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1. Upcoming Deadlines and Key Dates
4th June – Common Awards Webinar: Making ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ for Disabled Students
13th June - Registration to attend the Theological Educators' Conference closes.
11th July: Deadline - CIS Account Holders to complete extension requests. TEI Key contacts will receive an email shortly this week with instructions on how colleagues extend CIS accounts for another year.
16th - 18th July - The Annual Conference for Theological Educators
TEIs are reminded to submit concession requests and change of registration forms (in advance / before changes are made) on an ongoing basis.
Similarly, TEIs are required to submit all student module marks 48hrs after they have been considered at their TEI Board of Examiners.
The 2025/26 calendar can be found here.
2. Durham University Board of Examiners (Overarching)
In preparation for upcoming TEI Boards of Examiners meetings, please see below for the list of documentation/data reports required by the University following each Board:
Confirmed module marks for continuing students (Moodle report V4 January marks ALL Boards) should be returned in January 2026, following all TEI Boards.
If you need any support in relation to using Moodle for Exam Board reports, please contact the Moodle Helpdesk at helpdesk@support.commonawards.org
3. Conversion of Marks
The Common Awards Management Board recently approved a new policy for the marking of summative assessments that don’t use a standard Common Awards assessment criteria grid. This includes any assessments which use quantitative marking – e.g., where the mark given is simply a count of the number of correct answers in a test – which can include for example biblical languages tests or multiple choice tests. Such marking does not directly refer to the qualitative descriptors in Common Awards assessment criteria grids.
This policy has been developed following a request from the Common Awards External Moderator to ensure a consistency in approach to these kinds of assessment.
The new policy requires any TEI which marks any piece of summative assessment other than by using one of the standard Common Awards assessment criteria grids to offer a statement of how the TEI believes this would yield an appropriate overall mark – that is, how the TEI ensures that the mark ultimately given for the work will be comparable to the qualitative descriptors found in the assessment criteria grids. This statement should be shared with the Common Awards Team and would be available to the TEI’s external examiner, ensuring transparency concerning the approach being taken. Equally importantly, the need for a statement will ensure that the relevant tutors have carefully thought through the issues.
The new policy also requires that when conversion is going to be applied to marks – i.e., when the quantitative marks from a test are converted into different marks that sit in the relevant qualitative bands – students should be informed about this in advance. It is important that there is transparency with students over the assessment processes that are being applied to their work.
The full details of the policy can be found here, and should be read in conjunction with the policy on converting test scores into marks.
If the policy applies to any new or existing assessments that your TEI will be offering from 2025-26, we would be grateful if you could provide the relevant statements to us, ideally with your May curriculum development requests (due by 23rd May 2025). Thank you.
4. The Annual Conference of Theological Educators 2025
The 2025 Annual Conference for Theological Educators will be taking place on July 16th – 18th, at Durham University.
*Please note a change in venue*
The conference was originally advertised as taking place in College Court, Leicester. Unfortunately, we recently received notice that the venue was closing down in April, and all future bookings were cancelled.
We have secured an alternative venue at Durham University on the same dates. Due to the short notice, we may not be able to house all delegates within the same college and there may be some short walks (5–10 minutes) between accommodation/dining and teaching venues, but we will have transport available for those with mobility difficulties.
Bookings are open now. Please follow the link to book on to the conference:
Event Booking Details
This conference is FREE* to all Common Awards staff (all core and associate staff who are or expect to be involved in teaching, assessing or administering Common Awards programmes in the designated Common Awards TEIs).
*Travel expenses not included.
This year’s theme is Children, Youth and Theological Education
Our speakers will include
For more information, please visit the Common Awards website conference page
5. Common Awards Student Survey
The 2024 Common Awards Student Survey has been running throughout April/May and closed on Friday 30th May 2025.
The survey, completed by students registered on Common Awards programmes in 2024/25, will be analysed by the Durham team, with TEI-specific results shared with each TEI over the summer.
6. Creating a bank of sample dissertations
TEIs are reminded of the below proposal from the Common Awards Management Board relating to the creation of a bank of sample dissertations.
Creating a bank of sample dissertations
Following a suggestion from an external examiner, the Common Awards Management Board in January 2025 agreed to pursue the creation of a bank of sample dissertations complete with marks and feedback, to be available to Common Awards students and staff, so that
We are asking TEIs to help us put this resource together.
What are we looking for?
We therefore want to create bank of dissertations that:
How can TEIs help?
As TEIs pursue 2025 round of dissertation marking and exam boards, we are asking staff to identify dissertations that, in their judgment, fit the criteria above.
It is up to TEIs how to manage this process. It could be an item on the Exam Board agenda, but it is likely to be more practical to handle it separately.
The crucial point is that, for each dissertation identified, the TEI will need to secure explicit permission from the student and both markers before sending the dissertation on to us.
We are not expecting any one TEI to provide samples for every mark band or every broad subject area. Our hope is that if each TEI provides a small number of candidate dissertations – perhaps no more than one or two – the Common Awards team will be able to choose from amongst them a selection that covers the main bases.
It is important to stress that we don’t simply want to receive first class / distinction-level dissertations. To be helpful to markers seeking to calibrate their marks, we need sample dissertations of a range of different qualities.
What will happen to the dissertations submitted?
The Common Awards team will arrange for each of these marked dissertations to be moderated, by a combination of ULOs and volunteer staff at TEIs different from the ones that submitted the dissertations in question, to ensure that
Once we have our sample checked, we will publish them – with all student, marker and TEI details anonymised – on the Common Awards hub.
