Student Support
The RAD is committed to supporting students at all stages of the application process and whilst on a programme. For more information on how we support students, please email studentsupport@rad.org.uk for advice and guidance when applying.
Registration
Registration occurs at the beginning of each of our programmes of study and is when you formally become a member of our student body.
On-Site Programmes
On the first day of study, you will need to attend a Registration session to complete the following:
- Confirmation of funding – you should bring the relevant letter issued by the Student Loans Company which confirms your Tuition Fee Loan or other evidence of payment. If for any reason there is a delay with your payment then do let us know so that we can help you.
- Completion of your registration form and other declarations – you will be given a Registration Form to fill out and ensure that all information is accurate.
- Collect a locker key – you will be issued with a locker key to enable you to store your clothes and other items when taking part in practical sessions.
- Library card – you will be issued with a Library card. Please send a suitable photograph to Registry in .jpg format before the programme start.
Distance Learning Programmes
Before the programme start, you will be sent by Registry a Registration Form to fill out and ensure that all information is accurate. Students commencing their studies at FHEQ Level 5 or 6 will be sent a Module Option Form by the Programme Officer to choose their module options.
Accommodation for full-time students
The RAD does not have any student accommodation onsite at RAD headquarters. However NEW from September 2024, the RAD has partnered with urbanest to give students access to an allotted number of purpose-built student accommodation in Battersea. Overlooking the River Thames and the iconic chimneys of Battersea Power Station, this brand-new site provides sector leading student accommodation with easy access to central London and RAD’s headquarters.
With a zone 1 tube station minutes from the front door (Battersea Power Station on the Northern Line), and plenty of hospitality, retail and activities on your doorstep, our Battersea student accommodation is part of a thriving new neighbourhood. It is also a building leading the charge for sustainability through its Passivhaus construction, which delivers energy-efficient heating and cooling throughout the year.
Click here to find out more and book your room.
We can also give students a list of places to stay. Please contact the Admissions Officer on +44 (0)20 7326 8086 or e-mail faculty@rad.org.uk for more information.
Intensive Study Period (ISP) – Places to stay
Some distance learning students may be required to attend a short period of intensive study at the RAD in London. The following list of local accommodation includes hotels, B&Bs and hostels which you may be helpful.
Assessments
Each programme of study identifies learning outcomes, i.e. subject knowledge and understanding as well as cognitive, practical and key/transferable skills, which you will have gained by the time you complete the module or programme of study successfully. Over the course of your studies, all learning outcomes are assessed in the final, summative module assignments. Some modules have more than one assignment. For instance, a practical teaching module may require you to teach a lesson at your placement school as one assessment element and, as the second assessment element, to submit a portfolio consisting of teaching materials, resources and other documentation. Both assessment elements and their individual marks contribute to the final module mark that will show on your transcript.
We set the assessment tasks for each year of study and provide you with an Assessment and Examinations Booklet for the relevant semester or year, which you can access through your student log-in to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). The booklet gives you all the relevant information on the assignment(s) for each module, such as the type of assessment, the submission deadline and what assessment criteria or competencies you should show in the assignment. You will also find the names of the tutors who mark the assignment. If a module has more than one assessment element, we give you the percentage that the mark of each element contributes to the final module mark. We also tell you how you would submit the assignment to us and which specific learning outcomes are assessed by each of the assessment criteria. For programmes of study that have a pass or fail outcome to a module, rather than a numerical module mark, the Assessment and Examinations Booklet will list the competencies that you need to demonstrate.
In addition to the information on assessment for each programme in the Teacher Training with the RAD you may want to have a look at the principles and processes that the Faculty of Education follows when marking student work. They can be found in the Code of Practice on the Assessment of Students’ Work within Taught Programmes under Policies, Procedures & Regulations.
Once you are enrolled on your programme of study, you can discuss and arrange reasonable adjustments to learning, teaching and assessment with the Student Support Officer and Programme Manager should you require adjustments due to a documented disability.
Re-sitting assessments
If you are not successful in achieving a module at first attempt, you are normally given one further opportunity to pass the assessment element(s) that you have failed. You do not have to retake assessment elements that you passed at first attempt. Programme-specific re-sit arrangements are in the Programme Regulations, which you can access through your student login to the VLE. Most programmes limit the number of module credits that you can re-sit.
The timing of the re-sit will depend on the programme of study you are registered for. For some programmes, the re-sit takes place in the Summer Re-assessment Period, i.e. usually during July and beginning of August. For other programmes, the re-sits are undertaken at the next time the module is delivered, usually the following year. If the re-sit takes place the next time the module is delivered, you do not repeat the assignment of your first attempt but submit the assignment that is in the Assessment and Examinations Booklet for that year of your re-sit. A number of programmes publish a specific re-sit Assessment and Examinations Booklet.
The amount of tutoring for re-sitting a module will depend on the programme of study. The Attendance Policy specifies that re-assessments with attendance give you access to the same amount of tutoring hours as for the first attempt. Re-assessments without attendance give you access to one hour of tutoring. For most programmes, re-sits are without attendance and it will be one hour of re-sit tutoring per module to help you prepare your re-sit assignment(s). The re-sit tutor is normally the same tutor as for the module and the first assessment attempt. You can decide with your re-sit tutor how best to use the hour of tutoring. If a programme has re-sits with attendance, the Programme Regulations will specify relevant modules and you will be able to decide whether you would like to re-sit such modules with attendance or without attendance.
For re-sit without attendance, please refer to the Fees and Funding page for information on the current module re-sit fee. For re-sits with attendance, an appropriate proportion of the tuition fee will be charged.