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UCL Arena for Lecturers on Probation

Professional development for Lecturers on probation.

If you are a Lecturer or Associate Lecturer on probation, and need to gain a teaching qualification in order to complete your probationary requirements, UCL Arena for Lecturers on Probation (ALP) is for you. ALP was formerly known as Arena Two.

The course aims to prepare you to teach confidently and effectively at UCL, to enable you to develop in your teaching-related role and to help you make a successful application for application for AdvanceHE Fellowship (FHEA).

It also welcomes you into a community of colleagues interested in exploring the relationships between student education and research and asking questions such as:

  • How can I create meaningful assessments that challenge students?
  • How can I provide helpful feedback to students?
  • What does it mean to be a good personal tutor?
  • Who do I contact if I have concerns about a student's well-being?
  • What is ChangeMakers and what does a student-staff partnership approach entail?

Course format and how to sign up for ALP

There are five ALP cohorts for the 2023-24 academic year:

ALP Cohort A, Term 1, Mon 9 October - Mon 4 December 2023, 16 hours over 8 sessions
This cohort is no longer taking bookings

ALP Cohort B, Term 1, Wed 11 October - Wed 6 December 2023, 16 hours over 8 sessions
This cohort is no longer taking bookings

ALP Cohort C, Term 2, Mon 15 January - Mon 11 March 2024, 16 hours over 8 sessions
This cohort is no longer taking bookings

ALP Cohort D, Term 2, Wed 17 January - Wed 13 March 2024, 16 hours over 8 sessions
This cohort is no longer taking bookings

ALP Cohort E, Term 3, Mon 23 April - Wed 16 May 2024, 16 hours over 8 sessions
Sessions 1 to 3 (in-person): 23, 25 & 30 Apr 2024, 2-4pm
Sessions 4 & 5 (online): 2 & 7 May 2024, 2-4pm
Sessions 6 to 8 (in-person): 9, 14 & 16 May 2024, 2-4pm
Book here (The cohort is now full so you would be joining a waiting list only. We will set new cohorts and dates for the 2024-25 academic year in Summer 2024)

Join the Arena Microsoft Teams page for updates on newly released workshops or courses.

If you have any questions or have any issues signing-up please email arenacentre.probation@ucl.ac.uk

Exemptions from ALP

Staff with three years full time teaching experience and who have undertaken relevant professional development activities may be entitled to exemption from attending the ALP course. You can also find out more about exemption here UCL Induction and Probation Procedures.

If you are in this situation, you may instead be able to apply for HEA Fellowship directly through Arena Fellowship.

If you already have a HEA Fellowship you are also able to apply for exemption from attending the course.

  • To apply for an exemption from ALP, complete this Microsoft Form (you must have a UCL login to access this) and we will review your request. 

If your exemption is approved, we invite you to join a small cohort of experienced educators who are new to their current role at UCL. This consists of around 8 people on probation sharing their experiences together and with an Arena tutor during four 2-hour sessions in Arena. There is no set curriculum for this but we will invite speakers to present on topics that you are particularly interested in (topics from last year include: ungrading, students as partners and eugenics).

Along the way you will also be introduced to Senior Fellowship (SFHEA) and how to apply for it at UCL.

We are currently planning two cohorts for this pilot course, but this is subject to change depending on numbers:

Pilot, Cohort A: 17 Oct 2023, 5 Dec 2023, 30 Jan 2024 & 12 Mar 2024 (This cohort is no longer taking bookings)
Pilot, Cohort B: 16 Jan 2024, 6 Feb 2024, 5 Mar 2024 & 7 May 2024 (This cohort is no longer taking bookings)