7. Common Awards Webinars
Making ‘Reasonable Adjustments’ for Disabled Students
A webinar with Dr Stephen Campbell, Leeds Trinity University
Wednesday 4th June, 2.00pm – 3.30pm
Please use this link to join the webinar, which will be held on Microsoft Teams
About this event
This webinar will provide a chance for TEI staff to learn more about ‘reasonable adjustments’, exploring how our teaching, assessment, and student support can be adapted to provide a better experience for disabled students.
Dr Campbell is the author of Supporting Disabled Students in Higher Education: The Reasonable Adjustments Handbook (Routledge, 2023), an excellent guide to creative and practical responses to the needs of students with a wide range of disabilities. The webinar will provide an opportunity to hear about his work, and then to discuss with him how it might apply in the TEI context.
The webinar is open to teaching and administrative staff at any TEI offering Common Awards programmes. It will be recorded, and the recording made available to TEI staff after the event.
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We are pleased to announce that a recording of a recent webinar is now available online:
Disability and Theology (28th April 2025)
https://youtu.be/KSrS_iVMSPE
8. Student Event – How to use Artificial Intelligence well
Building on and learning from the student conferences of 2024, the Durham University Common Awards team have hosted/will host two identical Saturday/24-hour student conferences in 2025 on the topic of ‘How to use Artificial Intelligence well’
One event in the south has taken place:
Sarum College, Salisbury: 14th/15th March 2025
The next event will be held in the north:
Wilson Carlisle Centre (Church Army), Sheffield: 5th/6th September 2025
Canon Dr Gary Wilton has written to TEIs with further details of how to nominate students for these events.
Each TEI is invited to nominate two of their students to attend. If you do not expect to take up one or both or your places, please would you let us know asap so that we can offer the unused places to other TEIs. Should we be oversubscribed we will accept the nominations on a first come first served basis.
The purpose of the conference is to enable students to benefit from an inter-TEI learning experience on a contemporary and fast-developing topic. TEIs may nominate candidates studying for any Common Awards programme, and we hope that you will nominate the students who you believe will benefit most from the opportunity
Common Awards will meet all conference costs including accommodation and meals. Funding will also be available to help with travel costs where needed. Where a nominee needs help with travel costs please would you consult us about the reimbursement process in advance.
9. Non-standard Admissions
TEI admissions policies outline the requirements (academic or otherwise) that candidates must meet in order to be admitted to a Common Awards programme at that TEI. If a TEI wishes to admit a student who does not meet these requirements, the admissions application must also be processed as a concession request and considered by the Common Awards Management Board.
The concession form and any supporting documentation must be submitted to Durham as early as possible before the student can be formally admitted and attend teaching.
Evidence submitted by the TEI in support of the concession should normally include:
If the concessions request is approved, TEIs should register the student via the Programme Registration process as normal.
Action required:
- please submit concessions in advance of the new academic year for any non-standard admissions.
- Please could TEIs ensure that all concessions contain the student's Moodle record (before any requested changes have been made in Moodle).
10. Consultation – Graduation (Congregation) Timing
A reminder that we would welcome responses from TEIs, staff and students (noting that not all awards are eligible to attend a Congregation ceremony), on the timing by using the short consultation form by 3rd June 2025. A summary of responses will be considered by the Common Awards Management Board after this time.
11. Consultation – Equality, Diversity and Inclusion questions on the Annual Self-Evaluation form
Following the Common Awards Management Board, the Common Awards Team are now in a position to share with you the consultation form for the revision of the EDI section questions on the Annual Self Evaluation form.
The purpose of this was to revise the Equality/Equity, Diversity and Inclusion section with the hope of simplifying the form without taking away the importance of EDI, cutting down on repetition, and to encourage TEIs to draw on Dr Selina Stone’s Toolkit to help them answer the questions. More information can be found on the website.
We would therefore be grateful if staff could provide any feedback you have using the short consultation form found at the bottom of the page by 3rd June 2025. A summary of responses will be considered by the Common Awards Management Board after this time.
12. Academic Conventions
Some TEIs point students to a set of ‘Academic Conventions’ for Common Awards, based on the MHRA Style Guide, and published many years ago on our website. There is no requirement on TEIs to use these conventions, but they are there as a convenient resource for those that do want to use them. In 2024 the 4th edition of the MHRA Style Guide was released, bringing in some significant changes – most noticeably dropping the requirement that place of publication be included in the bibliographic details for books. We have now updated the Common Awards Academic Conventions to bring them into line with the MHRA 4th edition. The updated version is available for download here.
13. Diversifying the Common Awards Curriculum project
We are delighted to be able to draw your attention to the new webpages for the 'Diversifying the Common Awards Curriculum' project!
On these pages, you will find:
We are in the process of developing these webpages, so please look out for further additions and developments over the coming months.
14. Assessed Conversations and Oral Presentations
Please note that we have recently updated the guidelines for Assessed Conversations and Oral Presentations to clarify how much students can be expected to refer to primary and secondary literature – not to set a uniform rule for this, but to advise staff to be clear about their expectations, and students to keep these expectations in mind as they prepare.
15. Staffing Update
We are delighted to announce that, following a recent recruitment process, Rebecca Stephenson has been appointed to the role of Assistant Quality Manager on a permanent basis.
16. Further Information
The full 2024/2025 academic calendar is available here.
With thanks,
The Common Awards Team
