 May 2023.

Will the continuing students be able to request/make module changes on Portico or will this be manual via email?

Yes - students will be able to make changes to optional and elective selections from 3 April to 12 May 2023 and request amendments to selections from 17 July until 28 July 2023.

How can students request amendments to exisiting modules or re-select a replacement if they've been rejected/declined from another module?: Students can request amendments to selections or choose an alternative if they have been rejected/declined via portico. However, students can only choose on Portico from their diet element. If they want to choose a module from outside the available selections or are having difficulties choosing on Portico, you can add/delete modules in the 'Departmental Student Module Amend' container. If you have any problems, please use your Student Records and SLT Enquiry Log for assistance.

How do students know the reason for rejection?: When you choose a reason for rejection in the 'Student Module Selection-Approvals' container from the drop-down, the drop-down reason shows as a hover in MyStudies for students. If you add any extra reasons in the free text container, this does not show for students.

When will affiliate students select modules?: Affiliate students will be asked to select modules from September 2023 when they have completed either pre/full enrolment.

Student Questions

When does module selection open?

Module selection opens from 3 April to 12 May 2023.

The link a student has received via email is not working - how can they access module selection?

They can access module registration by logging into Portico and navigating to the My Studies tab at the top of the page. Visit the My Modules section which contains:

a link to the module registration task (if they have modules to select)
a link to the UCL module catalogue
details of their current module selections

Please note: If they are on an all compulsory programme, their modules will be automatically added to the My Modules section of Portico.

Student can’t see the link to select preferred modules, what should they do?

They will not have access to the module selection link if:

all of their modules for 2023/24 are compulsory (i.e. they do not need to select any modules). However, they should be able to view their compulsory modules for 2023-24 by scrolling down My Modules section.
they have already submitted their module selections for the year. However, they can make changes to optional and elective modules up to 12 May 2023. They will be able to request amendments to selections once again from 17 July 2023.

If the above do not apply to students who are raising queries with you, please log an issue on your Student Records and SLT Enquiry Log.

A student has submitted their preferred modules but want to make a change before the deadline. How can they do this?

Students can make changes by logging into Portico and navigating to the My Studies tab from 3 April until 12 May 2023.  We know that some students may need to change their modules later in the year. In some circumstances it may be possible to request a change to their module selection in mid-July. We will do our best to support students to make alternative selections where needed. However, please bear in mind that it will be harder for students to secure their place because all initial allocations will be complete.  Further guidance on how students can request changes to selections from mid-July will be provided for students in due course.

What happens if a student needs to amend their module selection after the deadline?

They can make amendments to optional and elective modules up to 12 May 2023. After this, they will be able to request amendments to selections from mid-July.

A student has received an email about continuing student module selection but will have left next year. What should they do?

Please place this on the Student Records and SLT Enquiry Log with their details and a member of the Student Records Team will investigate.

A modular-flexible student doesn’t know if they want to take any modules next year. What should they do?

We suggest students submit their preferred selections and they will be able to change them from mid-July 2023 or request for them to be removed if they choose not to study next year.

Programme Changes and Interruptions

Please refer to the Programme Changes and Interruptions webpage for more information.

Departmental Approval and Amend of Student Module Selections

Is there a timeline for staff for the module selection approvals process to approve / reject selections made in early module selection (ie continuing student module selections)?: 3 April 2023 to end of July 2023.
When does the ‘Departmental Student Module Amend’ and ‘Student Module Selections – Approvals’ open so for 2023/24 selections?: 3 April 2023. If you need to amend students selections before this or the diet is wrong, please use your Student Records and SLT Enquiry Log which can be found on your Faculty and Student Records MS Team.
How can I see what students see in Module Selection?: Log in as yourself to Portico (ie staff log-in) > Student Module Selection > Log-in as a student. Then you can enter the student number and log-in as the student.