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1. Upcoming Deadlines and Key Dates
2nd November: Deadline for TEIs to submit campus card photographs (for further information on photograph formatting, please see the following page: Campus Cards - Durham University)
8th November: Deadline for submitting an expression of interest to join staff development course delivered by Durham Centre for Academic Development (DCAD)
27th November: Deadline - TEIs to submit Annual Self-Evaluation Documentation
30th November: Deadline: TEIs to submit changes of registration (to be captured in the Census)
48 hours after TEI Board of Examiners - TEIs to submit all completing student module marks considered at the TEI Board of Examiners (if applicable)
1st December: Census Date : TEIs to submit Moodle census snapshot report
1st December: DU Overarching Board of Examiners (Winter)
Early December: TEIs asked to circulate information on the Common Awards Management Board (CAMB) Student Representative nomination/election process.
TEIs are reminded to submit concession requests and change of registration forms on an ongoing basis.
2. Winter Congregation 2027
Students
Students eligible for graduation (those who have successfully completed the BA, MA, Postgraduate Diploma or Postgraduate Certificate) should now have been invited to attend the graduation ceremony at 12 noon on 7th January 2027, at Durham Cathedral. Registration closes on 7th December 2026.
TEI Staff
Members of staff in TEIs are also welcome to attend the Common Awards graduation ceremony; the staff attendance registration form is available at the following link, this has also been shared via email with TEI Key Contacts:
Common Awards Staff - Congregation - 7th January 2027 – Fill in form
Registration closes on Monday 30 November 2026.
Academic Procession
Members of staff in TEIs who hold an undergraduate degree are eligible to participate in the academic procession for the Common Awards students. If you are interested in this, please indicate on the staff attendance registration form.
Live Streaming
If you are unable to attend in person but would like to watch the ceremony, there will be a live streaming service which can be found here
Common Awards Celebration Event
A Celebration Event will be hosted at St John’s College, which incorporates Cranmer Hall, following the graduation ceremonies at Durham Cathedral. St John’s College, Durham University, is a 5-minute walk from the Cathedral where the ceremonies will be held.
The event will allow students to meet with representatives from the Common Awards Team and the Ministry Development Team, whilst also celebrating the graduating students from all TEIs.
There will be drinks and canapés for students and staff. Students and staff can register their attendance via the registration process.
3. Invoices and Census
TEIs are asked to follow the below process in preparation for the 2026/27 census:
We will then run the checking processes against our Banner data. We will work on the assumption that the Moodle data in your snapshot is correct but will liaise with you over any discrepancies until the final numbers have been confirmed with you. You will not be charged for any students who are DM or WD on 1st December according to your Moodle snapshot, and we will honour all changes sent to us before 1st December. In the unlikely event that a student is correctly DM or WD in Banner on 1st December, but incorrectly RE in Moodle, you will be given the opportunity to correct this in Moodle and resend the report. Students completing at our December overarching Board will be made SC in Banner after 1st December, and these students will not be included in the census.
Queries and confirmation of numbers will be sent to TEIs week commencing Monday 4 January 2027.
Any new registration changes sent to us after 30th November won’t be actioned until the census numbers are finalised.
As per the Standard Validation Contract, the University intends to increase the validation and per capita student fees in line with inflation. We will confirm with TEIs the rate of inflation in due course.
4. Module Registration
TEIs are reminded to please send us the additional reports from Moodle for Module Registration. These reports are entitled, ‘V6 – Module Enrolment (programme name) all’ and should be downloaded and sent to us as .html files. Please use ‘ZendTo’ to share these documents securely with the Common Awards Team.
5. Board of Examiner Submissions
The next Overarching Board of Examiners is due to be held on 1st December 2026.
Please note that the Team will be working to tight timescales for this Board. We therefore wish to remind TEIs that it is absolutely paramount that TEIs submit completing student modules marks 48 hours after they have been considered at their TEI Board of Examiners. Please do send these earlier if you are able to do so.
TEIs are asked to ensure that all appropriate checks on the data are undertaken before sharing the data with the Common Awards Team to reduce the number of queries. It is also important that a staff member with full knowledge of the students’ records is available at the TEI in the weeks following the board, to resolve any queries.
TEIs are reminded that Boards of Examiners must ensure that the following is submitted to Durham in line with the deadlines in published guidance and the Common Awards Calendar:
Further information on the documents TEIs must submit following their Board of Examiners is available here.
6. TEI Attendance – Durham Board of Examiners
TEIs are reminded that they are very welcome to send a representative from their TEI Board of Examiners (normally the Chair) to observe the meetings of the overarching Board. Up to three TEI BoE representatives may attend each board. This can be a good way for TEIs to discover more about how the overarching Board works, and to see how we handle decisions about their students.
The next meeting of the Board is due to be held online on 1st December from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. Please contact the team if a representative from your TEI Board of Examiners wishes to attend this meeting.
7. ASE Documentation
As in previous years, we will schedule individual virtual meetings with TEIs in the Spring to discuss and reflect on the information provided in Annual Self-Evaluation submissions. This year these meetings will be chaired by your ULO.
Following discussions with the Ministry Development Team, it has also been agreed that a member of the Ministry team will also attend these meetings where the TEI trains Church of England ministers, to provide a more co-ordinated response to ASE submissions. If you feel it is more appropriate for your TEI to have two separate meetings then please let us know when we begin to arrange meetings.
The Common Awards Team will be in touch to organise a convenient time for these meetings following TEI submissions of ASEs.
The deadline for the submissions of Annual Self Evaluation forms is 27th November. You can find the most recent version of the forms on our Templates and Forms webpage. Please submit sections A and B to David Hanson in the Ministry Development Team. Following feedback from TEIs, TEIs will be invited to provide permission for Section A submissions to be shared with the Common Awards team.
8. TEI BoE and CAMC
TEIs are reminded to forward dates of their TEI Management Committees and Boards of Examiners meetings for 2026-27 to the Common Awards Team at their earliest convenience.
We would also like to remind TEIs to send TEI Boards of Examiners Membership Lists at their earliest convenience.
9. Staff Development - University Teaching: Core Skills
Durham University’s Centre for Academic Development (DCAD) offer staff development opportunities for staff in our partner TEIs. Please visit our web page for details Common Awards Staff: Staff Development - Durham University
If you are interested in participating in this year’s development opportunities, you must have a Durham IT account to be able to complete the expression of interest form.
To get an account, complete the CIS New Registration Form (which can be found on this webpage Templates and Forms - Durham University under ‘Resources for Staff’) and email it to common.awards@durham.ac.uk.
The Common Awards team will contact you once your account has been set up.
Once you have a Durham University email, please complete the expression of interest form if you wish to join the PRP.
The deadline for submitting an expression of interest for this year is 8 November 2026.
10. TEI Forum
The TEI Forum will take place on Tuesday 10th November online. Further information will be circulated to members shortly.
11. Staffing at TEIs
Please could we remind TEIs of the following when they are considering making new appointments:
More information can be found here Staffing at TEIs - Durham University
12. Further Information
The full 2026/2027 academic calendar is available here.
With thanks,
Common Awards Team
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